VOL. 53 ISSUE 30 AUGUST 2, 2016 P67
In early January,
the supercross series
begins, and there isn't a
single weekend off until
Easter. That's 14 con-
secutive race weekends
in the upcoming 2017
series. Any injuries incurred either
put them on the sidelines, or they
just affect their training and prac-
ticing during the week between
races—which invariably has some
effect on the races themselves,
and often leads to more injuries.
The series ends in May.
During the one weekend off in
supercross, most racers will begin
their testing for the motocross
championship, which begins in
May.
In late August/early September,
the motocross series concludes.
Many racers will take a week or
so off to gather themselves, while
others this year will end up racing
in the two U.S. GPs (at Charlotte
Motor Speedway and Glen Helen)
in early September.
Three American racers,
and many AMA racers
from other parts of the
globe, will head to the
Motocross of Nations for
nothing but national pride
in late September.
Then, in early October, the Red
Bull Straight Rhythm and the Mon-
ster Energy Cup come back along
and the process begins again.
In total, for the racers who
compete in every one of those
events, this is 34 races in the span
of 40 weeks, in probably the most
physically demanding and injury-
inducing sport on the planet.
Considering all of this, Red
Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey has had
a run of health and success that
has been very rarely matched. But
right now, he's on a "vacation" he
earned when he went over the
bars at round three of the 2016
Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross
Championships in Colorado on
It takes more
than just being
super-fast to win
championships.
Dungey also uses
his brain.
