Ryan Dungey To New Team In 2012
All indicators point to Ryan Dungey not returning to Suzuki after the 2011 season.
Ryan Dungey has had a bit of a strained relationship with Suzuki for a while now. (Photo: CoxMX.com)
Since a few rounds into the 2010 AMA Nationals, rumors have been floating around that Suzuki and Ryan Dungey weren’t getting along. Why? At the time, the rumor said it was money. According to the rumor, Dungey wasn’t getting paid his win bonuses (including his seven-figure championship bonus). Back then, I talked to Suzuki’s Roger Decoster about it, and he denied the rumor, saying then (a couple of months after the rumor had started) that Dungey had been paid.
However, he didn’t indicated whether Dungey was paid on schedule, and when a company like Suzuki budgets for racing, it’s easy to imagine that even they wouldn’t have figured Dungey to win the Supercross Championship (and the 450 outdoor title, for that matter) in his rookie season, and it’s kind of understandable that it would’ve taken them a little while to come up with the cash.
A championship bonus on his level is at least a million bucks, and individual race wins can be anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000. According to the rumors, Dungey’s race-win bonuses were $100k each.
So, doing that simple math (and not counting the bonuses for other podium spots), Dungey would’ve been due 1.6 million bucks for SX alone, on top of his salary. And then outdoors, it got even crazier, as he won 10 Nationals along with the title. That’s 2 million bucks.
That’s 3.6 million dollars in bonuses alone.
However, although money may be a factor in the overall scheme of things, all indicators say that Dungey ended up getting paid what he was owed. But as I understand it, he’s still leaving Suzuki at the end of the year.
Why?
As I said, money may be a factor, but Dungey also isn’t happy with the mechanical issues he has had this year. He lost the supercross title by 10 points, and doing simple math (although things aren’t ever this simple), if you take away his mechanical DNF (from a derailed chain) at Anaheim 2 and give him just fifth place (which is the worst that he finished all season besides the DNF), he would’ve won that title by five points. Instead, he finished third. And this doesn’t include the engine failure at Daytona in his heat race that set his night back quite a bit, too.
Ryan Dungey is changing teams for 2012. But where will he go? (Photo: CoxMX.com)
Now, outdoors, he finds himself trailing Ryan Villopoto at exactly the wrong time, as Villopoto is gaining speed and confidence with only three rounds left. He’s down by seven points to Villopoto. But remember the second moto in Texas, where Dungey had a massive lead with a lap and a half to go and his bike quit because (as I heard it) fuel-boil had basically made his bike run out of fuel? He had that win easy. Give him the 25 points in that moto, instead of the zero points he got, and take away one from Villopoto (as he’d have finished one spot farther back), and Dungey would actually be ahead by 19 points right now instead of down by seven.
As I understand it, this is the bigger motivating factor for his leaving Suzuki. And the Suzuki bike, outside of that, is amazing according to anyone who raced it. You can ask Chad Reed or Mike Alessi what the RM-Z450 is like to race, and they’ll rave – off the record, of course. So it’s not about the equipment so much as personnel.
And that’s where the rest of this comes together. Honda has a spot open on its team for 2012, which could be filled by Josh Grant again (he’s on a one-year deal for basically no money), but I don’t think Honda wants to pay a Dungey-sized salary, especially when they believe Trey Canard can beat him. Yamaha doesn’t have a factory effort anymore, although that could change. Kawasaki is full with friends and training partners Ryan Villopoto and Jake Weimer. And again, Kawasaki wouldn’t want to pay Dungey when they have at least one guy who can beat him.
Just this stuff by itself leaves only one factory that seems likely for Dungey.
Now, add in the fact that the guy who essentially created and raised Dungey into the racer he is today – Roger Decoster – is the manager at this same manufacturer’s race team, and he has a direct line back to the factory for budget…
Roger Decoster (left) has an amazing relationship with Ryan Dungey. And he's the manager at KTM now. (Photo: CoxMX.com)
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the fire in this scenario is that Ryan Dungey will be racing KTMs next year.
It’s possible it will be another team. Nothing is completely out of the question. But odds are it’s KTM.
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Comments
May 1, 2012 6:22 am
Rd is the best thing for KTM he has already brought them their fort ever win in the SC series so stop dissing him and let him do what he wants… he is still the best wherever he goes… go DUNGEY!!!
February 28, 2012 7:36 am
I love RD on the Suzuki and now that he is on the ktm i hate watching him race its just the same.RD if u are going to swcith bike go to yamaha or kx not ktm.RD your smarter then this think about what you are doing dude if somthing happens to u and your racing carreer i would not be able to leave with my self and supercross and motocross would not be the same without the fastest man alive do use one dungey go back to suzuki thats what make u Ryan Dungey not KTM. please do it.
January 16, 2012 6:25 pm
looks like Dungey has won a race so all that bash talk can stop now in fact he is tied with rv for points so KTM is doing good with a great rider on it
November 1, 2011 12:06 pm
just because Ryan Dungey is changing teams does not mean that he will be any less of a rider that he already is, the transition from Suzuki ti KTM will definetley get some taking used to but Ryan being the boss that he is, I belive that he will come out to be the number one rider on his new KTM!! lets go Dungey
October 28, 2011 7:40 pm
Ktm stinks.Dungey should stay with Suzuki. They are the best dirtbiking team in the world. It stinks that he’s leaving
October 13, 2011 4:36 pm
I dont want Ryan Dungey to leave Suzuki. He shoudn’t leave. Suzuki there the best. He should stay or at least go to Kawasaki but KTM, why go to KTM there not that good. He’s better off with Suzuki, even if he does go to KTM he’s not going to be better than he was with Suzuki. I mean he went from 10 to 5 to 1 with Suzuki.
