Ryan Dungey joined an elite class of riders on Saturday who've won Supercross and Motocross Championships in the same year. Twice.
All but a foregone conclusion several weeks ago that Dungey would win his third 450 class Motocross Championship it was just a matter of what round and after which Moto. He answered with a resounding Moto 1 win during Round 11 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT.
Like all the other rounds this season, Dungey wasn't the fastest on the start with Justin Barcia grabbing the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award just as he's done nearly all year. He didn't stay out in front for long as defending Champion Ken Roczen's repeat hopes pretty much dashed at this point, looked to stave off Dungey's title ride for the final round and took off with an early lead.
But like Dungey has done almost every round this season, he methodically worked his way to the front, looked for his opening and grabbed it with less than five minutes remaining. Even with a second-place win Dungey would have enjoyed his Championship winning moment but finishing runner-up in a Championship clinching race seems, well, so not Dungey like.
If that were not enough Dungey put on the same performance in Moto 2. This time Phil Nicoletti grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award before losing the lead to Roczen who again held on for much of the race until Dungey patiently waited for the mistake, got around Roczen and took the lead.
"It's been a dream season for sure," Dungey said. "Being here and accomplishing this, it doesn't stop here. (I've) got a lot more I want to do in this sport and take over that leadership role of this sport."
Dungey joins the likes of Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto, and Bob Hannah as riders who've won Supercross and Motocross crowns in the same year twice. He wrapped up the 2015 Supercross Championship three rounds early. He last did the title sweep in 2010 as a rookie in the 450 class. He also won the 250 class Championship for both series in 2009. The two Moto wins on Saturday extended Dungey's streak to five straight and he's got 12 for the season. He's won six overalls for the year.
Roczen posted his best racing since his win at High Point finishing second in both Motos for second overall. He closed the gap on Barcia for second-place to seven points. Barcia finished third overall after a (5-3) day beating Blake Baggett (4-4) for the tie-breaker. Barcia and Roczen have their place on the Championship podium it's now just a fight for who places where. Baggett should lock up fourth-place after a strong Moto 1 next week at Indiana.
Fredrik Noren before breaking his hand that ended Moto 1 and his season
Fredrik Noren, MotoSport's only rider in the 450 class, is off the bike for four to six weeks after a rock broke his hand 13 laps into Moto 1. Tommy Hahn bowed out of the season prior to Round 10 after sustaining a concussion in practice.
It's possible the race for the 250 Championship could get more exciting but whatever scenario is dreamed up Hollywood couldn't match it. Defending Champion Jeremy Martin somehow retained his two-point lead over Marvin Musquin heading into the final round next week but he had to work for it and had a little friendly help.
In Moto 1, Martin got stuck behind Mitchell Oldenburg and last week's overall winner Joey Savatgy when those two banged bars and went down on the first turn. Once he finally got around them, he was near last with his repeat hopes fading as RJ Hampshire led the field followed by Musquin and Cooper Webb close behind. Musquin took a huge step towards the title on Lap 9 after passing Hampshire with Webb then taking second.
Meanwhile, Martin began picking off riders in his attempt to get back into the thick of things. He passed Shane McElrath with less than 14 minutes remaining for 10th and managed to work his way into fourth. On the last lap Hampshire fell just short of the finish line giving third-place to Martin. Musquin won for the 10th time this season and Webb took second. Briefly, the points swung back in favor of Musquin.
In Moto 2, Martin grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot and looked to check out but a crash forced a red flag restart and the riders turned around. This time it was Musquin taking the holeshot and he looked to check out for a sweep as Martin got stuck outside the Top 5. Webb, however, was looking for a win and grabbed the lead from Musquin.
Halfway through the Moto, Martin caught up to Musquin taking the long way around a corner to pass and shortly after caught up to his teammate, Webb, who said after the race that he "stalled" - with a grin - which gave Martin the lead, the Moto win, the overall and the tie in points with Musquin which retained the two-point lead he held over Musquin entering the weekend.
"We're ending here today on a high note," Martin said. "I rode good today on the second Moto. I wish I would have lined up a little bit further on the gate on Moto 1."
Webb, who gave up the overall win after letting Martin pass, finished third overall after a (2-2) day. Aaron Plessinger took fourth and Mathew Bisceglia rounded out the Top 5.
Toshiki Tomita finished 12th overall in his last race of the season
As for MotoSport riders, Toshiki Tomita ended his string of dates in Motocross on a high noted with a (15-13) day and 12th overall. He's headed back to Japan but Guy Cooper, team manager for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda team, said he'd like to see him back next year.
Chase Marquier, fresh off a fifth-place performance in the 250A class and eighth in the Open Pro Sport at Loretta Lynn's a few weeks ago, took 16th overall after a (14-19) day.
"He did awesome," Cooper said. "We knew coming from Loretta's he's going to get tired. For the first 15 minutes in both Motos he was running in the Top 10 for lap times. I'm really happy he's got in-traffic speed."
Cooper said Marquier's fitness won't be much improved to tackle Pro Motocross after another week but thinks Marquier can get into the Top 10.
Chase Marquier impressed in his first Motocross race this season
Kyle Peters did not race after his bike bogged on a 130 foot jump during practice last week. He went over the bars and it was thought he pulled some ligaments in his thumb but the swelling is down and Peters wants to ride the final round on Saturday.
The 2015 Motocross season concludes Saturday at the Ironman in Crawfordsville, IN. An all-star cast of riders participate in the first-ever Legends Race featuring Ricky Carmichael, Tim Ferry, Jeff Stanton, Kevin Windham and our very own Guy Cooper, among others.
Gates drop for Moto 1 of Round 12 at 1 p.m. EST. Buy tickets online and check out the full broadcast schedule.
2015 Utah National Motocross Results
Utah National 450 Class Results
- Ryan Dungey (1-1)
- Ken Roczen (2-2)
- Justin Barcia (5-3)
- Blake Baggett (4-4)
- Broc Tickle (3-7)
- Trey Canard (7-6)
- Dean Wilson (10-5)
- Josh Grant (8-8)
- Christophe Pourcel (9-9)
- Phil Nicoletti (10-12)
Utah National 250 Class Results
- Jeremy Martin (3-1)
- Marvin Musquin (1-3)
- Cooper Webb (2-2)
- Aaron Plessinger (4-4)
- Matt Bisceglia (6-6)
- Zach Osborne (9-5)
- RJ Hampshire (7-7)
- Alex Martin (8-8)
- Joey Savatgy (5-11)
- Jessy Nelson (11-9)
2015 Motocross Season Standings
450 Class Standings
- Ryan Dungey (500) - 2015 Motocross Champion
- Justin Barcia (407)
- Ken Roczen (402)
- Blake Baggett (333)
- Christophe Pourcel (291)
- Broc Tickle (287)
- Jason Anderson (283)
- Phillip Nicoletti (229)
- Weston Peick (223)
- Fredrik Noren (206) - MotoSport rider
250 Class Standings
- Jeremy Martin (461)
- Marvin Musquin (459)
- Joey Savatgy (310)
- Zach Osborne (305)
- Jessy Nelson (288)
- Alex Martin (287)
- Aaron Plessinger (264)
- Shane McElrath (228)
- Matthew Bisceglia (225)
- Cooper Webb (221)
