Ryan Dungey races to third victory in the 2012 AMA Supercross season
American professional rider Ryan Dungey managed to claim top honours in the 16th race of the 2012 Monster Energy American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Supercross, an International Motorcyclist Federation (FIM) World Championships, which went
down at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday, April 28.
While the KTM rider finished in first place, Joe Gibbs Racing’s (JGR)/Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps secured runner-up place whereas Kawasaki rider Jake Weimer took third position to round out the podium.
With Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed, Ryan Canard and James Stewart absent from the line-up for Saturday’s main event, Dungey did not the heavy-weights to worry about. He had just made his return to the series in Seattle last week after recovering from a broken
collarbone and thus was still looking to find his form and rhythm.
However, there were still plenty of talented FMX riders in contention for top honours in Saturday’s race, which was expected to offer a strong challenge to the KTM rider.
As the main event got underway, Dungey got off to a decent start. However, he got knocked down to the ground while attempting to overtake Kawasaki’s Weiner in the eighth lap. He fell back a few positions during the time he took to remount his bike, but rather
than losing hope, he pushed himself hard and gradually began to move closer to the guy in front, Millsaps.
The JGR/Yamaha rider Millsaps had moved into the lead during the first lap and since then rode exceptionally well to maintain his position.
However, Dungey managed to pass Millsaps with just two laps left. Once moving into the front, the California-based rider held on to his position to race to his third win of the season, leaving Millsaps to settle for second place.
“It was great racing out there tonight, and I really dug deep,” Dungey said. “I didn't see [the pass] coming and that was my fault. My front wheel got a barrier in the corner and I went down. My focus was to run him down, and I did. I had a tough part of
the middle of the season, and I knew I had the speed tonight. I just needed to be patient.”
With the conclusion of the latest race, Dungey moved to fourth place with 232 points, while Millsaps moved to second place with 244 points. Villopoto, sitting in first place with 323 points, has already sealed the deal with nine victories in the 2012 AMA
Supercross season.
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