The contender list was deep, littered with world champions, veteran stars and young upstarts. And Dungey was taking on the Pro Circuit army – a team that had never lost a 250cc championship outdoors since debuting the Kawasaki KX250F in 2005. In the face of adversity, he kept it together to land his first AMA National Championship. Dungey is now a complete package, one sure to be reckoned with on a 450 next season.
Credit out to Christophe Pourcel, though. He was dealt a few bad hands throughout the summer, from stomach troubles, to bouncing gates to red flagged holeshots, to the most untimely of untimely mechanical failures. Pourcel ends the year second in points, but even now, after 24 motos, it’s impossible to say who was the better rider. They were that close, that even, and that impressive.
For Dungey, the question was the big picture – could he put together a championship? He answered that question this year. For Pourcel, the big picture was even bigger. Two years ago, he was in a wheelchair, with many predicting his racing career was over. Getting all the way back to the level he did is just as big of an accomplishment as winning the championship in the end.
