Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team scores big at St. Louis SX

Courtesy of KTM Racing

It was a solid day of racing for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team on Saturday as Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin finished atop the podium in the 450SX class, while TLD Red Bull KTM’s Jordon Smith earned his second-straight victory in the 250SX East division for Round 13 of the AMA Supercross Championship. Dungey’s 2nd place finish allowed the three-time AMA Supercross Champion to maintain his points lead over Eli Tomac with four rounds to go in the series.

In 450SX Heat 1, Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin both got off to a great start aboard their KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION machines as they settled into the 2nd and 3rd place positions on lap one. With three laps to go, Dungey made his move on Chad Reed to take over the lead, with Musquin following suit to 2nd shortly after. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo finished out the heat race in the top two positions with three-time 450SX Champion Dungey at the helm.

Main Event
Dungey powered his KTM 450 SX-F into the holeshot and the early lead, while teammate Musquin was forced to make his way through the pack on the opening lap. Eli Tomac made the pass on Dungey to take over the early lead, while Musquin tucked into 3rd behind the lead duo.

Musquin made a few attempts to get past Dungey in the opening laps but Dungey eventually broke away as he continued to chase Tomac in the lead position. Dungey got stopped up behind a lapped rider where he lost a few seconds to Tomac in the overall running. From there, Dungey pushed hard to charge his way back to finish a hard-fought 2nd place in St. Louis.

Dungey: “I honestly am so excited about tonight. I felt like I rode awesome, we don’t win them all sometimes but I felt so good. We were catching Eli there for a bit and I was really happy with my riding. I said to myself today, unless my heart explodes I’m gonna go for it and that’s what I did. Overall I’m happy with tonight – the team Red Bull KTM guys are doing an awesome job backing me and supporting me and I’m not even disappointed. I was really pumped on tonight and excited. Tough track, tricky conditions but we’re healthy and safe moving forward and we have to build on that. I have a lot to be thankful for so I’m happy.”

Dungey added: “I definitely for sure want to win but that’s a given, we all do. Eli is tough right now. He’s riding really good, he’s in peak condition right now in his career and everything is clicking for him. So when a guy is like that he’s hard to beat. I found that out many times in my career, so that’s the challenge of racing, that’s the challenge of pushing me to get better and it tests me but it’s a good thing. Tonight was incredible, I was so pumped and I’m excited, I really am. I don’t know where this excitement is coming from but I really am. It’s step forward, I’ll take it.”

Musquin held strong to ultimately finish 3rd overall behind Dungey, claiming his eighth podium finish of the season.

Musquin: “Overall I’m having good weeks of training, good weekends and feeling good on the bike, having fun. It’s good to be up on the podium but at the same time I’m disappointed a little bit. My first lap was unreal because the start wasn’t so good and I made so many passes and I got 3rd at the end of the first lap, it was awesome. I felt like I was pushing Ryan and I was quicker – I was going fast and then I couldn’t make the pass, I feel like I tightened up a little bit. The track was really tough, I mean the dragon’s back – that’s where I crashed in practice and I didn’t want to do the same mistake. I kind of played it safe with 3rd place, that’s all I could do tonight.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Team’s Trey Canard will miss the remainder of the AMA Supercross Championship after announcing earlier this week that he has been struggling with a virus. Canard will focus on recovering and preparing for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

Next Round: April 8, 2017 – Seattle, WA (USA)

Results 450SX Class St. Louis Detroit 2017
1. Eli Tomac (USA), Kawasaki, 21:16.109 min (25 laps)
2. Ryan Dungey (USA), KTM, +6.751 sec
3. Marvin Musquin (FRA), KTM, +14.293
4. Jason Anderson (USA), Husqvarna, +25.208
5. Josh Grant (USA), Kawasaki, +39.538
Other KTM
7. Blake Baggett (USA), KTM, +45.852
13. David Millsaps (USA), KTM, 24 laps, +8.058
DNS Trey Canard (USA), KTM

Standings 450SX Class 2017 after 13 of 18 rounds
1. Dungey, 276 points
2. Tomac, 272
3. Musquin, 227
4. Cole Seely (USA), Honda, 211
5. Anderson, 188
Other KTM
6. Baggett, 163
7. Millsaps, 160
21. Canard, 51

Results 250SX East Class St. Louis 2017
1. Jordon Smith (USA), KTM, 16:29.672 min (19 laps)
2. Joey Savatgy (USA), Kawasaki, +0.446 sec
3. Zach Osborne (USA), Husqvarna, +6.173
4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA), Yamaha, +18.300
5. Christian Craig (USA), Honda, +21.602
Other KTM
DNS Alex Martin (USA), KTM

Standings 250SX East Class 2017 after 7 of 9 rounds
1. Savatgy, 144 points
2. Smith, 140
3. Osborne, 134
4. Adam Cianciarulo (USA), Kawasaki, 128
5. Ferrrandis, 104
Other KTM
11. Martin, 60

www.supercrosslive.com
www.ktm.com