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Supercross & Motocross
SX: The Holeshot - Washougal
While still the man at Washougal, it turns out Ryan Dungey is human after all.
(Photo: Hoppenworld.com)
There’s at least one thing we did learn in Washougal last weekend -- Ryan Dungey is in fact human.
After an utterly dominant stretch of 10 consecutive premier class moto wins (resulting in five straight overall victories), Dungey’s streak came to an end in the Pacific Northwest in the day's first moto.
And the man who finally slowed the Red Bull KTM freight train was none other than Mike Alessi, who’s been knocking on the door all season long.
Alessi's accomplishments were highlighted here at SPEED.com just a couple weeks back, and Mike went out and demanded that he get credit where credit is due by fending off Dungey for 35 minutes.
That was a hard-earned victory, as Dungey was about as all over a guy as one can possibly be, but he never managed to make a pass stick. Alessi’s counters were too effective and his impressive resistance ultimately forced Dungey into a rare mistake that proved to be the deciding moment of the moto.
While it was surprising given his recent dominance that Dungey struggled to find a way past Alessi, it made for one of the most exciting races of the season. The battle brought back memories of James Stewart and Dungey at Freestone earlier this season and was reminiscent to what we saw in the first moto last year between Dungey and Ryan Villopoto in which a similar mistake by Dungey cost him the win.
However, just like in year’s past at Washougal, Dungey leveraged the resultant frustration to fuel his fire for the second moto, in which he came out blazing and left little doubt who remains the top rider at Washougal. In fact, despite winning for the last five years at Washougal, Dungey has only swept the motos once (2010), often needing a strong effort in the final moto to solidify the victory.
Even though he appeared to be the faster rider throughout the first moto, coming up short provided something of a reality check for Ryan. He’s been virtually untouchable since the third round of the season and winning by the margins in which he’s won can work against a rider. No matter how hard a racer works against becoming complacent out on the track, sometimes it just happens. Getting beat brings everything back into focus in a hurry and rejuvenates that drive to dominate.
This idea of getting comfortable is what makes the perfect seasons of Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart so remarkable. To continue to race at such a relentless level for 24 straight motos is much easier said than done. Stewart’s bid was put in major jeopardy at Unadilla in 1998 by unknown Cody Cooper, while Carmichael let a third perfect season slip out of his grasp in 2005 by dropping a pair of motos. These riders made dominating look easy even though it's obvious that it's not -- even for the all-timers.
You have to admire Alessi for giving everything he had to score that win. It was a huge personal victory for him, ending a winless drought that dates back to the opening round of 2010, while also serving as one of the bigger underdog victories of all time for the MotoConcepts team. He’s been the one rider to consistently challenge Dungey this season, and while most of the time he’s given in to the pressure, he refused to lay down last weekend and was rewarded for his supreme efforts. While it ended up taking most of the energy out of his tank for the second moto, it was a big statement that will have tremendous long-term impact for Mike and his team. I expect to see more of the same from this camp as the season winds down.
Despite having his moto streak come to an end, Dungey is still on pace to improve upon the statistics from his championship-winning season in 2010. While winning out would duplicate his victory total from that season, Dungey still has the ability to earn more moto wins and compile more points than he did during his epic rookie campaign. At this point in 2010, Dungey had 368 total points. Currently, he sits at 383.
After an utterly dominant stretch of 10 consecutive premier class moto wins (resulting in five straight overall victories), Dungey’s streak came to an end in the Pacific Northwest in the day's first moto.
And the man who finally slowed the Red Bull KTM freight train was none other than Mike Alessi, who’s been knocking on the door all season long.
Alessi's accomplishments were highlighted here at SPEED.com just a couple weeks back, and Mike went out and demanded that he get credit where credit is due by fending off Dungey for 35 minutes.
That was a hard-earned victory, as Dungey was about as all over a guy as one can possibly be, but he never managed to make a pass stick. Alessi’s counters were too effective and his impressive resistance ultimately forced Dungey into a rare mistake that proved to be the deciding moment of the moto.
While it was surprising given his recent dominance that Dungey struggled to find a way past Alessi, it made for one of the most exciting races of the season. The battle brought back memories of James Stewart and Dungey at Freestone earlier this season and was reminiscent to what we saw in the first moto last year between Dungey and Ryan Villopoto in which a similar mistake by Dungey cost him the win.
However, just like in year’s past at Washougal, Dungey leveraged the resultant frustration to fuel his fire for the second moto, in which he came out blazing and left little doubt who remains the top rider at Washougal. In fact, despite winning for the last five years at Washougal, Dungey has only swept the motos once (2010), often needing a strong effort in the final moto to solidify the victory.
Even though he appeared to be the faster rider throughout the first moto, coming up short provided something of a reality check for Ryan. He’s been virtually untouchable since the third round of the season and winning by the margins in which he’s won can work against a rider. No matter how hard a racer works against becoming complacent out on the track, sometimes it just happens. Getting beat brings everything back into focus in a hurry and rejuvenates that drive to dominate.
This idea of getting comfortable is what makes the perfect seasons of Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart so remarkable. To continue to race at such a relentless level for 24 straight motos is much easier said than done. Stewart’s bid was put in major jeopardy at Unadilla in 1998 by unknown Cody Cooper, while Carmichael let a third perfect season slip out of his grasp in 2005 by dropping a pair of motos. These riders made dominating look easy even though it's obvious that it's not -- even for the all-timers.
You have to admire Alessi for giving everything he had to score that win. It was a huge personal victory for him, ending a winless drought that dates back to the opening round of 2010, while also serving as one of the bigger underdog victories of all time for the MotoConcepts team. He’s been the one rider to consistently challenge Dungey this season, and while most of the time he’s given in to the pressure, he refused to lay down last weekend and was rewarded for his supreme efforts. While it ended up taking most of the energy out of his tank for the second moto, it was a big statement that will have tremendous long-term impact for Mike and his team. I expect to see more of the same from this camp as the season winds down.
Despite having his moto streak come to an end, Dungey is still on pace to improve upon the statistics from his championship-winning season in 2010. While winning out would duplicate his victory total from that season, Dungey still has the ability to earn more moto wins and compile more points than he did during his epic rookie campaign. At this point in 2010, Dungey had 368 total points. Currently, he sits at 383.
SX Seattle
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