Southwick, Mass, (August 11, 2012) – Ryan Dungey continued his winning ways at round nine of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in an exciting race at Southwick, Massachusetts, the Red Bull KTM rider turning in a 1-2 moto tally to claim his seventh-straight overall win of the season, despite having to make a pit stop for gas near the end of the second moto.
Dungey trailed MotoConcepts’s Mike Alessi for six laps in the opening moto before making a pass for the lead on lap seven. Once in control of the race, however, Dungey pulled away in the rough and whooped out sand to take the win by 16 seconds over the Suzuki rider.
Third in the first moto went to Team Muscle Milk Honda’s Tommy Hahn, while local favorite Robbie Marshall was fourth on a KTM. Chaparral Honda’s Andrew Short, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle and Toyota JGR Racing Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps were fifth through seventh.
Another local favorite, John Dowd, finished 10th in moto one, behind eighth and ninth place finishers JW Racing’s Josh Grant and FMF/KTM’s Mike Brown.
In moto two, Alessi grabbed the holeshot again, but this time Dungey wasted no time getting around the Suzuki rider and into the lead, doing so just a few turns into the first lap.
Dungey went down, however, on lap seven, allowing Alessi to take the lead, although the Minnesota rider was able to reel Alessi back in and retake the lead two laps later. When Dungey went down, though, he lost a considerable amount of fuel, making it doubtful that he would be able to finish the race without refueling.
In the meantime, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Tyla Rattray moved into the second slot, passing Alessi on lap 13.
Over the final few laps, Dungey pushed hard to stretch his lead in anticipation of a fuel stop, and with four laps to go, he pulled into the mechanic’s area and refueled. When he rejoined the race he was second behind Rattray.
The final three laps produced the best racing of the day, with Dungey desperately trying to catch Rattray to get the moto win. Rattray held on, though, and took the moto win with two seconds to spare over Dungey.
Alessi finished third, with Tickle fourth and Byrne in fifth.
The overall win went to Dungey thanks to his 1-2 moto score, while Alessi was second overall via 2-3 moto finishes.
Third overall was Tickle with a 6-4, while Millsaps (7-6) and Rattray (20-1) rounded out the top five overall.
In the 250 class, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett took his fourth overall win of the season with a 3-1 tally, coming from behind in the second moto to take a hard-earned win.
Second overall went to GEICO Powersports Honda’s Eli Tomac, who produced the opposite moto finishes with a 1-3.
Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen finished third overall with a 4-2 after leading 14 laps of the second moto.
With three rounds remaining, Baggett now holds a 24-point lead over Barcia with Tomac another eight points back.
