Ryan Dungey Will Race Monster Energy Cup

Kit Palmer | October 13, 2011

Ryan Dungey says he will compete in this weekend’s Monster Energy Cup after all. Dungey wasn’t expected to race after having just made the switch from Suzuki to KTM, but apparently testing has been going well enough, and he feels ready to race and go after the $1 million prize money that is up for grabs this Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The team also feels the Monster Energy Cup will give Dungey a chance to ride the bike in a real race situation, which will help him in his preparation for the 2012 AMA Supercross Championship, which gets underway early January.

“To my surprise, Ryan was eager to race the Monster Energy Cup,” said Red Bull/KTM Factory Team Manager Roger DeCoster. “We didn’t expect him to race after only two weeks on the bike, but he will use the event to help gauge where he stands speed-wise against the competition. It will also give the team a racing opportunity to test different set-ups with the bike prior to the opening round of the Supercross. Ryan can then take this experience to prepare his training regime this winter.”

“After testing the new KTM over the past two weeks, I am feeling confident enough to compete and am really eager to see where I stack up against the competition,” Dungey said. “It’s a last-minute decision to race this event but the team is behind me 100% and I am excited to make my debut on the bike.”

That bike will be a factory-backed Red Bull/KTM 450 SX-F featuring a homologated fuel-injected motor.

“I’m looking forward to riding for the new Red Bull/KTM team and working again with Roger,” the 2012 AMA Supercross Champion, Dungey, added. “I am excited to start something new and am ready for the challenge. I like the way that KTM has backed Roger since he made the switch last year and I appreciate KTM’s goal of working hard to develop their race team to earn championships. I am making this switch to win races and work toward getting that championship for KTM.”

Kit Palmer | Off-Road Editor

Kit Palmer started his career at Cycle News in 1984 and he’s been testing dirt and streetbikes every since – plus covering any event that uses some form of a knobby tire. He’s also our resident motorcycle mileage man with a commute of 120 miles a day.