Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128137
Sixth Annual Chaparral U.S. AMA Supercross Invitational By STEVE supercross event and showed that they mean business heading into Anaheim I. Cox PHOTOS BY JOE BONELLO SAN BERNARDINO, CA, DEC. 29 t the Perris Invitational Supercross, held two weeks prior to the Glen Helen event, KTM Red Bull fielded only two of their five riders Brock Sellards and Billy Laninovich - and they promptly took the top two spots. At Glen Helen, KTM Red Bull again entered only two riders this time, Grant Langston and Steve Boniface and, again, they appeared to be on their way to taking the top two spots in the 125/250cc Shootout, but a tangle between the two handed second to Moto XXX's Kelly Smith and relegated Boniface to a close third. However, once again, the orange boys flexed some muscle in the second and final major SoCal preseason 22 JANUARY 1 6, 2002' cue 125cc MAIN Sean O'Connor grabbed the holeshot on his YZ125, but before the lap was over Langston was all over him for the lead, with Smith a smidge behind in third, youngster Michael Blose on his Suzuki in fourth, and RM-mounted Erick Vallejo in fifth. By the second go-around, Langston had worked his way into the lead, followed by Smith and Vallejo, who was on fire early. Langston continued to pull away out front until about lap eight of the 20-lap event, when Smith began closing in. "It's my first race in such a long time, and the first few laps were fine, until my arms pumped up," Langston said. "I was basically just hanging on • • n • _ s - I couldn't ride properly - but I was kind of expecting that." On lap seven, Shane Bess went down in a heap with Justin Smith, and Mike Sleeter also went down and stayed down for many laps, until the paramedics finally loaded him up for a trip to the hospital. The two up front were consistently pulling away from Vallejo in third, until Boniface, making up for a poor start, worked his way past. By then, though, Langston and Smith were long gone. "I had a very bad start - about 1Oth - and I ride very hard to come back at the front of the race and I got a little bit of arm pump," Boniface said, "so I just kept my own pace." Smith was all over Langston for the lead, and he even pulled alongside a couple of times, only to be thwarted by the yellow-flag, no-pass KTM Red Bull's Grant Langston (111) won everything he entered at the Chaparral U.S. AMA Supercross Invitational, and along the way became the first rider In the history of the event to win the 125/250cc Shootout on a 125cc machine. Here, he leads Molo XXX's Kelly Smith (34). zone created where Sleeter went down. Pro Circuit's newest recruit, Matt Walker, worked his way forward from way back to grab fourth from Vallejo on lap 17, and his new teammate Bobby Bonds soon made it by the Suzuki rider as well. Smith pressured Langston all the way to the finish but couldn't make a pass stick, and Langston took the win, with Smith right behind and Boniface just a few seconds back in third.