Ryan Dungey wins the AMA SX event in Salt Lake City

Rider Ryan Dungey has made a triumphant return to AMA Supercross. Dungey, the #5, took victory in his second race since the injury he suffered a few weeks ago, so after Seattle he now claimed the win in Salt Lake City.

The penultimate round of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA SX Series was held at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium, where Dungey earned his third win of the season. The KTM rider came back strong after his first taste of action at the previous round, and now claimed victory in the 16th round in front of more than 40,000 spectators.

The holeshot was taken by Davi Millsaps, followed closely by Dungey and Jake Weimer. The battle between Dungey and Weimer was thrilling, extreme and very interesting: Dungey moved into second on lap eight, but the Kawasaki rider didn’t give up and attacked the KTM rider, sparking an intense duel that ended with Ryan hitting the ground, and he then began a spectacular comeback to take the victory.

Millsaps led the race, but Dungey would not give up after his crash. Weimer and the leader made things difficult for him, but he reached second place on lap 15, passing Weimer, and with that strength and pace he caught Millsaps on the final lap, overtaking him for a textbook comeback.

So the win went to Dungey after his difficult time due to the injury, followed by Millsaps, with Weimer completing a hard-fought podium. Brayton took fourth and Alessi fifth to round out the top five.

Dungey’s comments:

It was a great race tonight. I didn’t see that section in the crash and I went down, that was my fault. My front wheel hit a berm in the corner and I went down. My goal was to take part and I did.

I’ve had problems mid-season, and I know it, but I knew I was fast tonight. I just needed to be patient.

Supercross Results: Salt Lake City

Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM
Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha
Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki
Justin Brayton, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Honda
Mike Alessi, Hilliard, Fla., Suzuki
Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Kawasaki
Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda
Joshua Grant, Smithville, Texas, Kawasaki
Robert Kiniry, Holland Patent, N.Y., Yamaha
Tyler Bowers, Danville, Ken., Kawasaki

Supercross Overall Standings

Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 323
Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha, 244
Justin Brayton, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Honda, 237
Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 232
Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 211
Mike Alessi, Hilliard, Fla., Suzuki, 192
James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha, 178
Brett Metcalfe, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Suzuki, 174
Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda, 166
Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Kawasaki, 161

In the Lites class, Jason Anderson had the holeshot, followed by Martin Davalos and Marvin Musquin, but quickly the KTM rider passed the second-placed rider to get behind the race leader, while Dean Wilson didn’t fall behind either and also passed Davalos to take third place.

But Wilson had plenty of strength and didn’t want to fall back, so he quickly passed Musquin to take second. Meanwhile Eli Tomac was charging from behind and moved into third, fighting intensely with Wilson, but on lap eight he finally managed to pass him for second and began his attack on the leader. Finally, on lap 10, Tomac passed Anderson and took the lead of the race in Salt Lake City.

The negative part was for Wilson, who was in the leading positions, but on lap 12 he suffered a very big crash that forced him to retire from the event, handing Tomac the victory on a plate, followed by Anderson and Davalos on the podium.

The final round of the 2012 season will be held next week at Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas, which will close out the AMA SX.

Western Regional Supercross Lites Class Results: Salt Lake City