Defending Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion Ryan Dungey isn’t giving up hope of reclaiming his title in 2011 despite a heartbreaking mechanical failure ruling him out of Anaheim 2 last weekend.

The Rockstar Makita Suzuki star was in sixth on lap eighth of the main event when his chain derailed, believed to be from a foreign object making contact earlier in the race.

The result now sees Dungey now trailing title rivals James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed in the standings, but he’s not quitting just yet.

“Well, obviously the main event didn’t go our way tonight,” said Dungey. “The bad part is that we had a really good day – a good practice and a really great bike setup. We won the heat and then ran into some bad luck in the main.

“It’s a pretty tough pill to swallow because the entire Rockstar Makita Suzuki team has been working really, really hard. I don’t know the last time we’ve had a DNF, which is pretty amazing in itself.

“This is a tough one and I’ll take the weekend to blow off some steam for sure because we aren’t going to quit and we aren’t going to let this keep us down.

“The goals are still the same. We will be there at Houston.”

Australian teammate Brett Metcalfe had his worst result of the season with ninth, rebounding from a slow start to work his way through the all-star field and into the top 10.

“It wasn’t one of my better days,” said Metcalfe. “Everything for me today was just difficult. But you learn a lot from these days and we’ll take it and move forward.

“I want to thank the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team for sticking by me and we’ll just concentrate on Houston. I’ve always liked Houston and have generally done pretty well there.”

Houston’s Texas round of the series will take place this weekend.