Langston showed Bonds who is boss.

[cp380sx]

I was watching Cycle World on Speed Vision last night and they showed the highlights from Hangtown. Langston and Bonds were dicing a bit and after Bonds cased a landing he intentionally went wide to block Langston from passing. Langston successfully passed Bonds shortly thereafter. As Langston was going by Bonds he cut over and took out Bonds front wheel and Bonds went down hard. I guess Bonds will think twice about playing games with the World Champ from now on.

Cameron

 

[dirt bike dave]

Didn't see it, but going wide to block someone from passing you for the lead sounds like racing. Intentionally taking out someone's front wheel after you pass them sounds like dirty riding.

 

[cp380sx]

You can make the call when the race airs. Bonds went from entering the very inside line of a 180 turn to deliberately (very slowly) riding straight out to the outside line exiting the corner. He knew he was going to get passed because he bobbled going in. That move would have pissed me off too, especially coming from a rookie. I know that Hannah would have done the same thing if a rookie pulled that move in front of him.

The Bonds move reminded me of the Matasivich block moves on Bradshaw 10 years ago that lead to similar retaliation.

Cameron

 

[dirt bike dave]

Sounds like we might have a rivalry brewing. Was watching the lap times being posted live on the web and those guys were really battling and pulling away from Pastrana, Thain and everyone else.

Let's hope Bonds heals quickly so he can get out there again.

 

[cp380sx]

It was unfortunate that Bonds broke a rib or two during the soil sample.

Cameron

 

[will pattison]

langston is a punk!!

i saw the highlight on bike week, and i gotta say, i think langston's move was totally uncalled for. true, bonds blocked him, but it was purely defensive. i've seen ricky carmichael do the same thing, along with a host of others. bond's move didn't put langston in any danger of injury. the south african's move, on the other hand, could have ended much worse for bonds than just broken ribs. to make it clear, langston passed bond over a downhill jump. as he swooped by, he looked over at bonds - to gauge exactly where he was, it seemed. as soon as he landed, he moved abruptly into bond's line just in time to take the other rider's front wheel out from under him...at 30-40 miles per hour. bonds high sided and hit the hard packed landing ramp pretty soundly.

my opinion? it was wrong, it was dangerous, and it was unsportsmanlike as hell. what's worse is the ama let him get away with it. the only way any justice will be served now is if the home town boys step in for the injured bonds and put langston in his place.

 

[ktm033]

Good for Langston, saw the move, Bonds started it Langston ended it, the better man and machine won!

 

[yzguy15]

Come on children, let's not let this turn into a KTM is better thread. With those guys, it's pretty much all rider. The bike has very little to do with it.

 

[super rat]

Originally posted by yzguy15
Come on children, let's not let this turn into a KTM is better thread. With those guys, it's pretty much all rider. The bike has very little to do with it.

tell TP that. langston is on the fastest 125 right now. in the 125 class one hp means alot. i read on racerx that roger d spent 100 hours on the dyno this week. i dont think its because TP's bike is sooo fast.;)

 

[Santa's_Lil_Helper]

Langston just showed Bonds...

Bonds decided to play dirty himself, Langston never intended to take out Bonds' front wheel. Rather just cut him off and get him back for that cheap move. Though im not saying Langston's actions were right, it's never right to play those dirty tricks. Bonds and Langston are on the top of my Fav 125 riders list. Just the Nationals are getting a little personal with everyone wanting to take down the big skinny Suzuki speed demon(Pastrana) or the supposed Green Racing God (Carmichael). I hope Bonds recovers quick as to see some more of that great head to head racing what's been going on. Also, let's not start any controversy about "KTM Rocks!" because we all know...Red is better ;)

 

[ktm033]

Better Dead than Red!!!!!!!!!!!!!:p

 

[KXTodd]

I hope someone puts Langston in his place for that dirty move, it looked to me like he actually hit the brakes when he landed in front of Bonds. In the post race interview he said they were just playing games or something like that and he wasn't trying to make him wreck,BULLS@#@!

