Dugey and Roczen Place 2-3 at Monster Energy Cup
OutdoorHub 10.22.13
Red Bull KTM Factory riders Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen (Germany) both finished on the podium at the Monster Energy Cup at the Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas finishing second and third overall respectively after the three event motos. Teammate Marvin Musquin (France) finished a solid fifth overall in a very competitive lineup of riders.
Riders contested a three-moto format and their combined score determined the winner. Dungey grabbed the best start of the KTM riders in the opening moto, edging out Ryan Villopoto for the holeshot. Dungey and Villopoto stayed neck and neck but Dungey forgot to take the mandatory new ‘joker line’, which had to be taken at least once in each race as a special feature of the Monster Cup race.
Dungey crossed the line in first place but was penalized five positions for failing to take the joker line. This handed 2nd place to Musquin aboard his KTM 350 SX-F and 4th place to Roczen.
In moto two, both Roczen and Dungey jumped out to top five starts while Musquin was further back around mid-pack. Roczen and Dungey battled each other for a few laps before Dungey was able to move around Roczen. Dungey went on to finish third, while Roczen finished fourth. Musquin moved up a few positions from his poor start to finish ninth.
Roczen then nailed the holeshot in the final moto and led James Stewart for the first few laps before Stewart was able to make a pass for the lead. Then Dungey applied the heat onto his young German teammate and took the joker line early while Roczen and Stewart held off until the last lap to take the joker.
This tactic opened an opportunity for Dungey to slip past Roczen and go side by side with Stewart in the closing stage of the decider. Finally Stewart just edged out Dungey for the win and moved into second overall in what was a good all-round result for the US Red Bull KTM factory riders.
The riders will now take a break before beginning to gear up for the start of the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross season.
Overall Results:
- James Stewart
- Ryan Dungey, KTM
- Ken Roczen, Germany KTM
- Eli Tomac
- Marvin Musquin, France, KTM
- Cole Seely
- Broc Tickle
- Justin Barcia
- Dean Wilson
- Josh Grant
