BUDDS CREEK, Md. (June 16, 2012) — Ryan Dungey continued his domination of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship with a convincing 1-1 finish at the Red Bull Budds Creek National. After conservative starts Dungey broke through early in both motos and once in the lead he clicked off blazing laps on his Red Bull KTM to open big margins. He won the first moto by 43 seconds and the second by 33 seconds in one of the best nationals of his career. His performances are becoming reminiscent of Ricky Carmichael’s lopsided wins during his championship seasons.
Dungey now leads the championship by 58 points – 236 to 182 – over Mike Alessi. Jake Weimer is third with 179.
“I always love coming to Budds Creek,” said Dungey, who scored his third straight overall victory on the season. “It offers a lot of different challenges. I got decent starts and that helped. We got the bike set up really well. We found some things after a pretty challenging practice. Once I got in the lead things seemed to click. Even though I’m winning in what may seem like big margins, I’m not taking anything for granted. I’m hoping to keep this momentum going.”
Broc Tickle broke through to score his first career 450 podium on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki with a 2-2.
“It’s awesome to score my first podium,” Tickle said. “I felt better and better as the motos went on today. Hopefully I can build on this and be a regular podium finisher.”
MotoConcepts Suzuki’s Mike Alessi once again earned great starts. He went 4-3, led for three laps in the second moto before succumbing to Dungey and later Tickle. “I’m trying as hard as I can,” said Alessi, who is scratching his head on trying to keep with Dungey. “I feel like I can run up to a certain pace, but Ryan is just on a different level right now, there’s no way around that. I’m just going to keep putting my hardhat on every weekend and see if we can chip away, but it’s going to take some time.”
Two-race winner James Stewart missed the race recovering from a wrist/hand injury.
In the 250 National it was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit’s Blake Baggett scoring his second overall win of the season with a 2-1. Ken Roczen took second with a 3-2 on his Red Bull KTM and GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia took third overall after winning the exciting first moto and then crashing in the second and recovering to finish fifth.
As a result Baggett added six points to his lead in the series standings over Barcia (222-209). Roczen moved up to tie Eli Tomac for third in points, each with 200, in what after five rounds, is shaping up to be a four rider battle for the championship.
“Last year I crashed both motos,” Baggett smiled. “Today I went 2-1, got the win and added to my points lead, so I really couldn’t ask for much more. That first moto was pretty gnarly. We were wheel to wheel on that last lap, that’s just the way it’s been all year.”
The series has a week off before moving to Buchanan, Michigan on July 7.
Budds Creek 450 Motocross Results
1. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 1-1
2. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki) 2-2
3. Mike Alessi (Suzuki) 4-3
4. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) 3-4
5. Justin Brayton (Honda) 5-8
6. Brett Metcalfe (Suzuki) 8-6
7. Josh Grant (Kawasaki) 10-5
8. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha) 9-7
9. Andrew Short (Honda) 6-10
10. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha) 7-11
11. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 12-12
12. Jimmy Albertson (Suzuki) 15-13
13. Kyle Regal (Yamaha) 22-9
14. Michael Byrne (Suzuki) 11-19
15. Mathew Lemoine (Kawasaki) 16-15
2012 450 Motocross Championship Points:
1. Ryan Dungey, 236
2. Mike Alessi, 182
3. Jake Weimer, 179
4. Andrew Short, 154
5. Brett Metcalfe, 142
6. Broc Tickle, 134
7. James Stewart, 116
8. Josh Grant, 111
9. Nico Izzi, 95
10. Justin Brayton, 93
Budds Creek 250 Motocross Results:
1. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki) 2-1
2. Ken Roczen (KTM) 3-2
3. Justin Barcia (Honda) 1-5
4. Eli Tomac (Honda) 5-3
5. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 4-4
6. Jason Anderson (Suzuki) 7-6
7. Wil Hahn (Honda) 6-7
8. Jake Canada (Honda) 13-8
9. Travis Baker (Honda) 12-10
10. Phil Nicoletti (Honda) 14-9
11. Jessy Nelson (Honda) 10-13
12. Blake Wharton (Suzuki) 9-18
13. Gareth Swanepoel (Yamaha) 17-12
14. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki) 8-36
15. Alex Martin (Honda) 16-14
250 Motocross Championship Points:
1. Blake Baggett, 222
2. Justin Barcia, 209
3. Eli Tomac, 200
4. Ken Roczen, 200
5. Marvin Musquin, 153
6. Wil Hahn, 130
7. Jason Anderson, 106
8. Blake Wharton, 102
9. Ivan Tedesco, 99
10. Kyle Cunningham, 96
