Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey extends his series point lead with a win in the Georgia Dome.
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey may not be having the last laugh just yet, but he certainly had good reason to giggle after the second of two consecutive Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series rounds wrapped up in the Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, Saturday night.
Dungey, who has often been criticized for not being aggressive enough to be considered as the man to beat in supercross—despite having won the championship in 2010—showed his critics just where they can stick their opinions by passing his way into the lead during the 450cc main event and claiming his third supercross win of the season at the Atlanta II round. It only further solidified Dungey’s lead in the standings as the 17-round series passed the halfway mark. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac finished second in the race. Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard, Dungey’s closest rival in the series standings, finished third.
Meanwhile, Dungey’s Red Bull teammate, Marvin Musquin of France, scored his second win of the season during round three of AMA 250cc East Supercross Series action at the Georgia Dome. Musquin has finished no worse than second in the three East rounds thus far, and he extended his series lead over Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin, who finished second in the 250cc main. GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle was third.
450cc Main Event
Toyota/Joe Gibbs Racing Yamaha’s Weston Peick has been impressive despite being sidelined earlier in the season due to injury, and he proved that he is deserving of his factory Yamaha ride by pulling the holeshot at the start of the 20-lap main event. Atlanta I winner Chad Reed, who won the second 450cc heat race, rounded the first turn in second place but used the inside line in the sand section to snatch the lead away from Peick as the field streamed through the over-under tunnel. Peick refused to back down to the two-time series champion, however, and knifed under Reed to retake the lead just two turns before they entered the whoops for the first time.
Dungey got off to a third-place start, just ahead of Tomac and RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Broc Tickle, but he quickly latched onto Reed’s rear fender and began to challenge him for the runner-up spot. Reed effectively gave the spot away to Dungey by hooking a rut and slamming into the Tuff Blox on the inside of one of the left-hand corners that connects two of the rhythm sections. Reed remounted and got back underway outside of the top 10.
Dungey was about 1.5 seconds behind Peick at that point, with Tomac still third and Canard moving ahead of Tickle to take over fourth. Tickle’s teammate, Ken Roczen, was up to sixth and riding a gritty race after aggravating the ankle that he injured last week during practice for Atlanta II earlier in the day.
Canard began to pressure Tomac for third place on lap four while Dungey pulled clear of both Honda men. Despite Canard’s attempts to use creative lines, Tomac was able to hold him off.
Dungey was clearly quicker than Peick, and he began to pressure Peick by trying to cut underneath him in the right-hander just before the finish line at the end of lap five. That allowed Tomac to close up on Dungey, who then got even more aggressive with Peick on lap six by taking the inside line through the sand section and then again by cutting to the inside of Peick on a step-on-step-off jump in a rhythm section. But Peick once again held Dungey off to retain the lead.
But when Canard got by Tomac and showed Dungey a wheel, that was all it took. Dungey turned up the aggression again, flying through the next jump section, cutting to the inside of Peick in the next left-hander and making a pass that stuck on lap six. Peick, Canard and Tomac then engaged in an intense three-way battle for second place, which allowed Dungey to squirt away from them.
Canard got past Peick just before the sand section on lap seven, and Tomac passed Peick in the same corner where Dungey passed Peick for the lead earlier in the race. The order got a little bunched up right behind Peick then, as Tickle and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson began to challenge Peick for fourth place. Tickle was able to get past Peick. Anderson then tried to do the same coming out of the sand section, but he lost control and clipped Peick, who crashed, collecting Roczen. Anderson also went down just a few feet up the track, allowing Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett to move past all three of them into fifth place,
Dungey was just under 6 seconds ahead of the second-place battle between Canard and Tomac with five laps to go, and he was able to cruise to the win by 5.7 seconds. Tomac would finish second after Canard went off the track. Canard recovered to finish third, losing even more points to Dungey, who claimed his second main event win in three rounds.
“I just tried to keep pushing,” Dungey said. “I wanted to stay consistent and keep my lap times down there. The track was tough, definitely slippery, really tight and technical, and setting yourself up was important. The holeshot wasn’t there tonight, but we snuck around Chad. The bike felt awesome. It’s good to get this third win. We’ve still got a long way to go. We’ll keep after it.”
250cc East Main Event
Musquin grabbed the holeshot off the start of the 15-lap 250cc main event, leading reigning AMA 250cc East Supercross Champion Justin Bogle and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammates Arnaud Tonus and Joey Savatgy into the sand section for the first time. Jimmy Deotis quickly established himself in third place, ahead of Savatgy and Bogle, while last week’s winner, Jeremy Martin only got off to fifth-place start. Martin was aggressive early on the first lap, however, emerging from the over-under tunnel and blitzing through the short rhythm section right after it to move into fourth place, ahead of Bogle.
Musquin took full advantage of the clear track in front of him to build a 3-second advantage over Tonus by lap three. Martin was nearly 5 seconds behind Musquin at that point, and he struggled to work his way past Deotis briefly before making a move that stuck on lap four. Tonus couldn’t match Martin’s pace either, and Martin was able to catch and pass the Kawasaki rider with relative ease on lap five. Bogle stepped up his pace and was also able to move past Tonus and into third place.
