Dungey and Musquin talk Seattle
Marvin Musquin escaped a first-turn pileup in the Main Event, where he put his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into the lead position off the start. Ryan Dungey wasn’t so lucky as he got pinched off in the first turn where he ultimately hit the tuf block and went down, allowing the rest of the field to get away.
Musquin jumped out front and never looked back as he led all 20 laps of the 450SX Main Event. Despite the chaos behind him, Musquin was able to keep his composure to earn his second victory of the season in Washington.
Musquin: “My start wasn’t the best, I was really close to going down in the first corner but I was able to get out clean and get into the lead in the first lap, which was awesome. I tried to push as hard as I could but not too much because it was easy to make mistakes – the track was technical and had some rocks. It means a lot to get this (win), my first victory in Dallas I was missing my mechanic Frankie so today I’m really proud and happy.”
Dungey continued to climb his way through the pack, where he ultimately finished 4th place for the night.
Dungey: “Obviously going down in the first turn wasn’t ideal but from that point forward we just tried to pick as many riders off as we could and try to gain as many championship points as we could and not make any big mistakes. Overall it was a good night – we salvaged what we could. I felt great, the bike felt awesome and everything was all lined up – we just had a little mishap in the first turn, but that’s just the way it goes.”
Dungey heads into the final three rounds tied with Eli Tomac in the 450SX championship standings.
West 250SX Class
TLD KTM’s Mitchell Oldenburg rode with a fresh confidence in his return from injury as he earned his first-career podium inside CenturyLink Field. Despite an extremely difficult and rutted track, Oldenburg raced his KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into third place. Teammate Shane McElrath wasn’t far behind as he worked through the conditions to finish fifth.
“It’s amazing to be up here (on the podium),” said Oldenburg. “We had an amazing off season and the whole team put in a lot of work. It was a big bummer to get hurt right after the season start and I just put my head down once I got back on the bike. This is where I want to be – I do want to win. I don’t know what it was but at the start of the week I just had a good feeling about this race. I’m really excited.”
The Western Regional 250SX riders McElrath and Oldenburg will get a weekend off before returning to action on April 22 for the return of supercross to Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
Words: KTM
