Teammates Grant Langston wins the overall while Ryan Villopoto finishes 2nd

 

CARLSBAD, Calif., (Sept. 13, 2005) – It was the hugest motocross day of the year for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team this past Sunday. Ivan Tedesco was crowned the overall 125 class champion of the 2005 AMA Motocross Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino (Calif.), while teammates Grant Langston and Ryan Villopoto went 1-2, respectively.

 

In the drama-filled two moto format, Tedesco wiped out in the first moto and didn’t score any points – dropping a seemingly insurmountable 35-point lead to ten points with one moto to go. Then, in that winner-take-all second moto, Mike Alessi, who won the first moto and was looking to take a ten point lead out of the second moto for the overall title, took Tedesco out instead with a highly controversial move seen by pretty much the entire 25,000 fans in attendance.

 

Said Tedesco of the move: “I got a good start, was in like third, and going down that mud straightaway (Flounder Freeway). I was kind of in the middle, he (Alessi) was on the inside, started clicking gears and never shut off and just aimed for me. Took us both out, pretty much T-boned me. My whole right side’s beat up. I got a tire mark going up my back. He must have rode up me. When I tried to get up he (Alessi) was standing on top of my bike, trying to keep me from getting my bike up. Took every thing I had not to give that kid an upper cut to the helmet. I knew I didn’t want to get disqualified or anything so I had to hold back and finally (Matt) Walker kind of came over and help me out. My main focus was to keep my bike running because those things are so hard to start. He was standing on top of my bike, I pushed him off once, but just focused on keeping my bike running because I saw that his wasn’t running. So I just waited for him to do whatever he had to do – and got up.”

 

At the end of the day, the right guy was crowned champion and the fastest guy, Langston, won the race – something he’s done more than any other racer on the tour this year.

 

“You know, I won four races this year and the other guys only won one or two,” said Langston, who was the only Monster-backed athlete running the new Kawasaki KX250F. “So I won twice as many races, but besides the four wins I was never on the podium. And that’s not how you win championships.”

 

For his part, Villopoto had a historic day as well. Racing only his third pro National, Villopoto pulled the holeshot and led a portion of the second moto, then keeping up with Langston through the end for 2^nd overall – his very first podium finish, foreshadowing what’s expected to be a very exciting 2006 motocross season.

 

“Steel City I rode real tight,” said Villopoto. “Pulled the holeshot here and didn’t ride tight. Once I saw Grant (Langston) catch up to me, I didn’t want to push it or anything. So I just tried to ride with him. He’s a little bit faster for right now.”

 

Monster-backed Matt Walker suffered a rough get off in the second moto and was unable to complete the race. Teammate Paul Carpenter had his best race of the year, closing out his campaign with Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki with a fifth place finish overall.

 

“It was the best weekend of the year for me and our team for sure,” said Carpenter.

 

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team sponsors include: Parts Unlimited, Thor, Scott, Maxima, KMC Wheels, Vans, Bridgestone, Hinson Clutch, Components, Showa, The Garage People, Troy Lee Designs, Excel, Renthal, N-Style, Works Racing Parts, Twin Air, VP Racing Fuels, Athena, Motion Pro, DP Brakes, RK Racing Chain, UFO, Mechanix Wear, CTI2, Vertex, Alpinestars, PPG, Trek Bicycles, Imagine It Graphics.

 

Another highlight of the season was the $25,000 Monster Energy and Kawasaki awarded to Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki) for winning the inaugural Monster Eneryg/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross. Carmichael was the only racer to win all three rounds of the promotion – Mt. Morris (Pa.), RedBud (Mich.) and Steel City.

 

In addition to the sizable bonus paid out, Monster Energy – in cooperation with Kawasaki and Pro Circuit – awarded the top privateer placer in both 125 and 250 classes a factory Monster Energy/Kawasaki/Pro Circuit KLX 110 (valued at $3,000) while also awarding an additional $500 in cash to the top privateer at each race (both classes). Also, at the Steel City round, Monster Energy will award an additional KLX 110 and another $500 in cash to the top overall privateer finisher in each class. That’s eight custom Kawasaki/Pro Circuit mini bikes and $4,000 in cash!