DUNGEY SEIZES POINTS LEAD AS JAMES STEWART HAS HUGE CRASH AT THUNDER VALLEY, AND RAPTOR TITANIUM SPONSORED RIDERS ON THE TOP STEP OF THE PODIUM AGAIN AS JUSTIN BARCIA TAKES OVERALL WIN IN 250 CLASS

Round 3 of the AMA Motocross Championship got underway at Thunder Valley, Colorado last weekend with Yoshimura Suzuki's James Stewart and Raptor Titanium's Ryan Dungey of KTM Red Bull USA having had some epic clashes so far, with Stewart coming out on top in the first two rounds with almost unraceable speed and technique to claim a perfect 100 points, reminiscent of his 2008 campaign where he won every single race of the season. Dungey has never been too far behind though and this time was determined to put a stop to Stewart's dominance, unfortunatley it wasn't to be in head-to-head racing as a disastrous mistake from Stewart in the opening 450 moto meant he injured his wrist and so logged two DNF's in both races, handing the points lead to Dungey and is now pegged back to third place in the points standings, uncertain of whether he will participate in the next round at High Point next week, tied with Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Mike Alessi of Motoconcepts Suzuki, with Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jake Weimar being promoted to second in the title hunt, just one point ahead of Stewart and Alessi.

450 Motocross Class

Dungey had a reasonable start in the first 450 race a few places behind James Stewart who took the hole-shot, then Tommy Hahn and Jake Weimar in third with Dungey in fourth. Because of Stewart's crash, Dungey's main rival was out of contention and the KTM Red Bull USA rider swept easily to victory with Weimar in 2nd, Stewart's Suzuki team-mate Brett Metcalfe in 3rd and then a string of Raptor Titanium riders with Mike Alessi in 4th, Nico Izzi of Star Valli Yamaha in 5th and his team-mate Ryan Sipes in 6th.

The second 450 moto was Dungey's to lose as it was confirmed James Stewart would not race, and the KTM Red Bull USA man grabbed the opportunity with both hands and cruised to victory in the second race, going 1-1 on the day, taking the red plate and a 35-point lead over next man Jake Weimar in the championship.


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Ryan Dungey

450 Motocross Results

1. Ryan Dungey 1/1 KTM
2. Jake Weimer 2/4 KAW
3. Andrew Short 7/2 HON
4. Nico Izzi 5/5 YAM
5. Brett Metcalfe 3/10 SUZ
6. Mike Alessi 4/9 SUZ
7. Justin Brayton 9/6 HON
8. Michael Byrne 12/7 SUZ
9. B Laninovich 11/8 HON
10. K Chisholm 10/11 KAW
11. Broc Tickle KAW
12. Matt Lemoine KAW
13. Shane Sewell KTM
14. Josh Grant KAW
15. Ryan Sipes YAM
16. D Anderson KAW
17. Ben LaMay YAM
18. Vince Friese SUZ
19. Les Smith KTM
20. J Albertson SUZ


250 Lites Class

The 250 Lites Class was as aggressive and fast-paced as ever, with the elements contributing their own addition to the drama with thunder and lightning accompanying the feverish gate drop on the first race after a postponement due to the adverse weather conditions. After a while, the weather firmed up and the riders were able to race.

Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen were quickest off the mark round the first corner, with Roczen's team-mate and fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Marvin Musquin in close third and Rockstar Suzuki and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Blake Wharton in fourth. Roczen pushed Barcia right until the chequered flag, but couldn't find a way around the Geico Honda man, settling for 2nd place with Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Blake Baggett in 3rd, Raptor Titanium sponsored rider and last week's overall winner Eli Tomac in 4th ahead of a Raptor Titanium sponsored rider-packed top ten, with Musquin in 5th, Wharton in 6th, Jake Canada in 6th, Kyle Cunningham in 8th and Wil Hahn in 9th.

The second 250 Lites moto saw Barcia grab another holeshot of the day, seeming to excel in the tough conditions with a string of Raptor Titanium sponsored riders behind him once again off the gate with Roczen in second, Tomac in 4th, Musquin in 5th and Hart and Huntington Kawasaki and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Ivan Tedesco in 6th having a great ride in his return season to the 250 class. It wasn't to be all Barcia's way again though as Blake Baggett had other ideas, lapping insanely fast lap times towards the midway point in the race (almost 3 seconds a lap faster than the next rider) and made it count, dispatching the East Lites SX and MX2 World champions' Barcia and Roczen with ease and moving into the lead. Soon after, Roczen asserted superior speed and technique over Barcia and passed the Geico Honda man into second place but there was no catching Baggett who took the win and overall 2nd, Barcia's 1-3 result good enough to see him onto the top step of the podium. Roczen's 2-2 result was good enough to get him 3rd on the podium once again and keeps him third in the title race, three points behind Barcia and still well in the title hunt.

250 Lites Results

1. Justin Barcia 1/2 HON
2. Blake Baggett 3/1 KAW
3. Ken Roczen 2/4 KTM
4. Eli Tomac 4/3 HON
5. M Musquin 5/5 KTM
6. M Stewart 8/6 KTM
7. Blake Wharton 6/9 SUZ
8. Wil Hahn 10/7 HON
9. K Cunningham YAM
10. Jake Canada 7/14 HON
11. Ivan Tedesco 14/8 KAW
12. G Swanepoel YAM
13. J Anderson SUZ
14. Travis Baker HON
15. Hunter Hewitt SUZ
16. Jessy Nelson HON
17. Alex Martin HON
18. Zach Freeberg KTM
19. Kyle Peters YAM
20. P Nicoletti HON


Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Justin Barcia


2012 Thunder Valley 250 Lites Podium

Raptor Titanium sponsored riders now sit 2nd to 10th place in the 250 Lites standings and are leading the 450 Motocross standings with Ryan Dungey holding the red plate!

450 Motocross Points

Ryan Dungey 136
Jake Weimer 101
James Stewart 100
Mike Alessi 100
Andrew Short 97
Brett Metcalfe 84
Josh Grant 73
Nico Izzi 71
Broc Tickle 63
Kyle Chisholm 50
Justin Brayton 46
Michael Byrne 41
Matt Lemoine 39
Tommy Hahn 39
Ryan Sipes 38
R Kiniry 31
Davi Millsaps 29
D Anderson 24
B Laninovich 23
J Albertson 23

250 Lites Points

Blake Baggett 139
Justin Barcia 123
Ken Roczen 120
Eli Tomac 117
Marvin Musquin 84
Blake Wharton 82
Wil Hahn 71
Kyle Cunningham 65
Jake Canada 62
Ivan Tedesco 61
Jason Anderson 54
Jessy Nelson 48
Travis Baker 43
Gareth Swanepoel 42
Martin Davalos 40
Malcolm Stewart 38
Zack Freeberg 35
Kyle Peters 27
Joey Peters 27
Hunter Hewitt 25