Ryan Dungey clinches 450 title
By TMX Archives on 16th Aug 15
After the first 450 Class moto of the day at the Zions Bank Utah National, Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey locked up his third 450 Class championship in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, and he did it with an exclamation point, clinching the honor with his 11th moto victory of the 2015 season. He wouldn't stop there - Dungey went on to win the second moto and complete a sweep for the day.
Moto 1
After seeing his holeshot streak snapped last weekend, Justin Barcia was back on the attack in this moto, grabbing the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award at the start of the race. He was soon passed by Ken Roczen - the defending champion of the series - on a jump, and it looked like Roczen might pull away from the rest of the field. However after Dungey got around Barcia for second, he began to run down Roczen. For the second week in a row, the two riders - who battled frequently as teammates last season - went head-to-head for the moto win, and with less than five minutes left in the moto, Dungey finally took the lead away.
Dungey's championship clinch comes with three motos still remaining in the season and comes on the heels of his 450 Class supercross championship earlier this year. His other 450MX titles came in 2010 and 2012.
Roczen finished the moto in second, with his RCH Suzuki teammate Broc Tickle earning a season-best moto finish of third place. A third Suzuki rider, Blake Baggett, was just behind them in fourth, and Barcia fell back to fifth by moto's end.
In his second race aboard a 450, Justin Bogle ended up 14th, but he was fast early in the race. A good start had him running inside the top five for about half the moto, but an encounter with Jason Anderson sent him to the ground. Bogle finished the moto in 14th.
Dungey will officially be presented with the title after the conclusion of Moto 2, which can be seen at 6 p.m. ET live on ProMotocross.com.
Moto 2
With the championship already in hand, the second moto of the day was all about pride and momentum, and once again, it delivered a Ryan Dungey vs. Ken Roczen duel for the win.
The MotoSport.com Holeshot Award went to Phil Nicoletti, but Roczen was close behind him, followed by Justin Barcia and Dungey. Roczen made his way around Nicoletti into first place and opened up a lead as large as four seconds. Meanwhile Dungey got around the Yamaha duo of Nicoletti and Barcia to move into second, then he set his sights on Roczen.
The two were in close proximiity for much of the moto, and with just over five minutes left on the countdown clock, Dungey was finally able to make the pass on Roczen and pull away en route to the checkered flag. Roczen finished 8.8 seconds behind in second place, and Justin Barcia rounded out the top three in the moto. Blake Baggett and Trey Canard made up the rest of the top five.
With the sweep of both motos, Dungey accrued his sixth overall win of the year. Roczen (2-2) finished second overall, with Barcia (5-3) landing on the overall podium as well in third place.
RESULTS
1. Ryan Dungey (1-1)
2. Ken Roczen (2-2)
3. Justin Barcia (5-3)
4. Blake Baggett (4-4)
5. Broc Tickle (3-7)
6. Trey Canard (7-6)
7. Dean Wilson (10-5)
8. Josh Grant (8-8)
9. Christophe Pourcel (9-9)
10. Phil Nicoletti (10-12)
11. Jason Anderson (6-16)
12. Kyle Chisholm (13-11)
13. Andrew Short (11-14)
14. Justin Bogle (14-12)
15. Kyle Cunningham (15-13)
16. Ben LaMay (16-15)
17. Tony Archer (17-18)
18. Noah McConahy (19-17)
19. Killy Rusk (18-19)
20. Dustin Pipes (35-20)
