The consensus was that the track was better – tackier, in spite of all the rain leading up to race day. The racing was better too. It wasn’t a landslide victory for Team Honda HRC’s Roczen and the Red Bull KTM duo – Dungey and Musquin – threw a 1-2 punch at the start. Dungey the holeshot, and shortly after, Musquin the save of his life.
Musquin’s error allowed Roczen to slip through to second, and he stalked Dungey until he took the lead from his rival before they got too close to the halfway mark. Although Dungey retaliated with his own form of pressure, Roczen focused on the win and didn’t relinquish it.
“It was an awesome race,” Roczen said. “I found myself right behind Ryan, kind of watched what he was doing, I got peppered pretty good from all his roosts and stuff. I was behind him and was able to make the pass past the mechanic’s area and just rode my own race. I knew it was going to be a tough one because the track broke down so much and I didn’t want to get ahead of myself and rode conservative and tried to really hit my marks. I think I could’ve switched up my lines a bit here and there, but sometimes with the track being this rough it could be a risk, you know you end up changing your line and it’s a little bit worse. We had to hit our marks and do all the ‘rhythms’ at all times. Overall I’m happier with the way this weekend turned out over the last one.”
Calm, focused, and looking at themselves, not the others; it’s the key to the end goal – 2017 Monster Energy Supercross Championship. It’s not something new to the reigning number one. Dungey has always approached the 17-round series with consistency and not making major mistakes. Although Roczen’s giving him a run for his money two rounds in, and looks to be pretty tough to beat, Dungey’s not changing his mindset.
“It’s a long series; and for me to keep the focus on myself and not to overthink everything, “ he said. “And then having a good time and having fun. I can’t forget that and enjoy that. We made a lot of progress from the past week. I knew that fitness and everything was there and we got a little bit better with the bike and so the package is coming together. And the plan just keeps getting better – race-by-race. Not that we want to start off way-off the pace, by any means. We’re second and Kenny had more of the lead. But I positioned myself better, being there right off the front – I lost a lot of time last week – so there’s a lot of positives to do what I wanted to do tonight. Kenny’s a good rider. He goes fast. He’s consistent he’s been in the 450 class for multiple years. So he’s getting the hang of it as well. But that’s where I’m going to have to use my experience to make up the gap and the difference.”
As for Musquin, the result from week two was a different feeling than week one. At the season opener at Anaheim I the Frenchman was quite pleased with pulling out a podium finish in third, especially after a 2016 that started meekly due to injury. In San Diego, he was mad at himself.
“I was really happy with my start and I was trying to be real aggressive and try to pass Ryan (Dungey),” Musquin said. “I went on the inside and double and it was not the rhythm that we used to do all time. I tried to jump onto the next table, I don’t know what happened, but I thought I was going to crash. Up in the air, all I could see the sky, I was like, ‘oh my gosh! What is going on?’ I was thought I was going to die; everybody was coming from behind. I don’t know how I didn’t crash. I rode in the big puddle and jumped back on the track and was like, ‘man, what are you doing.’ But I’m really glad to be here right now. It was a good race. I was trying to ride really hard and trying to keep up the pace with those guys. In the end they were riding very fast, I couldn’t do more.”
The 450SX class might have the depth and the names to draw in the fans – over 40,000 filled Petco Park – but the top three in the first two rounds have already staked their claim on the bigger prize and it will be curious to see who can break the triumvirate come the second visit to Anaheim.
