Dirt Bike News - Reed and Langston Sweep Glen Helen MX Prequel - Dirt Rider Magazine

Glen Helen no longer hosts the opening round of the AMA Motocross Series, but they weren't about to let that stop them from giving us the first look at the outdoor season. Saturday was the second annual Primm AMA Prequel MX Championship featuring many riders who will be competing in the outdoor series. Look at it as the Canadian GPs of Motocross - not the official start of the season, but enough big name riders there (Chad Reed, David Vuillemin, Ryan Hughes, Grant Langston, Josh Grant, Jeff Alessi) to make it an awesome event.Chad Reed and Grant Langston were the big winners, each sweeping their classes. Reed got off to a strong start in both races. The first moto, Ryan Hughes got the holeshot and led the first lap. Ryno is making his return to the motocross series with a new team and a new ride: ECC Honda. Although he plans to contest the 125 class, Hughes raced in the 250 class at Glen Helen aboard a CRF450R. Reed soon overtook Hughes for the lead, followed by David Vuillemin. Hughes held on for third, and the three put a gap on the rest of the field. Yamaha's Craig Decker and Honda rider Rodrig Thain placed fourth and fifth.The second 250 moto, Reed and Hughes were once again out front. The two battled for a bit before Reed got a good grip on the lead. Then, in a very uncharacteristic move, Reed went down in a turn. Hughes threw away his chance to steal the lead when he went down right behind him. Reed was up and running again quickly, but Hughes wasn't able to get his 450 relit before Vuillemin passed him. The day's end results were Reed (1-1), Vuillemin (2-2) and Hughes (3-3).In the first moto of the 125 class, Langston got off to a huge lead, and ran away with it to the end. Second place went to Turbo Reif, and Jesse Casillas was third. Yamaha riders Kelly and Danny Smith rounded out the top five, respectively.Things got more interesting in the second moto when Josh Grant took the holeshot and a first-lap crash left Langston at the back of the pack. But the 125 East Supercross Champion showed how bad he wanted the win, slicing his way through the pack going from 16th to 8th in two laps. In the end, Josh Grant's big lead wasn't big enough; Langston caught him and passed him before the two-lap board even came out. Grant held on for second followed by Jesse Casillas, Kelly Smith and Suzuki's Jason Lawrence in fifth.Back from Europe to race the AMA Motocross series was Mike Brown. Brown will be competing in the 125 class aboard a Honda CRF250R. Hopefully the Prequel was not a foreshadowing of his upcoming season. It was a short day for Brownie. He DNF'd the first moto, pulling off the track with apparent mechanical problems, and DNS the second moto.The ellusive Alessis showed up at, also back from Europe for the MX series. Although Mike wasn't racing, he was there to cheer on younger brother Jeff in the 250 class. Mike has recovered from his back injury suffered in Europe while racing the MXGP series, and will be competing in the 125 class aboard the KTM 250 SX-F. Jeff will also be racing the AMA Motocross series, but will be aboard the KTM 450 in the 250 class. Look for more on the Alessis later this week - Mike talks about returning to the series after a tumultuous 2004 season, and Jeff talks about what he learned from his brother's mistakes.The opening round of the Women's Motocross Association was also on Saturday. The fierce competition and the rough Glen Helen track made for an exciting round. In the first moto, Jessica Patterson had the lead over Tarah Geiger, but suffered a hang-up after getting cross-rutted just before the finish-line jump. Geiger passed Patterson for the win, and the former champ had to settle for second, followed by Bau, Whitmore and Satchwell.Geiger took another victory in the second moto, leading the entire race, followed by teammate Sarah Whitmore who had a 4-2 for the day. The two placed first and second overall, followed by Honda's Stefy Bau (3-3).Yamaha teammates Tarah Geiger and Sarah Whitmore both had impressive comebacks. Geiger had only a few weeks on the bike before the opening round; she spent most of the previous months in a wheelchair and crutches after shattering her pelvis in February. You'd never know it by the way she rode–going 1-1 to take the overall victory. Sarah Whitmore had a devastating season last year when she came down with the Epstien-Barr virus, but looks like she's off to a great start.You may recognize Tarah and Sarah from Pastrana's new video, Travis and the Nitro Circus 2. They're the two girls doing back flips on minis and getting crazy on the slip-n-slide.The door to the 125cc championship was wide open in the Supercross Series, and eight different winners in 16 rounds showed it! Now, heading to the outdoors, there are even more top guys with the potential to take the title. Along with Broc Hepler, Davi Millsaps, Grant Langston, Nathan Ramsey and Ivan Tedesco, riders like Ryan Hughes, Mike Alessi and Mike Brown are stepping up to the plate. So who will it be on the podium, the young, fresh faces or the tough, former champions? One thing's for sure... it's going to be a heck of a season!Overall Results - 250 Pro
1. Chad Reed, Yamaha (1-1)
2. David Vuillemin, Yamaha (2-2)
3. Ryan Hughes, Honda (3-3)
4. Rodrig Thain, Honda (5-4)
5. Craig Decker, Yamaha (4-5)
6. Michael Byrne, Kawasaki (6-6)
7. Dylan Lord, Honda (7-7)
8. Justin Buckelew (9-8)
9. Bobby Garrison, Honda (8-10)
10. Joe Oehlhof, Suzuki (10-9)
11. Dennis Stapelton, Honda (14-13)
12. Kyle Williams, Suzuki (16-12)
13. David Pingree, Yamaha (12-16)
14. Carter Gurnee, Yamaha (13-17)
15. Micky Griffin, Yamaha (17-15)Overall Results - 125 Pro
1. Grant Langston, Kawasaki (1-1)
2. Jesse Cassillas, Yamaha (3-3)
3. Josh Grant, Honda (6-2)
4. Kelly Smith, Yamaha (4-4)
5. Turbo Reif, Honda (2-7)
6. Danny Smith, Yamaha (5-6)
7. Johnny Marley, Honda (7-9)
8. Richie Ownens, Suzuki (8-10)
9. Jeff Willoh, Honda (12-13)
10. Kyle Mace, Honda (10-15)
11. Dennis Ewing, Honda (14-14)
12. Shaun Palmer, Honda (13-18)
13. Clayton Miller, Yamaha (19-17)
14. Doug Leavitt, Kawasaki (20-21)
15. Brian Gray, Honda (35-8)Overall Results - WMA Pro
1. Tarah Geiger, Yamaha (1-1)
2. Sarah Whitmore, Yamaha (4-2)
3. Stefy Bau, Honda (3-3)
4. Jessica Patterson, Honda (2-5)
5. Alisa Nix, Yamaha (6-6)
6. Jessica Gebhardt, Suzuki (8-7)
7. Livia Lancelot, Yamaha (7-2)
8. Elizabeth Bash, Kawasaki (10-10)
9. Alison Jones, Honda (13-8)
10. Sheena Patterson, Honda (12-9)
11. Kirsten Raemisch, Kawasaki (9-14)
12. Alex Haupt, Kawasaki (11-13)
13. Tania Satchwell, Yamaha (5-19)
14. Ashley Boham, Honda (15-11)
15. Kaide Garrett, Yamaha (14-15)*For full results visit www.GlenHelen.com.