This Year in Photos: Suzuki MX
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 | 5:00 PM
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PrintWe're just weeks away from flipping the calendar to a new year, but before we officially stash all of our great photos from 2011 into the archives, we're busting them out here for our Year in Photos countdown. Today, we look back at Suzuki riders in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Don't forget to check out our report on Honda riders here, Yamaha riders here and KTM riders here. And more to come from Kawasaki next week!
[Photos: Andrew Fredrickson, Simon Cudby, Garth Milan and Brian Robinette]
Dungey Boils Over
The defending AMA Motocross Champion came out swinging at the Hangtown opener, winning the first moto. Chad Reed outdueled him for the overall in moto two, but Dungey was set to turn the tables back on him at round two in Texas. But with the second moto and overall win in hand, Dungey's bike got so hot, the fuel started to boil, until it evaporated away completely. Dungey was left pushing his bike, and digging out of a big hole in the points.
A broken wrist ended Brett Metcalfe's supercross season early, and when he tried to go outdoor testing, the wrist didn't let him ride to his potential. Once he started pushing it at the races, he found his bike wasn't where he needed it to be. Weeks of testing helped revised the setup, and Metty went from top five threat to podium regular in the second half of the year.
Anderson Hits Reset
When his supercross season went badly, rookie Jason Anderson hoped to reset things and score big outdoors. But things went even worse! The Rockstar Suzuki team eventually benched the 2010 Horizon Award Winner and sent him to mid-summer boot camp with trainer Randy Lawrence. After a month of traning and recovery, he showed up fitter down the stretch, scoring top tens in three of the last five motos. But we, at least, expected the kid to score top five finishes all year.
Dungey Digs Deep Up Top
Dungey rode well to try to erase his points problems from Texas, but he seemed to be stuck behind an unpassable Chad Reed in most of the motos. Finally, in Colorado, the site of the 2010 Motocross of Nations, the last race in Dungey's superb 2010 season, he found the old magic. He not only overhauled Reed, but outlasted Ryan Villopoto in the second moto to take his first win of the summer.
The Replacements
Les Smith was everywhere over the summer--a stint filling in for Justin Brayton on JGR Yamahas was followed by a few rounds in Anderson's spot outdoors. He had virtually no testing or practice time on the Suzuki 250F, but he tried as hard as he could. Then when Davi Millsaps went down with a knee injury, JGR called him back over!
Nick Paluzzi had a longer deal with the Rockstar team, taking Ian Trettel's spot for the full season. But the rookie didn't make the splash he was hoping for.
Dungey Makes Run
Dungey wanted the home track mojo to work for him at Millville, Minnesota's Spring Creek, but he found himself stuck behind Reed again in the first moto. Then Reed launched off the track in moto two. This time Dungey had to deal with Villopoto, and he ran his rival down and made a pass late in the race to snag a brutally hard-fought win. With Reed down and a strong victory over RV in his pocket, The Dunge was picking up momentum. He won Washougal, next, to pull within a point of the lead.
Steady As He Goes
Not a good year for Rockstar Suzuki. But while injuries and issues hurt most of the team, Martin Davalos flew the Suzuki flag with consistency, ending the year a solid ninth in points. Davalos may not get the wins, but he gives it his all.
Metty, Finally
Southwick owed this one to Metcalfe. Last year, on a Honda, he had the first moto win in the bag until he ran out of gas on the last lap. Dungey cruised by for the win. This time, the bad luck unrolled on the Dunge, who had bike problems right before the start of the second moto and watched the race begin without him. Metcalfe rode with the cool of a veteran, doing what he had to do in a muddy, rainy, hurricane-ravaged event to snag the first overall win of his career. Even his competition was happy with that!
A Sighting
Seems like Ryan Morias and the AMA Motocross Championship are two magnets facing the same direction--the more you try to push them together, the further apart they become. Injuries thwart 'Mo every year, and this one was not an except when a variety of ailments kept him out of the fray. Until the late going, when he showed up healthy, and flirted with the top ten with regularity.
If Not for One Lap
Dungey doesn't like to play the "what if?" game, so allow us to do it for him: if not for the fuel trouble in Texas, the electrical problem at Southwick, and for one darned extra lap at Steel City, this season could have been different. Although Villopoto looked to have blazing speed in Pennsylvania, Dungey held him at bay for every single turn of the first 450 moto--until the last one, when RV snuck past. The six-point shift in the standings from that move changed the championship picture for good.
