Article by: Dan Lamb – Photo: Simon Cudby – Courtesy of KTM Images
At last weekend’s 2013 Indianapolis SX inside of the Lucas Oil Stadium, the Red Bull/KTM team once again put two riders on the podium in the 250SX and 450SX classes. Just two short years ago, the orange machine from Austria had never put a 450 on the podium, but since the man at the helm, Roger Decoster, hired Ryan Dungey in 2012, the team has accumulated sixteen 450SX podiums and five 450SX main event wins. On top of that, Dungey won the 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship for KTM and will be rocking the #1 plate on his KTM 450 in 2013 starting at the Hangtown opener. What KTM and Dungey have done together in the last two years is unprecedented and has put KTM at the top of the U.S. moto scene.
After Ryan’s incredible 2012 with the KTM, a lot of expectations were placed on the #5 in 2013, but with the incredible depth in the 450 class, it has not been easy. Still, Ryan has had a solid 2013 campaign, and after his second-straight runner-up finish at the Indinapolis SX this weekend, Ryan sits just seventeen points out of the lead. More importantly, Ryan has been closing the gap on championship points leader Ryan Villopoto in the speed department. On Saturday night, Dungey latched onto RV’s rear wheel and pushed him for the whole twenty-lap main event. Unfortunately, he was not able to make a pass on the #1, but in the end, he definitely showed RV that he has the pace and is up for a fight.
After the race, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom caught up with the kid from Belle Plain, Minnesota to talk to him about his race in Indy and his season so far. Check out what Dungey had to say below.
Ryan, second place tonight in Indianapolis, two second place finishes in a row—how you feeling?
I feel good. Definitely being back on the podium feels good. We had a couple off weekends there, but it’s definitely good to be back and be consistent. I feel like we made good progress today with bike setup, so that was cool. Just feeling more comfortable and just getting that plush comfort back, to be able to push that limit and for things to be balanced on the bike overall. It’s good to still be making progress this late in the season. I feel like we’re still in a good position. We have a good opportunity to capitalize on, so we’ll take this and try and build on it and carry it into Toronto. And I want to finish strong going into the two-week break, too.
It seemed like after practice and the heat races, you really picked up your intensity in the main event tonight. Did you switch up some stuff to make you feel more comfortable?
Well, the bike setup we ended up with after practice was really good. We made a shock change, but it was really nice. The heat race was good, just more time on it, got comfortable. But by the time I got to the heat, we made a tire change that was a little bit more aggressive on the front and that kind of just topped everything off perfect. I mean the starts were good tonight and that was cool. Other than that, I felt more comfortable on the bike in the main event. It was good to be able to push the pace like that and not feel super out of control or on the edge to the point where we’re going to throw it away or something. It was a good speed.
Nice. The track tonight seemed to bite a few people. What do you think caused that?
Well, the track tonight was one of those where guys were making mistakes everywhere—left and right from the 250 class, the 450 class—from the best of them and all the way through the pack. I think tonight it was just important not to make any big mistakes. Like Stewart—he had that top-over in that corner. It wasn’t big by any means, but a little mistake added up. You know everyone rode a great race tonight, but the main focus was putting in solid good clean laps and no big mistakes.
What did you think about the track setup tonight overall? Only one triple and a small set of whoops is a little bit different than what you’ve seen this year.
Yeah, it kind of gives the guys that aren’t good at whoops a little bit of extra push, and whoops are very tough for every one of us—don’t get me wrong. I think mentally when you don’t have that challenge on the track—if they’re sketchy—it’s kind of like, alright let’s go. It just raises the level of the field and the talent. This year has kind of been an all out effort and one that’s been very competitive as well.
What do you think you have to do to get up there and battle for this Championship from here on?
I think wins are going to be key. Six races left, and going into that two-week break, it’s going to be important to finish strong, but we got to come out swinging for the last five. That’s what it’s all going to come down to.
Alright, Ryan. Thanks a lot for talking with us. Is there anyone you would like to thank?
Yeah, just the whole team Red Bull/KTM, all the crew, my family, mom and dad, girlfriend and everybody. All this would not be possible without them.
Okay. Good luck next weekend in Toronto.
Thank you.
Follow MotoXAddicts on Twitter for all your SX-MX updates>>>
