South African rider wins 2006 AMA Supercross Lites West. Grant Langston won yet another AMA racing title in thrilling fashion. The South African took the AMA Supercross Lites West title this past Saturday at Qwest Field in Seattle, by winning the final race of the series aboard his Monster Energy Drink/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Langston was four points down to Honda’s Andrew Short coming into Seattle, but his victory, combined with a disappointing eighth-place finish for Short, helped Langston win his fourth AMA championship.
Last year Langston won the AMA Supercross Lites East title (then called 125 East) after tying with Josh Hansen. Langston won that championship in a tiebreaker and it was the first time the series ended in a points tie. This time around Langston won the championship in come-from-behind fashion. He knew what he had to do in Seattle and went out and did his part and then got some help from Short, who suffered a heartbreaking crash-plagued final.
“Coming into the race I knew I needed a little help to win the championship,” said Langston, who is the third rider to win both the AMA East and West Supercross Lites titles. “Winning this championship was a great team effort. It was comforting to have Ryan (Villopoto) running in second behind me and giving me some cushion.”
Langston won a series-leading three races during the 2006 series.
“It was an exciting year,” he said. “We took it down to the wire. I really wanted to win this. I knew coming into the race that mud riding is not necessarily my strength, but I was able to put it together and come out with the win and the championship.”
Langston adds the AMA Supercross Lites West championship to his trophy case, which already includes the AMA Supercross Lites East championship, an AMA Motocross Lites title and the AMA Supermoto Unlimited title. In addition Langston is a former FIM 125 World Motocross Champion.
Langston now turns to this weekend’s Dave Coombs Sr. Memorial East/West Lites Shootout in Las Vegas. He is the pre-race favorite in that race. He plans on moving up to the premier AMA Supercross class in 2007.
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