AMA Supercross: 2012 Phoenix Results

Ryan Dungey gave KTM its first ever AMA Supercross win, taking the holeshot and leading every lap in Phoenix, Ariz.

With an audience of 49,236 watching at Chase Field, it was the field that had to chase Dungey during the main event. Dungey jumped out in front at the first corner followed by JGRMX Yamaha‘s Davi Millsaps and defending AMA Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto of Kawasaki.

The race was essentially decided when Millsaps crashed in the sand section on that opening lap, taking Villopoto down with him. “It was a tough night,” says Villopoto. “Davi (Millsaps) went down in front of me in the sand and I went right into him. It happened on first lap, and when that happens, you have your work cut out (for you). There’s 20 laps to do it, so you’ve got to make quick work of it. The bike was working great though. I salvaged a lot of points tonight, so it was good.”

Dungey would cross the finish just over six seconds ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer, who in turn finished over two seconds ahead of teammate Villopoto.

“This was a big step in right direction for KTM,” says Dungey. “They’ve been behind me the whole way and believed in me. We’ve come a long way since the off-season, but there’s still a lot of racing to go. I got off to a great start and (moved) into the lead early, which made it nice on myself. If it wasn’t for all these people (at KTM) working their butts off every week, this wouldn’t happen, so I owe this all to them.”

Villopoto’s third place finish gave him enough points to stay in a tie with Dungey at 45 points for the overall lead in the season standings.

The 2012 AMA Supercross season continues Jan. 21 in Los Angeles’ Dodger Staidum.

[Source: AMA Supercross, KTM. Images by Hoppenworld]

By Dennis Chung