Motocross
The Numbers Behind Ryan Dungey's 450 Championship
Once again, Ryan Dungey is the 450 AMA National champion. Here's how he did it.
Dungey on the gas at Unadilla
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
For the third time, Ryan Dungey is the AMA Pro Motocross 450 series champion. In unbelievably decisive fashion, Dungey clinched the title in Moto 1 this weekend at the Utah National at Miller Motorsports Park, just outside of Salt Lake City, UT. He entered the race with a 79-point lead over Justin Barcia, meaning that a second or better in the first moto mathematically guaranteed him the title. Here’s how Dungey sealed the deal on his most fruitful season ever in professional motocross.
All in the Name
Ryan Dungey has acquired a new nickname in 2015: The Diesel; and no, it’s not because he makes loud noises at inopportune times. Dungey’s M.O. for his entire pro career has been simple: he rides his own race, doesn’t worry about what anyone around him is doing, and just keeps going and going like some sort of ninja moto robot. Dungey is often not the fastest rider on the day, but more often than not, he comes out on top.
2nd: That'll play.
In the first two rounds of the 2015 Nationals, Eli Tomac destroyed everyone in the 450 class, including Ryan Dungey. But RD did not hit the panic button, as many, many of his more hotheaded competitors would be inclined to. He kept doing his own thing, and keeping his pace where he likes it, knowing that 24 motos is a long series, and Eli Tomac has not had the staying power to complete an entire series since his 2013 250 championship. Sure enough, at round three at Thunder Valley, Tomac hit the ground in spectacular fashion in Moto 2, ending his season and handing the keys to the bandwagon to Ryan Dungey.
18 podiums
When Dungey won the 2015 AMA Supercross title, he did so by scoring 16 straight podium rides, an astounding statistic considering no other rider even cracked the top 10 in 16 straight races. A look at Ryan’s results in the Outdoor Nationals this year shows that his consistency in Supercross was no fluke: in 20 motos thus far in 2015, Dungey has finished no worse than second in 18. His only two finishes outside the top two were Moto 1 at Glen Helen (when he had bike problems on the last lap, while running second) and Moto 2 at Budds Creek, where the muddy conditions led to a nasty crash on lap one. Not since the days of James Stewart’s and Ricky Carmichael’s perfect seasons has American motocross seen this type of consistency.
Let the celebration begin
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
80%
While Dungey very rarely comments on his strategy on the racetrack, keen eyes can tell what he is doing. The Dunge seems to never escape his comfort zone; if there’s a jump or section on the track that he is not comfortable with, he will not push the envelope, even if his competitors are. Naysayers often criticize Ryan for his sometimes lackadaisical style on the track; Dungey seems to ride at around 80% at all times, allowing him to relax, stay smooth, and most importantly, limit mistakes. The scary implication here is that Ryan Dungey most likely has even more speed at his disposal, he just chooses not to unleash it. James Stewart once said that he never rides a Supercross track at 100%, simply because the ride would be too sketchy, and the likelihood of crashing out would be too high. Ryan Dungey seems to subscribe to a similar philosophy on the track.
What's next?
The icing on the cake of 2015 is that we will see Ryan Dungey race against the rest of the world's best at the USGP at Glen Helen in September. Ryan Villopoto bowed out of his first and only attempt at a world title, and while Dungey has no plans of following in RV's footsteps, the USGP at Glen Helen will be his chance to prove that he is definitively the best (active) motocross rider on the planet.