Dungey Makes History With AMA Motocross Title Win

 

Team Suzuki Press Office - August 30.

Rockstar
Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey has made history by becoming the 2010 AMA
Pro Motocross Champion - and securing his second title of the year this
weekend at Southwick MX in Massachusetts.

The 20-year-old
rookie has gained enough points in the series with his complete
domination of the 450 motocross class to take home the trophy with two
races still left on the schedule. He claimed the 2010 AMA Supercross
title in May, making him the youngest rookie racer ever to do so, and
has now added the Pro Motocross championship to his list of
accomplishments, making him the only rookie ever to clinch both titles.


Dungey
has been unstoppable on his Suzuki fuel-injected RM-Z450 and has taken
home the win in the past nine races in a row and won 16 out of 20 motos


"What Ryan has done, no one has ever done before including
McGrath, Stewart and Carmichael," Said Team Manager Roger DeCoster. "No
one has ever won both the Supercross and a National Championship back
to back as a rookie. It's pretty impressive. Sometimes, because Ryan is
such a subdued nice guy, you don't really realise what a big thing that
he has done. I expect more and more perfection, but you look back and
see that he is doing things that no one has ever done before - it's
pretty impressive."

Dungey
went into Southwick focused on racing his best race, like always. He
lined up at the gate determined to give his best performance on the
sandy, technical track in Massachusetts, and at the start of moto 1,
Dungey started near the front of the pack. He moved into second place
and stayed there most of the race. During the last lap, he was battling
for the lead when the opportunity to move up presented itself and he
took the lead with less than a lap to go.

With the
championship in view, Dungey lined up for moto 2 focused on finishing
strong again. He moved into the lead early in the race and by the time
the chequered flag flew, he was more than 24 seconds ahead of second
place and clinched the title by ending the day 151 points ahead of
second place with only two races left on the schedule.

"This
feels great," Dungey said after the race. "It's a lot of hard work and
a lot of long weeks in the off season to prepare for this, but its all
the better when you pull it off and win the championship. It's not all
me, everyone on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team put 110 per cent into
everything they do and that's all I could ever ask. We work well
together and enjoy working together at the same time. It makes it fun."


"The
Suzuki family is ecstatic to add this championship to our trophy case,"
Rod Lopusnak, Suzuki's National Sales Manager for the Motorcycle
Division, said. "Looking back at the last year it is hard to find one
word other than 'Champion' to express what Ryan, the RM-Z450 and Team
Rockstar Makita Suzuki have accomplished in their rookie season!"

Yoshimura
R&D of America Vice President Don Sakakura said "Congratulations to
Ryan Dungey for his awesome, record-breaking rookie season! Ryan's
courage, superior skills, and diligent conditioning were instrumental
in his dominating motocross season and accomplishments which Ryan will
surely cherish for a lifetime. His Suzuki RM-Z450 performed flawlessly
all season long, and we must offer sincere appreciation to the Suzuki
engineering team abroad, as well Roger DeCoster and his team of race
technicians.

"It's
been a perfect season; probably a season we will remember for the rest
of our lives," DeCoster said. "It's never happened before - a rookie
has never won back-to-back championships. Ryan has done it."

Dungey
has made history winning a total of four national titles in the past
two years. He won two titles in 2009, the AMA Supercross Western
Regional Lites and the 250 Motocross championships, both on the
RM-Z250, as well as being the hero of Team USA at the Motocross of
Nations in Italy. Now with the 2010 Supercross and the Motocross title
in his possession, Dungey was named the captain of Team USA and hopes
to keep the Motocross of Nations championship in the U.S.

The next AMA Pro Motocross race takes place at Steel
City in Delmont, PA, on September 4th. And Dungey, despite having
clinched the title, will be focused on battling for the lead there.

Race images from Southwick: CLICK HERE