I can almost guarantee you that neither Grant Langston nor Yamaha dreamt of winning the AMA Motocross championship this year halfway through the series. Langston seemed to be struggling to find his rhythm, and might have expected no better than a top five finish in the series.
Two things happened to turn things around for Yamaha and Langston. One of them they had control over, and the other they did not.
Langston started the series on a race bike developed from the 2007 YZ450F, but he seemed to find his rhythm, consistency and speed only after switching to the 2008 model.
One thing Yamaha had no control over was an injury to Kawasaki’s James Stewart late in the series, while Stewart seemed to have a lock on the championship due to the retirement of Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael. The series became a free-for-all of sorts at that point, and Stewart’s teammate Tim Ferry quickly assumed the points lead.
Meanwhile, Langston kept plugging away, and wound up the fastest rider in the series — climbing the points ladder to the number one spot, which he held on to with a solid ride during the final round at Glen Helen.
Expect Langston (who already had a Lites Outdoor championship) to get even better next year when he returns with Yamaha.
