Over the past year we’ve really seen some impressive wins by Lites riders. Most recently, Broc Hepler’s win this past weekend at the inaugural ESPN Moto X World Championship marked the third time in less than a year that a rider on a Lites bike topped everyone else in a one-off event.
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Villopoto (2) gave the rest of the world a smack down on his KX250F at the MXoN last September. |
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photo: Simon Cudby | | |
The first time it happened was
Ryan Villopoto's stunner at the 2007 Red Bull Motocross of Nations at
Budds Creek, where he beat the best in the world—twice—on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. For anyone in attendance that September afternoon, that performance by RV will forever be etched into our memories.
Less than a month later, we saw a Lites rider top 450 riders again. This time, it was Torco Racing Fuels Honda rider
Jake Weimer winning the second night of the Rockstar U.S. Open of Supercross aboard his CRF250R in Las Vegas. Weimer crossed the finish line ahead of the 450s of
Josh Demuth,
Mike Alessi,
Grant Langston,
Chad Reed, and
Tim Ferry, among others.
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Jake Weimer surprised the odds makers and won the second night at the 2007 U.S. Open. |
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photo: Simon Cudby | | |
And now we have Team Yamaha rider
Broc Hepler out-pacing the MDK/KTM 450s of
Nick Wey and
Justin Brayton to take the win in the first NAVY Moto X World Championship.
“Any of the guys on the 450s had a little advantage on the start,” Hepler said on
Racer X Online earlier this week. “I don’t think they had too much of an advantage on the rest of the track, but just on the start.”
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Broc Hepler (60) didn't get the best of starts last Sunday, but still came away with the win. |
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photo: Steve Cox | | |
Switching gears, it's a great time to be a fan of Monster Energy Supercross. Why? Well, the next three weeks are going to be insane. The first title of 2008 will be decided this weekend between
Trey Canard and
Ryan Villopoto in St. Louis. The very next weekend, either
Ryan Dungey or
Jason Lawrence will be crowned as the West Region Champion in Seattle, and finally
Chad Reed or
Kevin Windham will be crowned the weekend after in Las Vegas. So, as Andy Bowyer would say, the next three weekends will be off the chain, folks!
