Overall fourth for Dungey in Monster Energy Cup; impressive KTM debut for Hill 19.10.2014: Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ryan Dungey finished fourth in the Monster

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ryan Dungey finished fourth in the Monster Energy Cup, the one-off event that concludes the US SX-MX racing season. Newcomer teammate Justin Hill finished an impressive sixth in his first race aboard the KTM 450 SX-F in from of a packed Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.


Hill turned one of the top three fastest lap times in the morning qualifiers creating quite a buzz through the pits as an unexpected top rider in his rookie performance on the 450. He continued to live up to the hype when he picked up a second place start in the first main event behind Trey Canard. Hill pressured Canard throughout the ten-lap main event before eventually finishing second.


His teammates Dungey a Red Bull-sponsored athlete and Dean Wilson, did not have great starts but both riders worked their way up through the pack with Dungey climbing to eighth while Wilson finished ninth in the first main event.


Hill once again got away well in second place in the second of the three-race series. He trailed Canard off the start and then began a battle with Davi Millsaps for second place. Hill opted to take the mandatory joker lane early in the race while Millsaps waited until the last lap to take the line.


Once Millsaps took the line, it allowed Hill to close in and make the pass to finish the second main event in the runner-up spot. Dungey had a better performance in the second race starting around seventh position and moving up to finish fifth. Wilson had a bad start and after some difficulties in the beginning of the second race finished a disappointing fourteenth place.


In the final moto Hill got away to another decent start, rounding the first corner in third place but he then crashed in the first rhythm section and scrambled back into the action in eighteenth place. He worked his way up to fourteenth but crashed again and once again dropped back to eighteenth. He eventually finished eleventh but his result cost him an overall podium position.


“I am bummed that I had a poor last moto, but overall happy with my results,” commented Hill. “I feel really comfortable on my new Red Bull KTM and I was happy to put the bike on the podium twice in my first real race aboard a 450. Now I will go back to the 250 and prepare for Supercross season.”


Dungey rebounded in the third moto with a fifth place start and went to work quickly to pass Anderson for fourth place early in the race. He gained one more position at the end of the race when Canard slid out. Wilson, the final member of the team, never recovered from a bad start in the final race and finished back at fourteenth place.


Aggregate results after the three main events put Dungey at fourth overall, Hill at sixth and Wilson placed eleventh. 



Overall Results

1, Davi Millsaps
2, Eli Tomac
3, Trey Canard
4, Ryan Dungey - KTM
5, Malcolm Stewart
6, Justin Hill – KTM
7, Jason Anderson
8, Jacob Weimer
9, Justin Barcia
10, Blake Baggett
11, Dean Wilson - KTM
12, Andrew Short – KTM
13, Justin Brayton – KTM
14, Josh Hill
15, Weston Peick
16, Cooper Webb
17, Brett Metcalfe
18, Dylan Ferrandis
19, Chad Reed
20, Zach Osborne
 


 - KTM Mattighofen - also photo