Out With a Bang
By the end of the year, everyone knew Dungey was headed to a new team (KTM) and most saw the championship as out of reach. But in a classy performance, he never once bad mouthed his team, and never stopped giving it his all until the final checkered flag flew. He left Suzuki and his ace mechanic Mike Gosselaar with the best going away present he could--with an overall win at the Pala finale.
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This ole Suzuki rider thinks the podiums will be lacking yellow this year!
ave a time or two........MAYBE. THERE WILL BE NO YELLOW ON THE PODIUM!
In no particular order:
Stewie
Villo
Dungy
Reed
SOMEONE'S GONNA MISS OUT!!!
Kyle Regal????? Do you look at the results before you write this stuff????? No mention in the Yamaha SX pics either???? It's no wonder he is having a hard time getting a ride when the press even gives him the shaft..... The guy averaged an 8th place finish on a new bike after sitting out on the sidelines with the JS7 team for 3 months. Here is an idea...... Call him up and see what's going on and do an article. Then, when he get's back on the podium in MX you can be cool and pretend you knew how fast he was... I heard he bought a honda????? Jason, Do you know?????
6 pics of Dungey and 3 of Metcalf??? No pics or mention of Michael Byrne Or Kyle Regal???? Take this article home and work on it. This one gets an F!
Seriously can't some team pay Regal a reasonable base salary with a fat bonus for podiums and work him into a serious motocrosser. He's got the raw speed, willingness to hang it out and showed his fitness in some second motos in 2010....
Wharton on the 250 will be in the hunt...my darkhorse pick in the 250s. That bike is spectacular and is capable of a win. 450's Metty is a great rider but that class is is a loaded gun. Only crashes and fist fights will put him on the box. Sad to see Regal get forgotten...why would someone pick Grant over Regal? Isn't it about time for someone to crawl out of the woodwork Hannah style and jump in with both feet ...i wonder if those days are over. RC every fan in the country would add a few bucks to the ticket for a couple race comeback........!!!!!!!!
Wow! Cool shot of Metty, coming out of that berm at Southwick.
There's always a lot of "ifs", but surely Dungey would have been setting pretty good for the championship without those 2 mechanical's. I don't suppose they ever said what actually failed at the Southwick race, did they??
Did Kyle ever step on anyones feet or something? Like most of you out there, I don't get it. He shows up and just kills it and he does not get any recognition for it.
Outdoors he is top 10 material with no problem. Hope he shows up with some sponsorship or at least a fill in rider when the time comes. Good luck Kyle.
Back to the topic----Hope Metty and the Rockstar squad surprises all the other teams!!!
Lets all bombard everyone @ Racer X with emails and hope they can find someone to give Regal a ride!!
Saw a good tweet yesterday that JS7 kept all Regals stuff and won't ship it too him!!! Must have something to do with Regal jumping on a Suzuki and leaving the SX only deal for the last 4 rounds??? I guess in SX it pays to be a flake???
Frosted Flakes new team.
1. Josh Hansen
2. Josh Grant
3. James Stewart
4. Mike Alesi
5. Jeff Alesi
Team manager. Tony Alesi
The team could also be named "MFA" Missing from action. By round 5 this team will be down to 2 riders.
You guys don't get it. Suzuki is not factory Honda. They only hire the guy the know is a legit chance to win rounds/motos/championships. Regal while good is not RC. CR, RD. watch for 2013 BAMBAM!
my mother is a super fan of ryan dungey!!!!!
before she was but now that he is a ktm guy, she doesnt like becuase he switched.waaaaaaaa!!!!! :(
mom so protective on me doesnt let me anymore
@racerdoof..........huh?
So, Metcalf is expected to win the title and some rounds this year? Here are some facts..... Kyle and Bret's top finishes in the 2010 nationals were 2nd place. Regal 2 times and Metcalf 2 times. Regal at 19 years old and Metcalf at 25. #24 out of a semi and #41 out of a van. Suzuki is paying big bucks for the #24. To put a factory semi on the road for over 30 weeks for 1 rider is foolish! (take note to Reed and Shorts team) A second rider costs a fraction of the first. Regal qualified for every round in sx last year. Suzuki fans will be disappointed to see only 1 bike in the mains this year. Even if they paid him 5 grand for every main event he made it would be a good investment. Just give him the #1 bike from last year and change the #. It's just sitting there!
2011 SX results 14 and 15 place #24 and #30 with 107 points. Best finish #24 with a 6th and #30 with a 7th. ???????? You would think there would be a spot for Regal somewhere?