Ryan Dungey career supercross win number 23, but its his first at the San Diego Supercross.
Two supercross champions battled tonight in front of a huge crowd at Petco Park in San Diego. One of them, Chad Reed, a two-time former champion of the series, has six San Diego Supercross wins to his credit. The other, reigning Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion Ryan Dungey had never won a San Diego main event.
Well, as they say, there is a first time for everything.
The Red Bull KTM-mounted Dungey got his title defense kicked into high gear by recording his 23rd career AMA Supercross win in the premier class, followed by the Team Yamaha/360fly/Chaparral Racing-backed Reed and Anaheim I Supercross winner Jason Anderson, who came from deep in the pack to finish third on his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna.
BTO Sports KTM’s Justin Brayton pulled the holeshot to start the 20-lap main event, with half of last week’s controversy kids, Smartop/Motoconcepts Honda’s Vince Friese, moving into second place ahead of Brayton and into the lead through the whoop section on the opening lap. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel also knifed under Reed in the corner at the end of the whoop section to take away third place.
Brayton would retake the lead through the next rhythm section, but Dungey was already in third place before the start of lap two, and the front four riders ran extremely close. RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen then joined the fray after passing Reed for fifth place. Dungey shot past Friese in the whoops, and then cut to the inside of Brayton for the lead in the next rhythm section to take the lead. Reed was far from done as he moved up to third place on the same lap.
Reed was on the move as he passed Brayton for second place just before the step-on-step-off jump section, the two-time former champion knowing that he needed to get clear of the rest of the field if he wanted a shot catching Dungey, who had put a second and a half on Reed at that point.
Meanwhile, last week’s third-place finisher Cole Seely had his Team Honda HRC ride up to fifth place and was about 1 second behind Roczen. Then came Husqvarna factory teammates Pourcel and Anderson, the latter suffering a terrible start in the main. Roczen then advanced all of them one spot when he got out of shape in the step-on-step-off section and went off the track, falling back to 10th place. Anderson then found his way past Brayton for fourth place just past the finish line jump on lap nine.
Out front, Dungey had built a 2.5 second lead on Reed by lap seven but was able to pull back a second of that by the start of lap nine. That gap seemed to accordion over the next six laps, but Dungey had back up to 2 seconds heading into the last five laps of the race. That’s also when Anderson caught Seely and began to pressure the Honda rider for third place. The two then waged a great battle for the position, and it came to a head when Seely nearly lost the front end in a left-hand corner while Anderson was cutting to the inside of him on the gas. The two collided, and Seely nearly went off the track, yielding the third spot to Anderson.
Dungey went on to take the win by 1.47 seconds, and with it he took over the series points lead. It also marked the 13th consecutive supercross main event in which Dungey has either won or finished second.
“That’s the goal,” Dungey said. “It doesn’t happen like that every time, but we’ve to keep going and take it, and make the most of every race. The track was very tacky in the heats, and then by the main event the moisture started coming up, and it started getting hard and slippery. So, I had to change my lines. I got a good start. I think I was about fourth and had to make my way through clean. I got into the lead and just was able to put down good laps.”
Reed enjoyed his 10th podium finish in 14 San Diego Supercross starts.
“I’m a stubborn old guy, I guess,” Reed said. “I just love being out here. I want to be out here, and I’m ready to work hard to earn my spot. We made a lot of changes throughout the day, just really small changes. Dungey had me at my max in the heat race, and same thing in the main event. There were some areas where I was better and some areas where I would give up too much. We’ll take that and work on it during the week. I’m happy with my starts. It’s good to get one of those. I’ve worked really, really hard on those. But there are a lot of turns on the track, and I’m losing time in those.”
Anderson crossed the finish line third but was later docked two positions by AMA officials for jumping in a section when the red cross flag was shown. Seely was credited with third place, followed by Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac.
2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Petco Park
San Diego, California
Results: January 16, 2016 (Round 2 of 17)
1. Ryan Dungey-KTM
2. Chad Reed-Yam
3. Cole Seely-Hon
4. Eli Tomac-Kaw
5. Jason Anderson-Hus
6. Ken Roczen-Suz
7. Trey Canard-Hon
8. Jake Weimer-Kaw
9. Marvin Musquin-KTM
10. Justin Brayton-KTM
11. Justin Barcia-Yam
12. Davi Millsaps-KTM
13. Christophe Pourcel-Hus
14. Broc Tickle-Suz
15. Dean Wilson-KTM
16. Wil Hahn-Kaw
17. Vince Friese-Hon
18. Mike Alessi-Hon
19. Tommy Hahn-Yam
20. Nick Schmidt-Suz
21. Phil Nicoletti-Yam
22. Justin Bogle-Hon
2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Standings (after 2 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-47/1 win
2. Jason Anderson-41/1 win
3. Cole Seely-40
4. Chad Reed-37
5. Eli Tomac-36
6. Ken Roczen-31
7. Trey Canard-28
8. Jake Weimer-22
Justin Brayton-22
Davi Millsaps-22