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Grant Langston Wins AMA Motocross Championship
Category: Racing News
Date: 15 Sep 2007
Time: 12:04:08 -0400Comments
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Grant Langston has put Yamaha back on top of AMA Motocross for the first time since 1998 by winning the 2007 championship with a stunning pair of rides in San Bernadino, Calif. on Sunday, Sept. 9. He flew his 2008 YZ450F to a win in the first moto and played it smart in the second to take a third-place finish, the overall win, and the historic title. Langston now has the personal distinction of holding AMA Motocross and Motocross Lites titles as well as a world MX2 title. Langston came into the final round at Glen Helen Raceway with a narrow points lead over Andrew Short, Mike Alessi and Tim Ferry – which meant he had to put in two strong motos. The Yamaha rider did just that, but he had to work for it. In the first moto, Langston started only sixth behind all of his title rivals. But he got down to business, catching and passing them all in an explosive eight-lap charge that fans will remember for a long time. He took the lead from Alessi with three laps remaining and built up a margin of 10.7 seconds at the flag. In the second moto, Kevin Windham – who was not in contention for the title – grabbed the lead from Alessi on the second lap and maintained it throughout the 14-lap event. After getting a much better start, Langston quickly passed Alessi for second and let Windham go – but rode plenty fast to keep all of his title rivals at bay through the long moto. Even better, Yamaha teammate Josh Hill, making only his second appearance on a YZ450F, kept ahead of Ferry and Short for much of the race. Langston ultimately dropped to third behind a charging Alessi, and at the flag secured the championship by a comfortable 16 points over Short. “It was great to see the team come together this year and all the hard work has definitely paid off,” said Team Manager Jim Perry afterwards. “It feels fantastic to bring the championship to Yamaha and the 2008 YZ450F helped me achieve the team’s goal,” Langston added. “The bike is just outstanding!”