Moto X

Diesel power! Ryan Dungey takes Anaheim 3 win to move clear in title race

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The man they call ‘The Diesel’, Ryan Dungey on board the new for 2015 Red Bull KTM took his first win in just under a year in AMA Supercross to move clear in the points standings after a controlled ride at the final 2015 Anaheim meeting on the west coast.

2010 Supercross champion Dungey was often criticised for his supposed less aggressive approach against former rivals such as James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto, often struggling to pass riders in front of him and allowing leaders to pull gaps. But his consistency, lack of falls, staggering fitness and general speed more than make up for this perceived weakness. He has been by far the most consistent rider of the 2015 season, and now takes a handsome points lead into the next round.

Part of Dungey’s success at the third event at Angel Stadium in Anaheim was a great start and some solid moves early to pass Yoshimura Suzuki rookie Blake Baggett who then was able to hold on in second for some time and fend off rivals behind. Dungey, who was quick all night and fastest qualifier, paced his race superbly to take the red number plate and a 4 point lead over Ken Roczen into the next race, the final west coast race until later in the year, in San Diego.

Like the last round in Oakland, Roczen had a tricky night, a poor start in the main event and a real struggle getting past Baggett, then being passed by the superbly aggressive Eli Tomac late on, the rider who was so dominant in the first few rounds is now looking to get his RCH Suzuki back to that kind of form again.

Tomac on the Geico Honda put on a superb late race display, and with another lap could have had second on the tricky track that was really breaking up towards the end of the night. Tomac was consistent in trying new, different lines, and this paid off in the last 5 laps as he was able to pass Roczen.

Superb ride for second though for Cole Seely, last years 250 West runner up in his debut season on a 450 (he had a few one off rides last year) the youngster put in a faultless ride. Holding off his team-mate and previous round winner Trey Canard early on, the Team HRC Honda man had enough in hand over Tomac to score his best result of his 450 career. Canard made a mistake in the sand section, losing the front and coming in further down the top 10.

In the 250 event Cooper Webb continued his fabulous start to the season. The first race was red flagged when, most bizarrely the gate for one rider did not drop onto the floor at the start and he literally rammed through it, he rightly protested and was able to red flag the race, much to the annoyance of Webb who got his best start of the season! Webb chased points rival Jessy Nelson early on before passing him comfortably late in the race, team-mate and rookie Aaron Plessinger got his best result of the year so far in third. Big rival from the last race for Webb, Tyler Bowers had a miserable night, crashing in the main event and scoring only a handful of points.

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