As the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series winds down, 450SX points leader Ryan Dungey can’t seem to win. What do we mean by this? Well, even though the KTM rider appears to be winning main events at will now, fans are slowly losing interest in this year’s series as most feel the championship is a forgone conclusion.
For the absolute die hard lovers of this sport, watching Ryan Dungey dominate this year has been an unexpected pleasure. Since his title in 2010, Dungey has seemed happy to sit back and let others lead the SX series from stadium to stadium across the USA. However, in 2015, something has been different with Dungey. Maybe it’s his new KTM450SX-F, maybe it’s his new trainer, Aldon Baker, or maybe it’s a combination of both. Maybe we’re just witnessing the evolution of one of this sport’s most cerebral riders?
For Ryan Dungey to win week in and week out, everything has to make sense and be in perfect order. So far in 2015, all ducks appear to be in a row for the nice kid from Minnesota. In this sport you don’t get to see that very often. That is why the 2015 SX series, although predictable at times, is still exciting as we’re getting to watch a true virtuoso performance. Here are my three favourite Frank Hoppen photos from round 13 in St. Louis last weekend.
Everyone always talks about how this sport has changed over the last ten years. Motorcycles have been developed to make any jump seem possible, and techniques like scrubbing are a common sight with most riders. Keeping that in mind, this photo of Justin Bogle stood out to me as a definite portrait to the modern day style that has now encapsulated this sport. Here, Bogle is leaned over, head forward and focusing on his landing spot, with his inside leg out and back for a little function paired with a lot of flair. Ten or fifteen years ago you would’ve only seen this technique if a rider was out of control, now we’re seeing it every weekend.
It’s definitely not a fluke when a rider like Ryan Dungey consistently wins in any series in this sport. It obviously takes a great deal of focus, hard work and a little luck. However, it also takes a massive amount of good technique to navigate a dirt bike around a SX track week in and week out. Here, Dungey shows his patented style as he leans his KTM over while turning around a flat, right hand corner in St. Louis. Notice where he’s sitting on his seat and where his upper body is in relation to his bike. This is a picture-perfect lesson on how to weight your outside footpeg when you need to. It’s interesting that with all the modern day style that the Justin Bogle photo is showing, the technique that Dungey is using has been around since the sport’s inception.
In every series there are always a few things that stand out as important events or as things that leave an impression. One of these things in 2015 will definitely be Andrew Short’s holeshot prowess. For the last month, the BTO Sports KTM rider has been up front almost every weekend during the start of the main events. The story was the same in St. Louis as Short grabbed the early lead around the first corner. However, this time his lead was short lived as he would make a huge mistake a few seconds later and crash heavily. Thankfully, Short was okay and will be on the gate in Houston in two weeks with another chance to extend his holeshot streak.