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AMA Che vy T r u c k s 1 25c c National Motocross Championships R o u nd 1 : Gle n H e le n R acew a y B y D A VE D ERINGER PHOTOS BY S T EVE B RU HN SAN BERNADINO, CA, MAY 13 n what will su re ly be one of the most hot ly co n teste d 125 c c Nat iona l Motocross S erie s of a ll t im e , Team KTM Red Bull's Grant Langston came a way with h is first -ever U.S . Nationa l win as he swept both motos at South e rn Cali fornia 's ro u gh Glen Helen facility in front of a st rong c rowd of su n-drenched fans . With two st rong sta rts in both motos, Lan g st on t ra c ked do wn th e le ad e rs b o t h t ime s o ut o n his And re w Lang ston-p repped KTM 125 SX a nd led to the finis h, though he was kept honest both times out by Pro Circuit/ Kawasa ki/S plitFire 's Mike Brown. Th e 12 5c c Wo rld Ch am p io n , Langston, who is in his first year racing I in Ame rica , also became only the third person ever to win a National on his first try (J ean -Michel Bay le an d Sebast ien Tortelli were the others). Now the friendly 18 -ye a r-o ld South Afric a n , who is fre s h off his first -e ve r S up er c ross win severa l weeks ago, is ba ck on familia r gro und and read y to sh ake some fizzy for the rest of the yea r. "I knew I had the speed and that I just needed two good s tarts to be co mpetitive ," said La ngs t on , who is still famil ia rizing himself to the conc rete s ta rt pad s used h er e in the State s . "I flunked all the starts in the qualifiers tod ay a nd yesterda y, and I focused on th a t a t the sta rt of the motos . I had two good st arts a nd two good motos a nd got up front and just d icta ted th e pa ce. I'v e on ly rid d en here a bo ut five times , and the dirt has Michael Brandes (43) snares the moto-one holeshot in front of Nicholas Wey (2 3), Danny Sm ith (29), Keith Johnson (73), Lany Ward (10) and Brock Sellards (18). Travis Pastrana (1)ls barely visible entering tum one In the left of the photo. 12 MAV23,2001 • cue I e nevus Grant La ngston showed that h e will be a threat f or this year's title, winning both motos In convincing fashion for KTM's first " n ormal" National win (the other came In a mud race). He was only the third foreign rider to win his first-e ve r National. c h a n g e d qu ite a bit. It was p re tt y rough o ut there." Taking two strong run ner-up finis hes and second overall was Brown . For th e Tennessee na tive , second was a good way to start off a series tha t he has b e en awa y from fo r two years . Coming off a so lid th ird -place finis h in the 125cc Easte rn Re gi on a l Su per c ross Series several wee ks e a rlie r, Brown was not entirely s urprisi ng with h is sol id res ul t, th ough that ind oor perform an c e had ra ised some eyeb rows . Bro w n no ted tha t h e a n d Langston ha ve raced together regular ly ove r in Euro pe and that the results hav e been si m ilar in th e past. O n e a rea whe re Brown does ha ve a n e dge on La ng sto n is ex perie nce. Brown has been to all of th e rema ining Nati onal t ra c ks , wh ile La ng s to n has not , but th e South Afr ican sho wed at Gle n Hele n that beating him will be difficu lt no matter wha t the circumsta nces. "I was up front in the first one an d fell in a corner and made a few more m istakes later on but hel d on for sec and ," Brow n said at t he end o f th e d a y . "I ca m e out behi nd him [Langston] a nd stayed wit h him and figured that if he made a mistake, th at I coul d get around him . I didn 't wa nt t o get b y h im too e arly a n d t h e n p um p u p or so me t hi n g . I' ve race d with him over the re for two years and kno w how he rides, a nd we were like th is e very weekend .. . I fee l be tte r now tha n I e ve r have . I don 't kno w if it' s a ge or wha t, but I didn' t get tired at a ll o r pump up . Europe has he lped m e, too - es pecia lly in the co rne rs ." Th ird over all we n t to defend ing cha mpion Tra vis Pa strana . Sporting th e number -on e plate for th e first time in his yo ung pro ca ree r, Pastrana was just a ha ir off his mark a t Gle n Helen . Several falls a nd s o me bobbles he ld t h e o utgo ing 17 -ye a r-o ld Ma rylan d nat ive t o a 3 -4 s c o re in t h e two matos , but h is in spi red rid es were s t ro ng e no ug h for the fina l podium s pot. Pastran a was quite upbeat at the e n d of the d a y bec a use he fin is hed t hird overa ll at Glen Hele n last year and ca me away with t h e ch amp ionship in the e nd . He will be a m ajor pla yer for the title agai n this yea r, too. "The Eu rop e a ns ca me o ver ," Pas trana e xclai med from t he p o d ium . "Well, not the Eu ro p e a n s, b ut Langston an d Brown, who ha ve be en running in the Wo rld Champ ions hips , both rode ph enomenal o ut th ere a nd go t me . I c ras hed th re e t ime s ou t there today ... but it' s a good start. It' s the sa me way I started last yea r, a nd that season en d ed up good, so I'm not real depressed ." Somewh at of a s urp rise was fourthp la c e -fin ish er Damon Huffm an. Th e So ut he rn Ca liforn ia resi dent rejoi ne d th e 125cc class this year after riding in the 250cc class for th e last severa l yea rs, a nd his c hoice seems to be a good one . Aboard a Mot ow orl d Rac ing .com l Answer-ba cke d Ya ma ha YZ250 F four -stroke , Huff ma n ro de well a ll day long . A mediocre start a n d a strong ride in m o ta o ne gar nered him a sixt h -p lace finis h, but his high lig h t of t h e d a y was whe n h e grabbe d the holeshot in m ota two and led for severa l la ps befor e s uc c um bing to La ngston a nd Brown . Huffman held off 3 7 othe r compet itors and finishe d a respectable th ird in the mota , in fron t of a deep , ta le nt-lade n fie ld . His 6 -3 scor e wa s good e no ug h fo r fourth overal l. "It' s been a while, a nd it fee ls wonderfu l," Huffm a n co m mented . "Th e YZ250F is th e best bike out there right now, and I'm exci ted to be ba c k in the 125cc class.. .I led the seco nd mota for a bit, but I kind of knew that th ey [Lan gston and Brown ] were a little bit fa st e r, and I let the m by. I th e n lost m y m u ffle r, b ut I wasn 't los ing to o mu ch powe r, so it worked out a lright." Yama ha -mounted 3 -D Ra c ing /E-Z Wid e r-spon so red Keith J ohnson finished fifth ove ra ll and took top priva teer h o no rs . Aft e r a yea r of ra c in g Cann onda le 's big four -stroke, the New En g la n der returns a board a s maller thumper, Yama ha 's popula r 250F. The Massachusetts n at ive went 11 -6 o n the rou gh and hilly Glen Hele n circuit and sits well in the com peti tive 125cc