wind!
But
then
when I fell, all of a sudden
I was
tired,
lwas in
pain,
and
I was deliri-
ous,"
With
the
problems
for Gosselaar,
Grant and Langston, Alessi was able to
ratchet
himself into the lead and win the
moto.
''l
kind of
paced
those
guys
and was
patient,"
Alessi said.
"l
rode my own race
and it came to me, with
Josh
crashing and
theo Langston crashing in the back.
Langston
kind
of
gave
it to me. I took my
time and was
patient."
The rider to watch late in the
game
was Villopoto, who had started around
loth and battled his way to fourth,
While
a big
gap stood
between
him and the
leaders, the crashes
moved him up to sec-
ond at the finish. with Grant third and
Langston foufth-
''Everyone
wants to
go
out and
win,
and everyone is super fast,''
Villopoto
said.
"l
had
to
work my way through the
pack.
The first moto
was more spread
out,
and I
jurt
kind of made it into fourth.
I had some
Sood
luck on my side, and that
helped me out with the overall for sure."
ln
moto two, Villopoto didn't start
much better than
he did in moto one, but
this time he was able to start workin8 his
way through the
pack
earlier
in the race.
Honda's Andrew Short,
who
crashed
hard
in the first turn of the flrst
moto,
came back
to hold
the early lead in moto
two. Then Alessi
made an uncharacteris-
ti€
mistake and went down in the second
turn,
"The
second
moto I
got
a
good
start,
but I clippedJosh's
back wheel and kind of
highsided,"
Alessi said.
Villopoto
went
to work.
Langston,
who wa5 struggling
wrth
his wrist, let him
by. Then Villopoto
got to Grant, who
was
circulating in second, and
despite still suf-
fering with a tender ankle,
took over sec-
continoed frol,,
poge l7
in{ield
section featuring a drop into the
valley at the center of the track, and a
new
iump
right in front of the hillside
where many of the spectators watch
from,
put
the aace in
front
of
the specta-
tors. Meanwhile, the backwoods
section
leading to the
finish, which could not be
seen by spectators,
\/ra5
eliminated. Saw-
dust was then mixed
intg the track to
soften the
surface, creatint more lines
for better
pa5sin8. "l
liked the
new lay-
out," said
race winner Ricky Carmichael-
Racer Productions boosted their roond
rystem
Wth an idea it spotted
at the
Motocrosg des Nations last
s€ptember in
France. A crane
hoisted a
Siant
PA system
high over
the
center
of the track, whiah
provided what was
probably
the most audi-
ble announcer's aall ever at an AMA
National.
After ah impreasive top- 10
performance in
his first National ever last weekend at
Hangtown, KTM'S Za
