AMA Motocross News
With the heat and humidity high, the Spring Creek National, Round 7 of the 2010 AMA Motocross series, was definitely a test of both man and machine.
Ryan Dungey and his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 both performed flawlessly at the tough and challenging Minnesota track, winning their sixth overall victory in a row. Round 7 of the AMA Pro Motocross series was a chance for Dungey to show his hometown crowd why he’s the current points leader, and he did that by being the fastest from qualifying to the finish of both motos.
Dungey was smooth, controlled, fast, and had the physical conditioning to outlast the competition. Dungey went into the day on Saturday with a 64-point lead in the championship chase, and with winning both motos he has now stretched that to 89.
Ryan Dungey says: “It was nice to pull a win off for Minnesota. We can all celebrate it together now.”
Roger DeCoster (team manager) says: “Today was awesome. And Ryan has proved now that the tougher the conditions, the better it is for him. Today was really tough, really hot, and the humidity was I think the highest it’s been this season. It looked liked riders were struggling more here than they were in Texas. But Ryan put 40 seconds on second place in the second moto and he was smooth and riding clean. He’s doing awesome.”
After qualifying the fastest, the entire crowd at the track was cheering Dungey on at the start of the first moto. He shot out of the gate on his Suzuki fuel-injected RM-Z450 and into second place as the racers starting tackling the varying obstacles of the track.
About 10 minutes into the race, Dungey made his move and took over the lead. With his superior physical conditioning and all the power he could ever need from this RM-Z, Dungey started putting time between himself and the rest of the pack. By the end of the race, he had a 20-second lead and a decisive Moto 1 win.
In the second moto, Dungey came out of the gate near fifth place, but he certainly didn’t stay there for long. In one move, he put himself in third place and then kept working on the leaders.
Eventually he found his way to the front and then, with the crowd voraciously cheering him on, he built a nearly 40-second lead by the moto’s end. With other racers succumbing to the intense heat and humidity, Dungey looked as fresh on the track at the end of Moto 2 as he did qualifying earlier in the day.
Ryan Dungey says: “To win here today and go 1-1 feels really great. I grew up here and I wanted to win, but even more than that I was just enjoying seeing everyone that I grew up with. The fans out here are really committed and they’re hardcore. To have people behind us like that is really cool, and not just for me but for our whole sport.”
Dungey’s teammate Matt Moss showed promise at the start of both motos, keeping himself in the top 10 for the first part of each race. But a nagging injury has haunted the Australian’s season, preventing him from staying up front for the entire 30-minute-plus motos. Moss finished 29th in moto 1 and 18th in the second race, putting him in 21st overall.
Round 8 of the series takes place on July 24 in Washougal, Washington. Dungey and his RM-Z450 are looking to have another great day of racing in the Pacific Northwest.
