Even Superman makes mistakes.
Ryan Dungey grabbed the holeshot, quivered a bit after banging bars with Marvin Musquin on the first lap then grabbed the lead on Lap 2 after putting on a clinic through the whoops and flew to the finish line taking a commanding win for Round 11 of the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross series on Saturday in Detroit at Ford Field.
At least on paper.
After the race, Dungey, the defending Champion, was docked two spots after jumping when officials waved the Red Cross flag on Lap 7 for a downed rider. The penalty negated his win and dropped him to third-place but kept his record podium streak intact, now at 27. The result gives Jason Anderson his first win since the opener at Anaheim and Marvin Musquin took second for the second straight week.
"There was no way for Ryan to see him (the official)," said Roger Decoster, team manager for Red Bull KTM in an interview with VitalMX. "He saw something from his eye when he hit the small jump and when he looked back he saw that a flag was out. For Ryan it's really bad because he gets penalized for something he couldn't see."
Jason Anderson held his own in Detroit and was awarded first-place after the race.
The third-place result is Dungey's second straight and he hasn't won a round since Atlanta. Dungey last went three straight rounds or more without winning at the start of the 2015 season when he opened the year without taking a win until Round 5. But still...
The shake-up on the podium doesn't impact the Championship standings much. Dungey adds five points to his lead over Ken Roczen who endured another bad start, outside the Top 10, but managed to finish in sixth. Dungey now leads Roczen by 39 points, instead of 44 points, had he won. Musquin who followed Dungey the whole race fell towards the end allowing Anderson by for second and ultimately the win.
"I definitely got out to a good start," Anderson said. "I just worked my way up. It felt like me, Ryan and Marvin, just another day at the practice track and seems like we were going to same speed."
Anderson, Musquin and Dungey train and practice together during the week. Musquin's second-place result is another bittersweet ending for the rookie who is looking for his first win in the 450 class. In Atlanta he led the entire race before tangling with James Stewart on the last lap which forced Musquin off the track and allowed Dungey to take the win. Musquin has four straight podiums and is in fifth-place in the standings just eight points behind Eli Tomac who finished fifth for the second straight week after grabbing his first win of the season in Daytona.
Marvin Musquin held on to second in Detroit for much of the race before falling and finishing third but the penalty imposed on Ryan Dungey officially put him back in second.
Musquin also hit the dirt pretty hard in his Heat race which kept him from transferring to the Main early but he bounced back to take his first career Semi win. The likely Rookie of the Year said it was a rough day overall, he struggled in the whoops and rode tight on the slick track.
Elsewhere, Chad Reed bounced back from a get-off in Toronto at the start which netted him a DNF. Reed finished second in his Semi and took fourth in the Main, his best finish since a third-place in Atlanta. Reed is seventh in the standings.
Trey Canard won his Heat race, qualified second, finished eighth and most of all left Detroit unscathed.
Trey Canard managed to finish eighth after essentially starting last when he got squeezed out at the start and then went off the track halfway through the Main when he and Blake Baggett came together. It was the Detroit round last year that ended Canard's season when Jake Weimer came down on him during their Semi race. Canard finally broke into the Top 10 for points after crashing in the Main at Anaheim 2 and missing the following two rounds. Coincidentally, Weimer posted a DNF on Saturday after going down in the Main.
The 250SX East class did have a big shakeup in the standings as Malcolm Stewart who raced feeling unwell, passed Aaron Plessinger, who grabbed the holeshot, and led for 12 laps winning by nearly six seconds over Plessinger for his second career win. Stewart took the points lead with five rounds remaining in the class.
Malcolm Stewart got his second career win in Detroit and now holds the red plate.
"It's unbelievable, coming out and being sick," he said. "All of a sudden I turn the race around, I'm just happy. Hands off to my brother (James). I definitely can't thank him enough. We talked after the Heat race and he said 'Go out there and ride your race don't worry about nobody else' and look where it got us. On top of the box."
Jeremy Martin, points leader coming into Detroit banged into Martin Davalos at the start sending him to the dirt which caused Tyler Bowers to land on him. It was the second week in a row Martin crashed at the start but the finish this time was drastically different.
Jeremy Martin spent time on the ground and in the pits giving him a 13th place finish in Detroit.
Unlike Toronto where Martin blazed through the field and managed a second-place, in Detroit he fell again during the Main and had to make a pit stop. The rough evening gave Martin a 13th place finish and the loss of the red plate, but things could have been worse. Justin Hill, who won last week and was just two points back of Martin, crashed during practice and did not race. He dropped to fourth-place just two points ahead of Davalos, who won the opening round in Atlanta and lost his hold on first-place after missing Toronto. Davalos took fifth in Detroit.
Plessinger's second-place result tied a career best and puts him into third-place in the standings. Shane McElrath got onto the podium for the first time this season with his third-place finish.
Supercross takes a week off and returns April 2 in Santa Clara at Levi's Stadium where the 250SX West class resumes and could crown a Champion though it's more likely going down to the final round in Las Vegas.
2016 Monster Energy Supercross Detroit Results
Detroit Supercross 450SX Class Results
- Jason Anderson
- Marvin Musquin
- Ryan Dungey
- Chad Reed
- Eli Tomac
- Ken Roczen
- Weston Peick
- Trey Canard
- Mike Alessi
- Justin Bogle
Detroit Supercross 250SX East Class Results
- Malcolm Stewart
- Aaron Plessinger
- Shane McElrath
- Tyler Bowers
- Martin Davalos
- Gannon Audette
- RJ Hampshire
- Paul Coates
- Cedric Soubeyras
- Jesse Wentland
2016 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ryan Dungey (253)
- Ken Roczen (214)
- Jason Anderson (200)
- Eli Tomac (186)
- Marvin Musquin (178)
- Cole Seely (173)
- Chad Reed (160)
- Justin Brayton (128)
- Davi Millsaps (105)
- Trey Canard (104)
250SX East Class Season Standings
- Malcolm Stewart (80)
- Jeremy Martin (73)
- Aaron Plessinger (67)
- Justin Hill (63)
- Martin Davalos (61)
- Tyler Bowers (53)
- RJ Hampshire (44)
- Matt Bisceglia (41)
- Jesse Wentland (41)
- Gannon Audette (41)
