Kit Palmer | January 24, 2016
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey claimed back-to-back Supercross wins after scoring another impressive victory at the third round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series at Angel Stadium of Anaheim in California, January 23. In similar fashion to his win last weekend at San Diego, Dungey established an early lead and maintained a small gap over Chad Reed to take the win, making it a Dungey/Reed 1-2 for the second consecutive week.
Ken Roczen finished out the night on the podium for the first time this season.
Before Dungey could take command of the race, he first had to get around fast starter Davi Millsaps on the BTOSports/WPS KTM. Dungey passed Millsaps on the fourth lap and never looked back, taking the win nearly three seconds ahead of Reed.
Reed, on the Monster Energy 360fly/Chaparral factory-backed Yamaha, was not alone the last few laps, that is for sure. He was feeling some serious heat by Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, setting the stage for what promised to be a last-lap showdown between the two, but right after taking the white flag, Tomac lost the front end in a turn and hit the deck. Even though he got up quickly, he was not able to hold off Roczen, who slipped by Tomac to land on the final step of the podium.
Tomac took fourth, followed by Anaheim 1 winner Jason Anderson, on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, and HRC Honda’s Cole Seely.
Before it was all over, Millsaps had slid back to seventh, finishing just ahead of his teammate Justin Brayton, Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin and Team Tedder/Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Jake Weimer.
Other notables included Christophe Pourcel who finished 12th, AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGRMX Yamaha’s Weston Peick who crashed and took 14th, and HRC Honda’s Trey Canard who simply had a terrible night. He suffered through a couple of crashes on the night, including one in his heat race that banged up his hand and another fall early in the main. He called it an early night after two laps.
“I had to charge the first five laps,” said winner Dungey. “Chad [Reed] was on it tonight, and I know he wanted to get his ninth win here in Anaheim.”
“I keep telling myself that I should appreciate second-place finishes, but I am a competitor,” said Reed. “I wanted my ninth win in Anaheim tonight, but we will keep pushing.
After three rounds, Dungey leads Reed by 13 points, and Anderson is third, just two points behind Reed.
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Anaheim, California
RESULTS: January 23, 2016
450SX Class
- Ryan Dungey, KTM
- Chad Reed, Yamaha
- Ken Roczen, Suzuki
- Eli Tomac, Kawasaki
- Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
- Cole Seely, Honda
- Davi Millsaps, KTM
- Justin Brayton, KTM
- Marvin Musquin, KTM
- Jacob Weimer, Kawasaki
450SX Class Championship Standings
- Ryan Dungey, KTM – 72
- Chad Reed, Yamaha – 59
- Jason Anderson, Husqvarna – 57
- Cole Seely, Honda – 55
- Eli Tomac, Kawasaki – 54
- Ken Roczen, Suzuki – 51
- Davi Millsaps, KTM – 36
- Justin Brayton, KTM – 35
- Jake Weimer, Kawasaki – 33
- Marvin Musquin, KTM – 31