Red Bull/KTM Race Report: Atlanta
Atlanta, GA – Red Bull/KTM Factory rider Ryan Dungey secured his second win of the season at the eighth round of the AMA Supercross Series in front of the sold out crowd of 70,000 fans at the Georgia Dome. This win is now the second in history for the KTM brand in the Supercross class.
Dungey started the day off well qualifying 3rd fastest from the afternoon practice sessions to earn a top gate pick in the second Supercross class heat. He rocketed his KTM off the gate to a great start grabbing the holeshot in his heat and taking the early lead. While leading on the third lap, Dungey went high over a berm and suffered a small crash losing two positions. He quickly recovered and passed Brett Metcalfe to gain back 2nd position where he remained through the checkered flag to claim a top transfer position to the main event.
In the main event, Dungey earned another impressive start this time rounding the first corner in 2nd position. He spent the opening laps reeling in the first place ride of Cole Seely. On the eighth lap he was able to make an inside pass on Seely to take over the lead. Once out front, Dungey focused on riding a smooth race to work toward his second win. Lapper interference caused Dungey to lose some time to Ryan Villopoto near the end of the race which created a great battle for the fans with two laps to go. On the final lap, Dungey proved, once again, that he is in the championship hunt when he put another half second on Villopoto and crossed the finish line to take his second victory of the season.
“This was such a great way to end the week,” commented Dungey. “After seven weeks I finally got to return to the east coast and train at home. It was great to just have some time to myself and my normal training routine. I came into this race feeling confident and refreshed and it all paid off today. My team did an amazing job on my KTM and we had no issues today just a really great race. Thanks again to the Red Bull/KTM Team and my family for their constant support.”
Now eight rounds into the series, Dungey has moved back up to 2nd place in the series point standings just 10 points behind Villopoto. The riders will now head to St. Louis, MO for round nine of the series to be held at the Edward Jones Dome March 3, 2012.
Overall Results –
- Ryan Dungey – KTM
- Ryan Villopoto
- James Stewart
- Davi Millsaps
- Justin Brayton
- Cole Seely
- Jake Weimer
- Kevin Windham
- Brett Metcalfe
- Nick Wey
- Kyle Chisholm
- Mike Alessi
- Matt Goerke
- Bobby Kiniry
- Josh Hansen
- Broc Tickle
- Kyle Partridge
- Jeff Alessi
- Justin Sipes
- Weston Peick
Overall Point Standings –
- Ryan Villopoto – 180
- Ryan Dungey – 170
- James Stewart – 136
- Chad Reed – 128
- Jake Weimer – 106
Roczen impressed the sold out crowd of 70,000 plus from the start of the day after earning the top practice time in the afternoon qualifying sessions. His fast time earned him the first gate pick in Lites heat number two during the evening night show.
When the gate dropped for Roczen’s heat he launched forward to claim the holeshot and pull to an early lead. Roczen led the first two laps before he slid out in a corner and lost a position. Luckily, Roczen kept the bike running and got up quickly. He finished the heat race in 2nd place to easily transfer to the main event.
It was in the main event where Roczen would have the most work to do. Roczen suffered a clutch problem after the gate was held for an extended period of time which caused him to leap forward before the drop locking his front tire underneath the gate. Once untangled, Roczen shot down the start straight to round the first corner in dead last. He quickly set out on his mission to gain time back on the leaders and move up in position as quickly as possible. Before the end of the fifth lap, Roczen had already passed half the field to move up into the top ten. Four laps later he had passed four additional riders to move into 6th position sitting 8 seconds back from the 5th place ride. Roczen worked hard to chase down the 5th place ride of Darryn Durham during the remaining five laps closing the 8 second gap to 0.272 seconds when they crossed the checkered flag.
“I am really upset that I got stuck in the gate,” stated Roczen. “It was hard coming through the pack in the first few laps because a lot of the slower riders don’t jump all of the jumps and I had to work harder to get around them. I was able to come up to 6th and almost got into the top five. I was happy with my line choices and glad to finish safely. I am looking forward to St. Louis and hopefully getting my first win of the season there.”
Next Event: St. Louis Supercross – March 3, 2012
Overall Results –
- Justin Barcia
- Blake Bagget
- Justin Bogle
- Blake Wharton
- Darryn Durham
- Ken Roczen – KTM
- Kyle Cunningham
- Hunter Hewitt
- Jake Canada
- Shane Sewell – KTM
- Lance Vincent – KTM
- PJ Larsen – KTM
- Matt Lemoine
- Les Smith – KTM
- Shawn Rife
- Levi Kilbarger
- Daniel Herrlein
- Angelo Pellegrini
- Austin Politelli
- Bradley Ripple
Overall Point Standings –
- Justin Barcia – 50
- Darryn Durham – 38
- Blake Wharton – 36
- Ken Roczen – 35
- Blake Baggett – 28