Dungey takes a tight third in Salt Lake SX

Courtesy of KTM

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ryan Dungey earned a 450SX third place podium in the penultimate round of the AMA Supercross Series but 250SX teammate Ken Roczen of Germany failed to qualify for his main event after crashing in the qualifying. The event saw points leader Ryan Villipoto seal the 450 title while Roczen now takes his 250SX title chase to the final round in Las Vegas promising to deliver ‘the race of my life”. Roczen goes to Vegas as points leader but with a narrow five-point margin. Dungey was up in the first 450SX heat where he earned the holeshot to take the early lead. He went on to lead every lap of the eight-lap heat to take the win and top qualifying spot into the main event. It was his first heat race victory of the season. In the main event Dungey blitzed out of the gate for another holeshot but then Villopoto cut inside of him on the second corner and took over the lead. A lap later Davi Millsaps challenged Dungey for the runner-up position. They then began a three-way, race-long battle and remained within two seconds of each other through the entire 20 laps. They all turned impressive lap times eventually lapping all the way through eighth position but at the flag it was Villopoto who hung on for the win, followed by Millsaps and Dungey. “It was a close race tonight,” commented Dungey. “I’d like to thank the entire Red Bull KTM team for building me a great bike. We are still very close to second place in the championship standings and we are looking forward to battling for that position in Vegas.” Drama for Roczen in the 250s at Salt Lake Meanwhile Ken Roczen had the unthinkable happen at the penultimate round of his competition when he crashed in both the heat and LCQ and did not qualify for the main event. Roczen was fourth off the start in the second heat but collided with another rider in the second corner. He recovered in dead last but quickly moved up five positions before he ran off the track after trying to avoid a down rider in the whoops. He then pulled off the track and returned to the pits in order to save energy for the last chance qualifier leaving JDR/J-Star/KTM rider Malcolm Stewart to take his first heat victory this season.   The German rider had a great jump out of the gate in the LCQ before another rider came clear across the start straight and took out a group of riders including Roczen. He quickly recovered but had to come through the entire pack as he pushed toward the top two. Ken gave it his all in the four remaining laps but was two bike lengths short of qualifying for his main event when they passed the flag, Only the top two from the LCQ advance to the final. “I’m really disappointed,” Roczen said. “ I had a big (points) lead going into this race and now it’s going to be very tight in the final round. I had a bit of a break with Eli Tomac (second in points) finishing sixth tonight, and luckily, I still hold the points lead. I’m going to remain as positive as possible and do my best to win in Vegas and hopefully get the championship title.” Next Event: May 4, 2013 – Las Vegas, NV 250 West Main Event Results: 1, Jason Anderson – SUZ 2, Cole Seely – HON 3, Martin Davalos – KAW 4, Malcolm Stewart – KTM 5, Christian Craig – HON 6, Eli Tomac – HON 7, Ryan Sipes – SUZ 8, Tyla Rattray – KAW 9, Joey Savatgy – KTM 250 West Point standings: 1, Ken Roczen – 163 2, Eli Tomac – 158 3, Cole Seely – 135 4, Jason Anderson – 124 5, Martin Davalos – 114 6, Zach Osborne – 111 7, Kyle Cunningham – 96 8, Christian Craig – 87 9, Tyla Rattray – 87 10, Joey Savatgy – 87 11, Malcolm Stewart – 74 450 Main Event Results: 1, Ryan Villopoto – KAW 2, Davi Millsaps – SUZ 3, Ryan Dungey – KTM 4, Trey Canard – HON 5, Justin Barcia – HON 6, Justin Brayton – YAM 7, Josh Hill – SUZ 8, Andrew Short – KTM 9, Weston Peick – SUZ 10, Chad Reed – HON 450 Point standings: 1, Ryan Villopoto – 346 2, Davi Millsaps – 318 3, Ryan Dungey – 315 4, Justin Barcia – 261 5, Chad Reed – 224 6, Trey Canard – 220 7, Andrew Short – 202 8, Justin Brayton – 177 9, James Stewart – 174 10, Broc Tickle – 165

Dungey takes podium third in Salt Lake Dungey up with the leaders in 450 main event Disappointing night for 250 points leader Roczen