Musquin had an easy time, cutting lap times in the mid 56-second range. Martin wasn’t able to cut into the French rider’s advantage throughout the race. Likewise, Bogle didn’t have the speed to challenge Martin for the runner-up spot. Musquin went on to take the win by 4.3 seconds.
“The key is to get a good start,” Musquin said. “My bike is so strong off the start which helps me so much in these races. I’m really happy to extend the points lead and am looking forward to Daytona next weekend as it is typically a challenging race that pushes all of us riders.”
Martin’s runner-up finish keeps him second in the points. He trails Musquin by seven points. Musquin has 72 to Martin’s 65. Afterward, Martin said that if he had it to do over again, he would have chosen a different starting gate position for the race.
“I got a pretty good jump out of the gate, but I thought I was going to go down in the first turn,” Martin said. “Joey [Savatagy] cut over on me, and Marvin [Musquin] got the holeshot and put himself in a very good position tonight. I need to get on it more and get out front. I tried my best to work through the pack, but Marvin was just the better man tonight.”
Bogle finished third, another 4.9 seconds behind Martin, but he is staying consistent in hi his title defense, having joined Musquin on all three 250cc East podiums so far this year. Bogle says he just needs to polish his game a little in order to get back on top.
“I got a pretty good start, and then I got shuffled back on that first lap,” Bogle said. “One guy came in on me, and then it got pretty hectic out there. The first couple laps were pretty rough, just trying to make my way back up into a position where I was around guys that I can ride like. It’s all good. It’s tough not winning, for sure, but we’re still in this thing. I’ve been in a lot worse position, and I will never complain about a podium.”
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia
Results: February 28, 2015 (Round 9 of 17)
450cc Main Event
1. Ryan Dungey-KTM
2. Eli Tomac-Hon
3. Trey Canard-Hon
4. Broc Tickle-Suz
5. Blake Baggett-Suz
6. Joshua Grant-Kaw
7. Chad Reed-Kaw
8. Ken Roczen-Suz
9. Jason Anderson-Hus
10. Weston Peick-Yam
11. David Millsaps-Kaw
12. Cole Seely-Hon
13. Joshua Hill-Yam
14. Mike Alessi-Suz
15. Andrew Short-KTM
16. Nicholas Wey-Kaw
17. Phillip Nicoletti-Yam
18. Kyle Chisholm-Kaw
19. Jimmy Albertson-Yam
20. Jacob Weimer-Kaw
21. Nicholas Schmidt-Suz
22. Kyle Partridge-Hon
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Point Standings (After 9 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-199/3 wins
2. Trey Canard-169/2 wins
3. Ken Roczen-156/2 wins
4. Eli Tomac-137/1 win
5. Jason Anderson-126
6. Chad Reed-124/1 win
7. Cole Seely-120
8. Blake Baggett-115
9. Andrew Short-100
10. Broc Tickle-96
11. Davi Millsaps-75
12. Justin Barcia-71
13. Jake Weimer-62
14. Weston Peick-60
15. Josh Grant-56
16. Mike Alessi-47
17. Josh Hill-40
Brett Metcalfe-40
19. Phil Nicoletti-37
20. Kyle Chisholm-36
250cc East Main Event
1. Marvin Musquin-KTM
2. Jeremy Martin-Yam
3. Justin Bogle-Hon
4. Joey Savatgy-Kaw
5. Jimmy Decotis-Hon
6. Martin Davalos-Hus
7. Arnaud Tonus-Kaw
8. Anthony Rodriguez-Yam
9. RJ Hampshire-Hon
10. Luke Renzland-Yam
11. Kyle Peters-Hon
12. Matt Lemoine-Kaw
13. Vince Friese-Hon
14. Gannon Audette-Kaw
15. Kyle Cunningham-Hon
16. Justin Starling-Yam
17. Colt Nichols-Hon
18. Josh Cartwright-Yam
19. Jace Owen-Hon
20. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
21. Bryce Stewart-Yam
22. Dakota Alix-KTM
AMA 250cc East Supercross Series Standings (After 3 of 8 rounds)
1. Marvin Musquin-72/2 wins
2. Jeremy Martin-65/1 win
3. Justin Bogle-62
4. Joey Savatgy-54
5. Martin Davalos-45
6. Matt Lemoine-39
7. Vince Friese-38
Arnaud Tonus-38
RJ Hampshire-38
10. Anthony Rodriguez-34
11. Kyle Peters-29
12. Jimmy Decotis-27
13. Luke Renzland-20
14. Gannon Audette-19
15. Justin Starling-15
15. Colt Nichols-14
17. Mitchell Oldenburg-11
18. Dakota Alix-9
19. Kyle Cunningham-7
20. Brady Kiesel-6
Zack Williams-6
Daniel Herrlein-6
Your Privacy Choices