A week after locking up the 450 Class championship, Ryan Dungey resumed his torrid pace at Ironman Raceway in Indiana, winning his fifth consecutive overall race.
Once Dungey got around Pourcel in the first moto, he cruised to his 13th moto win of the season. (Photo: Chris Ortiz)
The deciding battle in Moto 1 came in the opening laps. Dungey grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award but had the Rockstar Husqvarna duo of Christophe Pourcel and Jason Anderson just behind him. Pourcel passed Dungey to move into the lead and managed to hold him off for awhile. Pourcel is never an easy rider to pass, but Dungey was able to make his move on Lap 2 and take over the lead. From there Dungey pulled away to win the race by 22 seconds.
Pourcel ran most of the race in second, but his teammate Anderson eventually caught up to him and made a pass late in the race. Anderson took second place, matching a career high moto finish that the 450 Class rookie set earlier this season.
Anderson bookended his rookie season in the 450 Class with podium finishes. (Photo: Matt Rice)
Although the championship had already been decided in the 450 Class, second place was still up for grabs, as Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen entered the day separated by just five points. They linked up in Moto 1 in a battle for fifth place with a four-point swing on the line. In the waning laps of the race, Roczen took things to a whole new level. First he passed Barcia to move into the top five, then he set his sights on GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle. Roczen passed Bogle for fourth place, but wasn’t finished yet, as he tracked down and overtook Pourcel for third on the final lap of the race.
Pourcel settled for fourth after his strong start, and Bogle ended up fifth, finally giving him a solid result to show for all the speed he’s displayed since moving up to the 450 Class at Unadilla.
As for Barcia, after losing fifth place to Roczen, he would drop one more spot to Blake Baggett by race’s end. Baggett finished 6th, Barcia 7th.
Roczen and Barcia battled each other in both motos as they fought for positioning in the overall standings. (Photo: Chris Ortiz)
In the second moto, Barcia was back to his holeshot-winning ways, but after Kyle Chisholm went down, the race had to be red-flagged and restarted. When the gate dropped a second time, it was Pourcel getting his second good start of the day and earning the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award. Barcia and his Yamaha were quick off the gate again though, putting him just behind Pourcel. Dungey and Roczen were next in line.
Barcia took the lead away from Pourcel on the opening lap but soon came under fire from Roczen, who picked up right where he left off in the closing laps of Moto 1. Unable to hold Roczen off, Barcia lost the lead about 8:30 into the moto, and Roczen began to pull away from there.
While running in third place, Dungey went down on Lap 3 and fell all the way back to 7th. Showing why he’s the 450 Class champion this year, the Red Bull KTM rider battled back and regained all the positions he had lost within just a few laps. By making the pass on Barcia for second place on Lap 8, Dungey put himself back in position for the overall win, which otherwise would have gone to Roczen.
While his 2015 campaign was filled with struggles, Roczen made RCH Suzuki team owner Ricky Carmichael (far left) proud with a Moto 2 victory to end the season. (Photo: Chris Ortiz)
Despite Dungey’s charge, Roczen was able to build up a lead of 10+ seconds with ten minutes left on the countdown clock. Dungey was able to chip away at the deficit in the final laps, but Roczen was able to escape with a 6.2 second margin of victory to earn just his third moto win of the season. Dungey finished second, and Barcia held on to third. Broc Tickle and Trey Canard rounded out the top five in the moto.
Dungey’s 1-2 moto finishes were enough to give him his fifth consecutive overall win and his seventh total for the season. Roczen, who announced that he will be undergoing back surgery at the end of the season, finished second overall with 3-1 moto finishes, and Jason Anderson (2-6) rounded out the top three overall, giving the 450 Class rookie his fourth podium of the season.
“We were running fourth at the beginning [of Moto 2], so it’s a little tougher to take the lines you want when you aren’t out front. I hit a little bump and it caused a little tip over, so I just got back up and put my head down the rest of the moto,” said Dungey. “We were able to make up the ground we needed to get the win and end the season the way we wanted. It’s been a great year and I’m excited for what lies ahead.”
Dungey has been nearly unbeatable in the second half of the season. (Photo: Matt Rice)
“The track was gnarly out there, probably one of the toughest of the year. It feels great to end the season this way,” said Roczen, who earned just one overall win in his first season with the Ricky Carmichael and Carey Hart-owned Suzuki team. “I knew we had the ability to get into second in the championship and we came out here and did that. I was confident coming into the day because the bike’s been great and we did what we needed to do.”
This race marked the pro debut for Benny Bloss, who turned pro after Loretta’s and was supposed to debut at Unadilla until a concussion sidelined him for a few weeks. He earned a respectable 15th-place overall finish in his first National.
The final gap in the championship standings between Dungey and the rest of the field ended up being exactly 100 points. Thanks to his strong day, Roczen was able to pass Barcia in the standings to secure second in points. Blake Baggett and Christophe Pourcel round out the top five in 450MX points.
Barcia finished off the overall podium for the first time since Round 5. (Photo: Matt Rice)
Baggett ends the season as the top 450 Class rookie, finishing 4th in points. (Photo: George Crosland)
Pourcel turned a pair of strong starts into a fourth-place finish at Ironman. (Photo: Matt Rice)
Bogle, who will be moving up to the 450 Class full-time next year, has been solid since joining the premier class, even if his results don’t always show it. (Photo: Chris Ortiz)
450 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Ryan Dungey (1-2)
2. Ken Roczen (3-1)
3. Jason Anderson (2-6)
4. Justin Barcia (7-3)
5. Christophe Pourcel (4-7)
6. Trey Canard (8-5)
7. Blake Baggett (6-9)
8. Broc Tickle (15-4)
9. Josh Grant (10-8)
10. Phil Nicoletti (11-10)
11. Colton Facciotti (13-11)
12. Andrew Short (12-12)
13. Justin Bogle (5-30)
14. Dean Wilson (9-35)
15. Benny Bloss (17-15)
16. Tyler Medaglia (20-13)
17. Ryan Sipes (18-16)
18. Ben LaMay (21-14)
19. Kyle Cunningham (14-36)
20.Kaven Benoit (19-18)
450 CLASS FINAL POINT STANDINGS
1. Ryan Dungey, 547
2. Ken Roczen, 447
3. Justin Barcia, 441
4. Blake Baggett, 360
5. Christophe Pourcel, 323
6. Jason Anderson, 320
7. Broc Tickle, 311
8. Phil Nicoletti, 250
9. Weston Peick, 223
10. Fredrik Noren, 206