8 Grant Langston

Grant Langston made the move up to the professional ranks in 1998 back home in South Africa. A 15-year-old racer and his supportive father went on the road in foreign countries racing the Grand Prix circuit. The year was trying, but a solid finish in the French GP at the end of the season helped him to secure a spot on the new KTM Factory team for the next two years.

Grant’s coming-out year on the GP scene was the 2000 season. He was on the podium for 23 of 32 motos, including 12 wins, for the powerful KTM Factory team on his way to becoming the 125cc World Motocross Champion. He also won the 125cc class at the Motocross des Nations.

With a 125cc World Championship in hand, Grant brought his talent to the United States for the 2001 season. The 2001 West Coast Supercross series was his first attempt at supercross. The Red Bull KTM rider was a fast learner and won the seventh round in Dallas, one week after crashing on the last lap as he showed off for the crowd while leading. This solid supercross debut led Grant to be considered one of the heavy favorites going into the Outdoor Nationals that year. Grant battled all season long with Mike Brown, and the championship came down to the final moto of the season. Only needing to finish fifth to secure the championship, disaster struck when Grant’s rear wheel collapsed with two laps to go, effectively handing Brown the championship.

After an injury-riddled 2002 season, Grant returned to his winning ways by capturing the 2003 AMA 125 National Motocross Championship. He returned to the championship circle in 2005 with the 125 East Coast Supercross Championship, and again in 2006 with the 125 West Coast Supercross Championship.

Last year was Langston’s first full season in the premiere 450 class. Always a stronger outdoor rider, Grant was looking to have a good year in the outdoor nationals after sitting out much of the supercross championship with injuries. With Ricky Carmichael beginning his retiremend, and James Stewart dropping out of the championship with an injury at Washougal, Grant rode strong through the rest of the season, including sweeping the final three rounds, and beat Mike Alessi by 16 points to earn the 2007 AMA Motocross Championship.

Langston started off the 2008 Monster Energy Supercross Series with a fourth-place finish at Anaheim, but that was the highlight of the series. Bad luck followed him for the next few rounds before he decided to pull out of the series. Grant was having a very difficult time seeing while on the track and needed to have water removed that was leaking through to his retina. At the same time, he decided to get his wrist scoped to help heal an injury that occurred before the supercross series started. Grant has sat out the entire AMA National series this year, keeping a perfect record for never having attempted to defend a title. He hopes to be back and ready to go for 2009. Sam Wappelhorst