Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1469337
"Man, it was a dream day for me," said Sexton after his third- career 450 National win. "All during Supercross, I wanted to be fastest qualifier, win the heat, and win the main, but I never did it. I think outdoors is even harder to go 1-1. Two starts, two full motos, it's tough. I felt perfect out there today." Sexton caught and passed his senior teammate Roczen in both motos, as the two moved away from the rest of the field—twice! Finishing third overall was Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing's Christian Craig, fol- lowed by Craig's teammate Eli Tomac, who was racing for the first time since clinching the '22 AMA Supercross crown at the penultimate race in late April, having tweaked his knee in the late stages of his title run. Finishing fifth in the 450MX class was Ryan Dungey. Yes, that Ryan Dungey. After retiring more than five years ago after winning his fourth career AMA Supercross Championship, the Red Bull KTM rider came out of retirement to compete in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross for the first time since the 2016 Thunder Valley National in Colorado, where he suffered a neck injury. Dungey acquitted himself quite well, in both motos running in the top three before slipping back to fifth place in both motos. And finishing seventh in his AMA Pro Motocross debut was another thought-to-be-finished rider, nine-time FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cai- roli of Italy. Like Dungey, the 36-year-old Cairoli seemed all done with racing at this level following last year's MXGP sea- son. Competing in an outdoor National on the AMA circuit had long been a bucket list item for ROUND 1 / MAY 28, 2022 FOX RACEWAY / PALA, CALIFORNIA P72 MOTOCROSS I LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP MYOWNRACE 5 RYAN DUNGEY 5TH (5-5) 450MX Ryan Dungey was happy with his first race outdoors in nearly six years. "I'm excited to be here racing and super thankful it worked out," he said. "Going into the first moto, it was important to just let it come to me—don't rush, don't override, hit your marks and find good lines as the race goes on. I was able to make some passes and I was actually pre y happy with fi h. I got a really good start in the second moto and that was nice because I got to run up there with Chase and Ken and get a feel of that pace that I need to work towards. I'm actually really happy with the day and the bike, too. We made some changes going into the second moto and that really helped. For me, it's the best outdoor bike I've ever ridden at KTM, so that's really pleasing. The cool part is I see the areas I need to work on and that's the challenge and the mo va on moving forward." 3 ELI TOMAC 4TH (7-4) 450MX "Today was a li le bit tough in the first moto," said Eli Tomac. "I rode a li le bit ght, but the posi ve from that moto was that my start was really good and the bike was really strong off the start. Then in moto two, my riding was be er, but I didn't have as great of a start. I'm more sa sfied with my second moto. I felt like it was a lot closer to the way I'm supposed to ride. I Honda teammates Chase Sexton (left) and Ken Roczen battled for the win in both motos. Sexton apologized to Roczen for accidently bumping him in the first moto.