Dungey Takes Lakewood MX Win

Cycle News Staff | June 2, 2012

Lakewood, CO (June 2, 2012) – Ryan Dungey claimed his first win of the 2012 season, parlaying a perfect 1-1 performance into the overall victory at the third round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Thunder Valley Raceway in Lakewood, Colorado.

The Red Bull KTM rider’s win gave KTM its first overall victory in the 450 class in the outdoor series and it moved Dungey into the lead in the series points standings, aided by the fact that James Stewart went down shortly after taking the lead in the opening moto, forcing the Team Yoshimura Suzuki rider to DNF both motos.

With Stewart out of action, Dungey had little problems winning both motos for the overall on the deeply rutted Lakewood course.

“I hate to win like that,” said Dungey. “James and I have pushed each other to new levels and hopefully he heals up and comes back. My game plan is always the same, to take it one race at a time. You can’t focus on the end result and we saw that today. I just do my own thing, put my best foot forward, and never underestimate anyone.”

Second overall went to Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer, a career-best, after going 2-4 in the two motos. Meanwhile, Andrew Short gave Team Chaparral Honda its first podium finish in third (7-2).

Stewart dropped from first to third in the championship standings and his status for the remainder of the season is uncertain. He entered the weekend with an undefeated record, winning all four motos through the first two rounds.

“It’s not what we wanted, but that’s racing. It wasn’t worth risking anything in the second moto. I’m going to go through next week and test out how my hand feels and hopefully we’re ready to go at High Point,” said Stewart.

Dungey currently holds a 35-point lead over Weimer in the championship standings.

In the 250 Class, Barcia started his day off strong by winning the first moto, taking the lead from the start and leading for all 16 laps, fending off the pressure of Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen.

In Moto two, Barcia moved to the front again, leading the first six laps, but was passed by points leader Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett on lap seven.

While Baggett pulled away, Barcia once again engaged in battle with Roczen, this time for second.

Roczen eventually worked his way past Barcia, putting Baggett in position to claim his second overall victory of the season. However, on the final lap, Roczen and Barcia battled again for second, ending with Roczen falling to the ground and allowing Barcia to retake the position and ultimately the overall win.

“Last weekend was tough on me, but today was awesome,” said Barcia, who last won as a rookie during the 2009 season. “The first moto couldn’t have gone any better and the second moto was good too. I knew what I had to do (in the second moto). I rode my own race a little bit, but then I put on a hard charge at the end. Ken and I may have touched a little bit, but I just kept going.”

With his second moto win, Baggett secured the runner-up spot for the second week in a row (3-1), while Roczen rebounded to round out the overall podium for the third consecutive round (2-4). Baggett holds a 16-point lead over Barcia in the championship standings.