Ryan Dungey – 2017 Champion
“I felt really good tonight – the bike felt good and I was able to hit my marks. The only struggle for me on the track, I feel, was maybe the whoops a little bit. Still, it was good and consistent. It was good hard racing [tonight], I think the fans got a show and it’s nice and rewarding to be able to get this championship. It’s probably one of the sweetest ones – it just was a very challenging season right down to the final lap. I had some tough competition, but it’s not over until it’s over and it’s a big team effort. We had no issues with the bike all season, and a lot goes into it from back at the KTM factory to the entire Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team. This has been the most rewarding championship win, and it takes a lot of things to go right to get here. I’m grateful to my wife, my family, my mechanic, the team and everybody who has supported this.”
Jason Anderson – 1st
“I’m so happy I got the win. I didn’t want to get in the way of the two guys up front because I knew they were fighting for the championship, but things turned out in my favour. It’s really cool and I’m excited to end the season with this win.”
“At the beginning, I thought I was riding really good. It’s an awkward position to be in when you’re in between two guys going for the championship and I don’t want to be that guy to make a decision. I wanted them to do their deal and battle it out. Luckily they did towards the end. I had my run-in with Chad and I wanted to be on the podium, then next thing you know they got together on the last lap and I got the win.”
Eli Tomac – 2nd
“In my position, I was thinking I could try sprint away from this thing and ride alone or try bunch up the pack a little bit and wait for a mistake and see what happens. When the pack tightens up the nerves kick in and there’s battling and bumping. That’s all I could really do at that point. I wasn’t going to just lay over for this thing and give it away. I fought as hard as I could and at the end of the day people aren’t going to remember the race wins from myself they’ll remember the championship from Ryan. He was the better guy this year.”
Josh Grant – 3rd
“It was a little difficult because going into it the plan was to get as many points as possible. It was craziness and I couldn’t make a judgement call on it. I couldn’t really see what was going on up front until I caught up to the guys. It was a wild ride.
“Obviously it has been a while since I’ve been up here [on the podium]. Injuries and going through all the stuff I’ve dealt with but I’ve been working hard and that’s all that matters. Hopefully, I can take this momentum into the outdoors.”
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