Dungey Wins Atlanta; Heartbreak for Musquin
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin took the lead on Lap 1, and led every single lap of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Main at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, except one. Unfortunately for Musquin, the single lap he did not lead was the final lap, and teammate Ryan Dungey took his fifth win of the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross season.
Dungey took his time reeling in Musquin, though Dungey did make his way to the front quickly. While he was 5th after the first lap, Dungey moved up to second by the end of Lap 2. From there, Dungey hounded Musquin for the remainder of the race, until he was given unlikely assistance.
Reed, who hadn’t been on the podium since Round 3 (Anaheim 2), had a surprisingly uneventful ride, after a bit of dicing early on with BTO Sports KTM’s Justin Brayton and Jason Anderson. Brayton scored the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award after taking a Heat win earlier.
Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen was coming off two wins in the last three races, as well as five consecutive podiums. However, a 16th place start meant slugging it out through the pack. He eventually finished 6th, dropping him 33 points behind Dungey in the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross standings.
Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson and Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely were in a battle with Brayton for 4th place early on when Anderson and Seely came together. Both went down, taking them out of contention for the podium. Anderson’s 7th and Seely’s 10th were their worst finishes of the year, and Anderson’s first time out of the top 5 this season.
GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle started 9th and worked his way up a spot by the end. Along the way he passed Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, who went down in Lap 2, along with Smartop MotoConcept’s Mike Alessi. Tomac recovered to finish 11th (his worst result of 2016) and Alessi faded to 13th.
Although he was the fasted qualifier, Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Christophe Pourcel struggled in his Heat and barely qualified out of the Semi. Still, Pourcel took his 18th gate pick and converted it into a 13th place at the start. From there, he moved up to 9th at the finish, his second top 10 in a row.
A nasty Heat race crash ended the night early for BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short, Autotrader/Monster Energy Yamaha’s Phil Nicoletti, and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Wil Hahn. All three went down hard, with Short being carried off the track.
Photography by Simon Cudby
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Results – Round 8 – Atlanta
1. Ryan Dungey – KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
2. Marvin Musquin – KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
3. Chad Reed – Yamaha YZ450F
4. Davi Millsaps – KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
5. Justin Brayton – KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
6. Ken Roczen – Suzuki RM-Z450
7. Jason Anderson – Husqvarna FC 450
8. Justin Bogle – Honda CRF450R
9. Christophe Pourcel – Husqvarna FC 450
10. Cole Seely – Honda CRF450R
11. Eli Tomac – Kawasaki KX450F
12. Weston Peick – Yamaha YZ450F
13. Mike Alessi – Honda CRF450R
14. James Stewart – Suzuki RM-Z450
15. Vince Friese – Honda CRF450R
16. Trey Canard – Honda CRF450R
17. Jake Weimer – Suzuki RM-Z450
18. Kyle Cunningham – Suzuki RM-Z450
19. Tommy Hahn – Yamaha YZ450F
20. Nick Schmidt – Suzuki RM-Z450
21. AJ Catanzaro – Kawasaki KX450F
22. Heath Harrison – Kawasaki KX450F
2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 8 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey – 191 points (5 wins)
2. Ken Roczen – 158 points (2 wins)
3. Jason Anderson – 145 points (1 win)
4. Cole Seely – 134
5. Chad Reed – 132
6. Eli Tomac – 129
7. Marvin Musquin – 114
8. Davi Millsaps – 103
9. Justin Brayton – 98
10. Jake Weimer – 77
11. Christophe Pourcel – 64
12. Trey Canard – 62
13. Wil Hahn – 56
14. Weston Peick – 49
15. Mike Alessi – 48
16. Vince Friese – 32
17. Justin Bogle – 31
18. Dean Wilson – 18
19. Tommy Hahn – 18
20. Broc Tickle – 17
Next Monster Energy Supercross round:
March 5, 2016: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, Florida
TV Schedule: Fox Sports 1, 7pm ET