This Supercross season is set to be one of the most unpredictable seasons in memory. A championship will be up for grabs and there is no telling who will be the one to take it home this year.
Last year Ryan Dungey completely dominated both indoors and out. But there is no guarantee that his perfect performance will be repeated again this year. In fact, there will be a lot of downward pressure on Dungey as he tries to maintain his momentum in 2011.
First of all, last season saw many incredibly fast riders drop out of the chamionship running due to complications. Dungey handled this windfall very well by consistently gracing the top of the podium and remaining humble. It seemed as though he knew then that once the likes of James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto and Josh Grant return to the track the level of competition will be kicked up several notches and his statistical chances of remaining on top of that poduim would be diminished.
The next consideration is two incredibly fast riders who will be advancing up into the 450 class to race with the big boys - Trey Canard and Christophe Pourcel. These two riders will be working hard to prove themselves in the 450 class. And both of these riders are known to have a work ethic that may even match that of Dungey. Either way this stable of incredibly fast riders in the 450 class that were not there last year will certainly bring the heat for Dungey.
And the last condsideration - and possibly the one with the biggest impact on Ryan Dungey - is the loss of his hero and mentor this season. Roger DeCoster - The Man - will be leaving Team Suzuki and moving over to Team KTM. Dungey will no longer have his muse. DeCoster has always had a proven track record of turning riders into champions just like he did with Dungey. Under the tutelage of DeCoster Ryan could have accomplished anything - and indeed he did! But without such a dynamic inspiration on his team he will have to dig that much deeper to get the same results.
Meanwhile team KTM is in discussions with some amazing riders. If DeCoster manages to bring over such talent as Marvin Musquin, Mike Goseelaar and Christophe Pourcel then Team KTM will be a formidable opponent this year!
