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AMA Chevy Trucks 250cc U.S. Motocross Championship Series MOTO ONE Ol'llnt Langston moved back Into the 125cc serfe. lead with a . 1-1 sweep at Millville. By DAVEY COOMBS • PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN MIllVILLE, MN, AUG. 19 n the very same day that Grant Langston's reign as the FIM 125cc World Motocross Champion ended, the Red Bull KTM rider from South Africa took a step closer to claiming the AMA 125cc National Championship. In his first year on the tour, Langston won his fourth race of the series in dominant fashion, sweeping both motos at John Martin's sandy Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, Minnesota, to retake the points lead he held early in the series. "I told everyone on my team that I wouldn't be happy unless I walked away from here with two moto wins," said Langston, who was told before the first moto that British rider James Dobb had clinched the 125cc World title he left back in Europe at the German GP. "I've been staying with my teammate Brock Sellards and working hard these last two weeks off and wanted to come here and finish 1-1." As Langston was pulling away in the first moto, defending class champion Travis Pastrana was battling Yamaha of Troy's Ernesto Fonseca for second-place halfway through the race when he suddenly pulled off at the finish line and rode straight back to the pits. It was later learned that Pastrana had decided to drop out of the title chase rather than risk another hide speed get-off like the ones t Unadilla and Washougal that left him with concussions. (See sidebar.) With Pastrana's shocking departure from the series - he will not compete in either of the last two rounds nor will he attend the upcoming Motocross Des Nations in Belgium. - the battle for the O number-one plate has been left to Langston and SplitFire/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Mike Brown. The veteran Brown, who entered the event with a five-point cushion on Langston, never got close to the qukk-starting Langston after starting outside the top five each time out. When asked what went through his mind when he got the signal that said that Pastrana was out, Langston said, "I didn't see the signal. I think lately that he's been having a bit of bad luck and struggling, so baSically now it's down to me and Mike [Brown]. As long as I'm out front, that's. what matters. Unfortunately, Travis has been injured. He's been a great competitor and it's kind of sad to see him go out like that." Langston returned to the lead position on the points table for the first time since surrendering the early advantage after separating his shoulder at the fourth round in Southwick, Massachusetts. When asked how he felt going into the last two rounds in New York and Pennsylvania, Langston seemed very confident. "I was actually watching a tape of Budds Creek last week when Brown knocks me and that kind of upset me and made me want to come out here and beat him bad, and I think the second moto proved that when I destroyed him," said Langston of the only rival standing between him and the U.S. Championship he wants to add to his previous World title. "I beat him last year and I want to beat him again this year. It's a two-horse race now and I think it's my tum to win now." "Yeah, he can think what he wants, you know? We'll see next weekend," replied Brown to his foe's confidence. "This is the track for him. He's a sand rider and he does go good in it. The n."". next two tracks [Broome-Tioga and Steel City] are like the track I've got in my back yard - Muddy Creek [in Tennessee] - and I'm looking forward to them." 'While Langston and Brown notched first and second overall in the final tally, Team Suzuki's Rodrig Thain was a surprising third overall with a steady 5-4 shOWing. The Frenchman parlayed good starts and smart riding into another podium finish, his second straight in the series. Fourth overall went to Langston's Red Bull KTM teammate Brock Sellards, who finished 4-5 on the day and overcame a second-moto tangle with Brown that dropped him from second to eighth at one point. "I didn't think that Brownie was going to be as aggressive as he was at that point in the race, and he just held on to the gas a little bit longer and put me down," said Sellards after the race. Fonseca ended up fifth overall with a 2-10 tally. The Yamaha of Troy YZ250F pilot grabbed the holeshot in the first moto and then, after letting Langston sneak past, held off the determined charge of Brown for second in the moto. Fonseca was in the midst of another fine ride for third the next time out when he suffered a flat rear tire. He fought to hold on to each position and seemed ready to pick up seventh-place points when a frustrated Ward got hold of him on the last lap. "The second moto was kind of a bummer because 15 minutes in I got a flat, and it's pretty hard to ride with one, but I did the best I could," said Fonseca, who saw his shot at the podium deflate with the flat. "I feel like my speed was pretty good, but I just had a little but of bad luck. Hopefully we'll put it together next week." As has become his custom this summe(, Brown was the first rider to the starting gate. With the advice of practice partner Ricky Carmichael, Brown decided to use the first pick at the gate he enjoyed as the points leader to choose the far inside of the long Millville start stretch. The gambit didn't turn out so good, as Brown lost the draw to Yamaha of Troy's Nathan Ramsey, who started right beside Brown and squeezed him into the banners. Ramsey didn't get the holeshot, either. The early lead went to KTM Red Bull rider Brock Sellards, followed by Fonseca and Motoworldracing.com/ Answer rider Greg Schnell, Langston and the RM125 of Thain. Left in the sandy first turn after a collision were Team Green prospect Paul Veracka and Planet Honda's Randy Valade. They were joined at the back of the pack a few turns later by Team Husqvama's Steve Lamson and Japanese Suzuki rider Akira Narita Fonseca made a quick pass for the lead, but Langston was moving even quicker, passing Schnell and Sellards to get right up behind the leading blue thumper. And as soon as the pack. completed the first full lap, Langston shot past Fonseca into a lead he would never relinquish, pushing Ernesto out into the high wall right after the mechanics' signaling area. From that point on, Langston began extending his lead on Fonseca. Sellards, third at the end of the first lap, followed by Ward, Planet Honda's Matt Walker, Brown, Schnell, Pastrana, Amsoil/Dr. Martens/Factory Connection Honda rider Steve Boniface and Yamaha of Troy's Nick Wey. Pastrana, who looked great in practice at a track where he went 1-1 last year, immediately started picking his way through the fjeld. He passed Walker and Brown on the second lap, then demoted Ward and Thain the next time around to move into fourth. One more time around and he would overtake Sellards, out-leaping him on the infield ski jump. Once into third, Pastrana began to gobble up the five seconds that separated him from runner-up Fonseca. It took Pastrana three laps to close the gap between himself and Fonseca, but then the numberone Suzuki started to slow. He laid off the throttle through the "S" turns at the finish line and then rode over the bump and signaled that he was going