Kawasaki/Racer X Race Report
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All season long in the Lites class we were entranced by the battles between the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit duo of defending champion Ryan Villopoto and former World Champion Ben Townley, and it wouldn’t stop today as the pair again traded moto wins. And although the championship did come down to the 24th and final moto of the season, it was going to take something drastic for Ben Townley to make up the 19-point deficit he had going into the first moto.
Much to the delight of the many New Zealanders in attendance, Ben Townley started off his final AMA Lites class race with a Racer X holeshot, leading almost till the halfway mark. The two then battled briefly before Villopoto would take the lead for good. And as we’ve seen so many times this season, both Townley and Villopoto rode off as if they were from another planet—stretching an enormous lead out over third place, which in the early stage of the race was Josh Grant, who then suffered a crash which would force him to call it a day. Australian Brett Metcalfe then inherited the final podium position. Out front Villopoto was able to maintain about a five-second cushion over his teammate, and he held on to the end, adding three more points to his lead. Rounding out the top five was Trey Canard in fourth, and Yamaha’s Broc Hepler in fifth.
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“I didn’t get the best jump, but everyone got jammed up in the second turn and I came out in the lead,” said Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi of the first moto start. Alessi came out firing on all cylinders, and the Apple Valley resident charged the Glen Helen course lap after lap, leading Kevin Windham, Short, Ferry and Langston. The top five stayed that way for about half the race, and it looked like Langston was riding tight. But then at the bottom of one of the enormous downhills, Ferry suffered the first miscue, high-siding his Monster Energy KX450F, dropping him to fifth, moving Langston up to fourth.
For the next few laps Windham closed up to rear wheel of Alessi and looked to be making a charge, but then he hit the dirt in the very same corner as Ferry. All of a sudden Langston found himself in third, not too far behind Short and Alessi. The next few laps Langston put on a charge, catching and passing the two frontrunners, holding on for the moto win. It was an inspired ride by the South African native, who had the weight of the world on his shoulders today. “After taking the first moto win, it just really took a lot of pressure off,” Langston said. But there was still 30-minutes-plus-two-laps of racing remaining before a champion would be named.
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AMA Motocross
1. Grant Langston (Yam) 1-3
2. Mike Alessi (KTM) 2-2
3. Kevin Windham (Hon) 5-1
4. Timmy Ferry (Kaw) 4-4
5. Andrew Short (Hon) 3-6
6. Josh Hill (Yam) 8-5
7. Mike Brown (Hon) 6-7
8. Gavin Gracyk (Hon) 9-11
9. Kyle Mace (Kaw) 13-12
10. Ryan Clark (Hon) 10-15
AMA Motocross Lites
1. Ben Townley (Kaw) 2-1
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw) 1-2
3. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw) 3-3
4. Broc Hepler (Yam) 4-4
5. Austin Stroupe (Kaw) 10-4
6. Martin Davalos (KTM) 7-6
7. Jake Weimer (Hon) 6-7
8. Trey Canard (Hon) 4-12
9. Nico Izzi (Suz) 8-11
10. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw) 14-8