SUPERCROSS
MONSTER ENERGY SMX RIDERS' AND MANUFACTURERS' CUP
OCTOBER 8, 2016
VELTINS ARENA / GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY
P62
Febvre only managing to come
back to seventh, saw all three
orange riders on the individual
podium in a sweep for KTM.
Three solid results from Gauti-
er Paulin, combined with three
good moto scores from Evgeny
Bobryshev and Tim Gajser, was
good enough for Honda to take
second place, 18 points ahead
of Kawasaki in third, who can
be very pleased with the ef-
forts of Jordi Tixier and Tommy
Searle. An injury-hit Husqvarna
team came fourth after having to
replace Max Nagl and Jason An-
derson due to injuries sustained
at the MXoN, while Yamaha,
many people's pre-event dark
horses, could only manage fifth
after Justin Barcia had to pull
Herlings, who would rip through
the top 10 and pass Dungey with
a few laps to go in a ride that
should make all the MXGP class
scared for the upcoming 2017
season. On a track that really
didn't have too much to separate
the top guys, it would be the
sand section where Herlings
would pass Dungey, bringing
back bad memories of the 2012
MXoN at Lommel, where Team
USA's winning streak came to an
abrupt halt. Here, though, there
was only pride at stake with
Dungey and KTM guaranteed
success in this first-ever SMX
Cup. And to make matters better
for the Austrian brand, Musquin
put a pass on Gajser for third in
the race. That, combined with
Febvre and Dungey were tied on
five points each, Musquin with
eight, Osborne with nine and
Herlings at 10. KTM was already
in command of the manufactur-
ers standings at this stage, with
six good scores on the board.
Before anyone could get too
excited for the title-decider in
the third race, Osborne went
down with Febvre right behind
him, leaving the Yamaha rider
dead last as Osborne walked off
the track. With Dungey collect-
ing the holeshot, all the drama
seemed over, as the SX champ
looked likely to collect the win
and another trophy for his cabi-
net. And while he would indeed
take the individual win with 2-3-2
scores, it was his teammate,
Despite getting
passed while
leading twice,
Dungey still
came away with
the overall win
in his first race
since June.
