Round 1 – AMA Pro Motocross Championship – May 21, 2016
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Red B ull KTM Factory Racing’s Ryan Dungey captured a pair of 2nd place moto finishes on Saturday to claim 2nd overall at the opening round of the 2016 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. In his American Motocross 450 Class debut, Marvin Musquin finished 8th overall on the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition.
With only one weekend off between the AMA Supercross finale and the opening round of American Motocross, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team switched gears with new bike set-up and much different track conditions outdoors.
In Moto 1, Dungey powered his KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition into a top three position off the start, where he quickly jumped into 2nd place behind Ken Roczen on lap two. His teammate, Marvin Musquin, got a great jump off the start to begin the race inside the top five.
With consistently fast lap times, Dungey chased Roczen down for the lead position throughout the entire 34-minute race but it wasn’t enough to close the gap that Roczen created right off the start.
Meanwhile, Musquin dropped back a few positions to ultimately finish 9th place in Moto 1.
In Moto 2, Dungey shot off the line to capture the holeshot but Roczen got around him to take over the early lead on lap one. From there, Dungey put forth a hard-fought effort to catch Roczen out front, where he came within a seconds of the leader at times. Despite a valiant effort, Dungey finished 2nd place in Moto 2, where he secured 2nd overall for the day.
“It was overall a really good way to begin the season,” Dungey said. “We want to win for sure but overall we’re just getting things started in outdoors, adapting to the bike and keeping the comfort from Supercross flowing into this summer. The speed was there, everything was there, and I trust the boys at KTM to keep advancing the bike and I’ll do the work on my side to get there.”
Musquin began Moto 2 outside the top ten but the 450 Class Rookie set his sights on moving through the pack. Musquin made a few passes to reach the 7th place position where set his sights on Justin Barcia in 6th. As the race wore on, Musquin was able to close the gap on Barcia but he wasn’t able to climb into another position before the checkered flag flew.
With moto scores of 9-7, Musquin secured 8th overall at the season opener.
“The first moto didn’t go as I wanted but we worked between the motos with the team and came out with good changes,” Musquin said. “I’m happy to finally race my first AMA 450 outdoor race and can’t wait to go to the next one! I know the season will be long and I want to keep improving.”
450 Class Overall Results
1. Ken Roczen (1-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (2-2)
3. Eli Tomac (4-4)
4. Jason Anderson (6-3)
5. Trey Canard (7-5)
6. Cole Seely (5-10)
7. Justin Barcia (10-6)
8. Marvin Musquin (9-7)
9. Josh Grant (8-8)
10.Blake Baggett (3-19)
Championship Point Standings
1. Ken Roczen – 50
2. Ryan Dungey – 44
3. Eli Tomac – 36
4. Jason Anderson – 35
5. Trey Canard – 30
6. Cole Seely – 27
7. Justin Barcia – 26
8. Marvin Musquin – 26
9. Josh Grant – 26
10.Blake Baggett – 22
