Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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AMA l2Scc National Motocross Championships Presented by FMF . . . .helre high drwna in the high country at the Fairfield Cyde/Suzuki 37th annual Hangtown Classic. Fonner Grand Prix and AMA National Champion Grant Langston got together with Red Bull KTM's Mike Alessi in the last tum on the last lap of the second moto in dramatic fashion, taking the win over Alessi (and the overall). In the process, though, the Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider took himself out of contention for the next round at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, with a serious ankle injury. Round one of the 2005 AMA Motocross Championships was played out in front of a Hangtown record 26, 103 sun-drenched fans. When all was said and done, the stage was set for what will no doubt be one of the most exciting and competitive 125cc series of the post-Bubba era. Joining winner Langston on the podium were Hondamounted Mike Brown in second and motoone winner Makita Suzuki's Broc Hepler in third - the latter inheriting the position when Alessi went down. "Yeah, that was definitely a wild way to start the season:' Brown said. "I was coming up on that last comer, sawall the yellow fiags and just tried to hurry up and get around it. I saw Alessi laying there and was like 'What the?'" Moments earlier, Alessi and Langston had come together on the very last comer, with Langston - according to the KTM camp - 20 launchtl; "'. ik:.at Alessi in a Iast-dildl effort to take the win. "It was a B.S. move:' KTM team manager Larry Brooks said. "Grant laundhed his bike at Mike in an effort to take h"'i"'m,.."out.""" Total B.S." For Langston, the move was unnecessary, due to the fact that when he passed Brown for second on lap 13, he already had the overall wrapped up. "I'm not really sure if he ghost-rode his bike into me or not," Alessi said. The Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki camp denied any wrongdoing. "I saw it happen, and it looked to me that Grant had his front tire in on Alessi, and Alessi dove down on him [Langston]:' said a source close to the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. "In my opinion, it was incidental contact." After the race, Alessi was over it - stoked that he'd put himself in a position to win the second moto after getting passed by numerous riders and finishing sixth in the first moto. Langston disappeared into one of the many motor homes with his first-place trophy and cast on his leg, understandably deciding to forego the postrace press con· ference due to the pain he was in. "He [Langston] came off the finish-line jump and right at me:' Team SamsungiSprint Wireless/Honda's mechanic Billy Bell said. "I look down at his foot and, well, it was pointed backwards." The preliminary diagnosis provided by a Kawasaki spokesman was that Langston had JUNE 1,2005 • CYCLE NEWS _ dislocated his ankle. Back on the track, there was some outstanding racing going on, involving such riders as the aforementioned Brown and Hepler, along with Amsoil/Factory Connection/Chaparral/Honda's Josh Grant, who finished fifth, just ahead of Yamaha of Troy's Danny Smith. Langston's Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammates Ivan Tedesco, Paul Carpenter and Matt Walker finished fourth, seventh and 10th, respectively. Moto one was all Hepler. The Kittanning, Pennsylvania, native got a good start and then proceeded to dismantle the rest of the field, working his way up to first by the sixth lap and refusing to relinquish the lead through the end of the race. Hepler's effort was as flawless as it was violent. He attacked the rugged and rutted Hangtown track with a disciplined speed that some trackside were saying resembling that of past motocross