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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/245323
ROUND 3/JANUARY 18, 2014 ANGEL STADIUM OF ANAHEIM/ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA SUPERCROSS P48 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES way point, but got it back when Villopoto went down; he then lost it again to Reed on the 16th lap. But the German held on for third. Dungey, on the Red Bull KTM, looked like a completely different rider at A2. After being criticized lately for being too timid on the track, especially after sitting behind Justin Brayton for most of the Phoenix race, Dungey was far more aggressive than usual. He blasted out of the gate and into the lead in the main event and appeared to be pulling away when he suddenly got kicked off the bike in the whoops, dropping to sixth. "I got the holeshot and was able to settle into some good comfortable laps, then all of a sudden – there was a sharp-edged whoop at the end and it just caught me the right way," Dungey said. "It was kind of unexpected. It kicked me in my butt, lost my feet, lost For James Stewart, this was one of the most disappointing secondplace finishes of his career. my balance to my right, and then just washed out in the turn." He caught up to Villopoto afterward and tried to make an aggressive pass for fifth through the final turn, which resulted in both riders going down. No damage was done, however, as both got up and rode across the finish line in their same positions. "I just tried to shut the door on Villo," Dungey said. "I didn't really – we both ended up going down. It was a little mistake on my part; I was just trying to gain a little extra positioning." After getting off to a third-place start and then getting passed by Roczen, Villopoto found his groove and started creeping forward. He found himself in third when Dungey dropped it, then NO MORE MR. NICE GUY? Throughout his career, Ryan Dungey has been known to be the "nice guy" on the track, never wanting to bang bars or get dirty with anyone. This was probably never more apparent than last weekend at Phoenix when he followed Justin Brayton almost the whole race without really trying to make a pass despite being seemingly faster. At A2, we saw a very different Dungey who rode much more aggressively, taking out Broc Tickle in his heat race and almost taking out Josh Hill later in the very same race to sneak into the main, where he grabbed the holeshot and was leading the way before crashing. Then later, in the very last turn, he tried to make another aggressive pass this time on Villopoto for fifth but ended up taking both riders down. "I tried to be more aggressive today; it's competitive out there," he said. "This track, there was no passing spots. You had to run it in on guys and, yeah, maybe some of them [Dungey's pass attempts] were maybe a little aggressive, but it is something I need to be a little more better at. I feel that I tend to let people push me around. But, at the same time, it was more just trying to make the passes happen."