We saw what happened there, after a great ride in the first moto, Reed got ejected and right there, as Reed was flying through the air--the whole series appeared to have been changed. Dungey ran down Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto in the second moto, made the pass and took the overall on the day. RV had nearly a ten-second lead on Dungey at one point so that was even more impressive for the defending champion.
Villopoto fell just short of the overall at his home track.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
This weekend at Washougal, on a track that RV knew well, Dungey caught him late in the first moto before spinning out and going down. After a re-start (where Villopoto was in front) in moto two, the tide turned when the number 1 Suzuki rider got the jump on Villopoto, and now the game began with Villopoto having to find his way around Dungey.
But after a few attempts on the first lap, the two riders settled in and Dungey started clicking off some fast times. In front of his home fans, on the track he grew up on, Ryan Villopoto was helpless to stop Dungey from pulling away and eventually it was almost 20-seconds between the two. It was quite a ride for Dungey and even though he tied Villopoto on points, it has to feel more like a straight out win for Dungey and the Suzuki crew with the way he tracked RV down in the first moto and the domination in the second moto.
Villopoto has the points lead as we enter the break, but Dungey has the momentum after two straight overalls.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
So there we have it, two tracks that Reed had to limit the damage on and without one mistake on the face of a jump, he might very well have just done that. Ryan Dungey did his part and held serve at Millville and now, he stole a set away from Villopoto on his home soil. Dungey’s one point back of RV and has the momentum right now with his second straight win. Reed’s third in points but now has two weeks to heal up from “the crash.”
To be sure, Dungey isn’t coming back to Suzuki next year- he’s going to move on from the only team he knows for a variety of reasons. But one thing he’s not moving on from is giving the team everything he has until the final checkered flag waves at Pala.
Stay tuned.
