2016 Santa Clara Supercross Results | Dungey Wins 6th

Dungey Back On Top | Santa Clara Supercross Coverage

It was another dominating supercross performance by Ryan Dungey at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., as the Red Bull/KTM rider won his Heat and led all 20 laps of the 12th Round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series. On the fast, hard, and slippery track that featured lap times in the 43-second range, Dungey lapped all but eight riders in the Main on the way to a 1.37-second win over Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen.

Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson pulled the holeshot in the Main Event, but was hit by BTO Sports/KTM’s Justin Brayton, who took a wild diagonal line down the start straight. Brayton went down (though he recovered to finish 13th), and Anderson was slowed just enough to allow Dungey to take the lead.

Roczen set out after series leader and defending Monster Energy Supercross Champion Dungey, but even though Roczen turned in the fastest lap of the night—a 43.144—he was never able to show Dungey a wheel. Roczen didn’t trail by more than one second until Lap 10, though Dungey began to pull away on Lap 8. Dungey built up a lead of over two seconds by Lap 16, and cruised to the win.

Anderson had a lonely ride in 3rd, though Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Chad Reed did close the gap to two seconds by the end. Reed had to pick up his pace at the close, as he was being hotly pursued by Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard. Canard came up just a third of a second short of catching Reed at the checkered flag.

GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle, who was battling for the lead with Dungey very early on, faded quickly, eventually settling into 6th position—the best finish of his rookie 450SX season. Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, who was the fastest qualifier in the afternoon, had to qualify out of the Semi, and got a terrible 16th place start. He battled up to 7th place, taking it away from Autotrader/Monster Energy/Yamaha’s Weston Peick on Lap 16. Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Jake Weimar finished 9th, and Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Blake Baggett scored his first top 10 finish of the year.

Yoshimura/Suzuki’s James Stewart returned to action after getting injured at Daytona. Stewart qualified out of his Heat, but bike problems in the Main ended his night after he ran as high as 6th place. Also coming back from injury was Autotrader/Monster Energy/Yamaha’s Justin Barcia. Barcia never looked comfortable in the qualifying races and finished a distant 16th place, one position ahead of Red Bull/KTM’s Marvin Musquin, who ran in 6th on Lap 2 before slowing sliding down the order.

Notable riders sitting out the Santa Clara Supercross due to injury were Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely, BTO Sports/KTM’s Davi Millsaps, and Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Christophe Pourcel.

Photography by Simon Cudby.

2016 Monster Energy Supercross 450SX Results, Santa Clara, Calif.

1. Ryan Dungey, KTM
2. Ken Roczen, Suzuki
3. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
4. Chad Reed, Yamaha
5. Trey Canard, Honda
6. Justin Bogle, Honda
7. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki
8. Weston Peick, Yamaha
9. Jake Weimer, Suzuki
10. Blake Baggett, Suzuki
11. Mike Alessi, Honda
12. Josh Grant, Kawasaki
13. Justin Brayton, KTM
14. Josh Hansen, Kawasaki
15. Vince Friese, Honda
16. Justin Barcia, Yamaha
17. Marvin Musquin, KTM
18. Nick Wey, Kawasaki
19. Cade Clason, Honda
20. Nick Schmidt, Suzuki
21. Alex Ray, Honda
22. James Stewart, Suzuki

450SX Class Championship Standings (after 12 of 17 rounds)

1. Ryan Dungey, 278 points (6 wins)
2. Ken Roczen, 236 (3 wins)
3. Jason Anderson, 220 (2 wins)
4. Eli Tomac, 200 (1 win)
5. Marvin Musquin, 182
6. Chad Reed, 178
7. Cole Seely, 173
8. Justin Brayton, 136
9. Trey Canard, 120
10. Davi Millsaps, 105

Next Round: Monster Energy AMA Supercross Round 13, Lucas Oil Stadium, April 9, 2016.
TV Schedule: Fox Sports 1, 7pm ET