Ryan Dungey’s Move to KTM

Here's what you should know about Ryan Dungey's move to KTM for the next two years.

Ryan Dungey (left) and Roger Decoster (right) celebrate their MXoN win in France together. Now they're back together full-time. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

As we reported to be “likely” back on August 15 (here), Ryan Dungey has left the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki team and has joined the Red Bull KTM team for 2012 and 2013. PR went out a couple of days ago announcing his move, which surprised no one by the time it was announced.

However, there are a couple of other technicalities that the team and Dungey are working on. The PR stated that Dungey will be competing on board a KTM 450 SX/F, but rumor has it that the 2012 incarnation of the machine has not been very well-received, and that Andrew Short’s injury to both his arms (which happened during the AMA Nationals) was a result of trouble with the 2012 bike’s EFI as he was testing supercross. This is impossible to confirm, but we did get confirmation today that Short will not be staying with KTM and will be going back to Honda – albeit on the new team that Larry Brooks and Jeremy McGrath have teamed up to start for 2012.

This was a surprise to a lot of people, but Short told us at Unadilla that he was looking for a place to race in 2012. KTM was rumored to want to keep him, but he apparently had other plans.

So, from what we’ve heard, the 2012 model year for the new KTM 450 SX/F may be short-lived, and even by Anaheim 1, the homologation standards for KTM may be met so that the company can race its 2013 450 SX/F with Ryan Dungey at the controls – and maybe one more rider, yet to be named.

One thing’s for sure, the salary for Dungey – rumored to be above $5 million for two years – is enough in and of itself to demand that everything be as perfect as possible for he and KTM by the time Anaheim 1 rolls around in early January. The one thing KTM doesn’t need or want is to hire a proven winner like Dungey and have him fail on their bikes – or worse yet, have their bikes fail him.

There are two reasons Dungey went to KTM specifically, instead of to Honda or any other brand: First, to reunite with the man who brought him into the pros, Roger Decoster, who is now the team manager for the Red Bull KTM team; and second, because KTM had the most money to offer Dungey. Dungey is relying on the man he trusts – Decoster – to make sure that the team and equipment is up to the standards that will be required for Dungey to make a run at both titles in 2012 and 2013.

Truthfully, there is no other racer more prepared to do it right now who didn’t already have a team in 2012, so it’s up to the team to prove its mettle now.

Ryan Dungey (right) works things out with Roger Decoster (left) before the race at the MXoN. They've always worked well together. (Photo: CoxMX.com)

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