September 22, 2011 6:49 pm
I think ryan dungey should not be on KTM because they bike cannot keep up with the factory bike 350 cannot do nothing with the 450 i think dungey should go 2 honda or stay on suzuki not KTM
September 21, 2011 10:49 am
I wouldnt stay with any team if I was not getting paid what I was promised. If he stays there, the tension will only get worse. If he left now, and got everything taken care of, he could possibly go back to them in the future. I believe Dungey will definitely help KTM in American motocross. I believe Dungey and Short will be great together. KTM needs to leave Alessi on the side of the rode somewhere in a Nevada desert.
September 19, 2011 2:25 am
i think it will be good for dungey to go to ktm. It will be interesting to see if he can run with reed, villopoto, stewart and even carnard
September 15, 2011 4:37 pm
It’d be nice to see Ryan go to Yamaha, Race along with Stewart, I think hed be able to even win a Championship
September 12, 2011 1:58 pm
give him the 450 not the 350, he will be underpowered, just watch alessi and short, they were underpowered
September 6, 2011 9:57 pm
Which bike has won the world championship this year with an Italian on it so I am sure Dungey has done his homework.????????
September 5, 2011 9:08 pm
I would love to see a rider of Dungey’s expertise and work ethics join with KTM. (No intended dis on Allessi or Shorty) It’s already known that Decoster and Dungey work well together. Just keep Dungey on a 450 and it may be a wonderfull thing.
September 4, 2011 5:07 pm
I think people are not giving Suzuki the credit they deserve. Everyone keeps bringing up his incident in the SX season (chain coming off) as well as the Freestone incident.
Yes. If those things hadn’t happened to him; he might have won both sx and mx titles. But everyone fails to remember his damn near perfect season prior to that. He was untouchable and now because his season was short of perfect now he should leave? I can expect this from js7 but I would like to think RD5 could look past this. Don’t do it RD, look at KTM’s past, (Jeremy Mcgrath, Andrew Short, MIke Alessi who kicked ass when he was on Suzuki until he had injury, not to mention the bikes years ago that have broken in half when casing jumps (sx season).
Youv’e got to be crazy if you think KTM is going to win title even with Dungey.
August 30, 2011 6:24 am
so is dungegy really changing teams or was he just mad he wasnt gettin paid
August 28, 2011 4:42 pm
i think ryan dungey should go to team kawasaki because him and ryan villapoto would be legends in the 450 class
August 20, 2011 5:46 pm
To Greg Roberts, you dont know a Shit about suspension. THE WP works forks are just as good if you setup up them for your suit. These days is not about the bike is more about the rider, no wonder dungey is doing better then short and alessi ? cause he is a better rider and he is working close with the team to get the bike dialed in to his liking, Alessi is known for not being a good test rider, he is happy with the bike as it is, at least if you ask goose. And andrew is a top five rider if you have the best guys there is on the line, its not about that ktm 350Sxf, bubba would kill many on that bike. So stop bashing KTM, KTM has just as good bike as the japanese if not even better. you must but the right rider on the bike to show its true potential.
August 20, 2011 8:26 am
Who is Mitch Patton? good article Steve!
August 19, 2011 11:41 am
Shut up, Greg. There was nothing in that book you wrote worth writing about. Like Joe wrote, that Suzuki DNFing has cost Dungey a lot of money and at least 1 championship, why would he not be looking elsewhere? Also, I’m not sure how you got on the topic of not liking Stewart when this article doesn’t even mention him, but I’m getting sick of it. Go sit on some forum with all the other Stewart haters and bitch about him, I don’t care, just quit bringing it up in every post on every moto site.
August 18, 2011 12:46 pm
He will not be able to win on KTM. It will end his career. Just like poor old Shorty. Boy did he get a raw deal.
August 18, 2011 7:31 am
He may go to KTM…but he better bring along his Suzuki and a rattle can of orange paint. The KTM may indeed have the motor…but it ain’t got the suspenders of the other winning bikes. I’ve watch both Short and Alessi struggle to change their lines and riding style to get through a section that Dungey and the like simply blow through. At Unadilla, Alessi would have been better on a pogo-stick than his 450. I’ve been around our sport for over years and have seen what a great rider can do on a mediocre bike. (Think Hannah and Glover) it was different than. There’s not a whole lotta difference in what any manufacturer has when it comes to power and especially factor power when you get down to it. Having said that, when it comes to the proverbial brass tacks of things and the way Villapoto made mince-meat outta’ the entire field on his “new 2012″ machine, I think Mr. Dungey should forget about the almighty dollar and concentrate on winning championships on a machine that will do the job for him and not have him struggle to make up for it’s shortcoming. Better yet Ryan. Why don’t you have a chat with with Mitch Patton or L&M Racing. Whoops! Forget about L&M Ryan! They’re a “Supercross Only Team!” OR so JS7 claims. If that’s the case, it’s the reason in my corral of MANY off-road pieces of equipment…not even a hint of blue! (You suck Stewart! And the Larry Brooks back you rode in on!) Biggest fan disappointment if there ever was one! Playing law enforcement on Central Florida highways was THE last straw in your string of dissing your fans! Role model my rear end!
August 17, 2011 8:05 pm
So no chain DNF in SX he wins that race and the title that’s another 1.1
AND
no fuel DNF in MX add another 100K plus a good shot at the CShip 1M
The DNF’s cost him a good shot at another 2.2 in contingencies not counting sponsors Championship $
August 16, 2011 1:14 pm
He should go to KTM and get back with Roger. Show that KTM can win the championship.
August 15, 2011 12:46 pm
so is it for sure that dungey is changing teams