 

[oldschool]

It's funny that based on a clip from espn all you experts are either condemning or condoning waht Grant did. I was there and was watching the epic battle (it was pretty cool) Bonds was spent and trying everything to keep Grant behind him. (Brake checking almost every corner, finally triing to park Grant on the top of that hill) Grant had mad the pass coming down the hill, made the move to the inside line and Bonds triied to take a line that was not there for him. The rest is history. Put Grant in his place? More often than not that will be at the top of the podium.
I taked to Gerald and was told that Mitch Payton called him and told him that he felt that Grant was in the right.
Yes, I ride a KTM, but I'll try not to let brand loyalties cloud my judgement. "Bobby Bonds is a class rider, he rides more fulid and has greater corner speed than Pastrana, given a year (with a few bumps and scrapes) he will be a title contender" Gerard Langston

:cool:

 

[Byrd Man]

I watched the race today and couldn't really make out what Bonds did in the corner due to the camera angle. The move that Langston put on Bonds looked dirty to me. I mean come on, Bonds was just landing and it seemed he would have had a very hard time trying to avoid the KTM that was pulling over on his landing area. Langston was looking back watching him land and pulling right in front of him. Looked dirty. There is a difference in stuffing someone in a turn vs. stuffing them on a high speed landing.

 

[IDkTm]

After watching it I didn't feel it was that bad of a move. Did he mean to block him, sure, but I think it was meant to be a block, not a take out. Its just one of those things, both were racing for the win. I don't think Grant slowed that much and Bonds did have time to slow more than he did. It was no dirtier a move than Tortelli made on Windham, its just that they both stayed up in that case.

 

[holeshot]

what comes around goes around

I saw the race on ESPN today, and feel Langstons takeout move was premeditated and deliberate. I was beginning to have respect for his skills, but now I feel that the little puke should get what's coming him. :p

 

[osheen]

Regarless of what Langston's intentions were, it was a deliberate move to have Bond's hit the back of him. Why else would he keep looking over his shoulder to see where he was and just coast intead of accelerating away? I'm sure that he didn't want Bond's to get hurt, but you certainly can't predetermine how much injury you are going to cause someone by doing that. What if there were riders that would of come along and ran over Bonds while he was down and hurt him even further? How cool would that of been? He should just have moved on. It's too bad that the AMA won't ever penalize anyone for that kind of behavior. Langston should have been DQ'd.

oldschool- just because you saw it ONCE as it happened doesn't mean you saw what really happened. Ever see a referee in a ball game make a bad call after seeing it replayed? After seeing it many times over, it is clear, blatent and obvious, it was intentional.

It's really too bad that Bonds didn't hit GL hard enough to knock him down at the same time, possibly doing alot of damage to himself. That would have gone real well with his notorious SX blunder..................... Langston's immaturity is glowing brightly!!!

 

[Okiewan]

I know I'm impressed that Langston showed a ROOKIE who the boss is... impressive. The guy is fast enough, leave the take-outs for those who need them to win.

After Glen Helen, I've decided my disliked rider this year is gonna be Brown ... block passing, blocking, brake checking, and a little rubbing is racing... taking people out is not.

 

[Racers Edge]

I didn't see the race, because I slept late. However I don't think Langston would deliberately try to have Bonds hit him. He would be taking a huge chance of going down as well and this seems ridiculous.

 

[oldschool]

osheen,
Had Grant gone down, that would make everything right? I saw the tv coverage and it does look like Grant was more complicit than it looked from 50 feet away. However, the immaturity award goes to Bonds. (Thinking that he could block, break check and try to park the 125 World Champ with out any recourse) Followed closely to all those who whine about the terrible thing that that @#$%%^ South African did, but wish the the same happens to him.:think

 

[SirThumper]

The thing that made Langston mad actually happened earlier in the race, when him and Bonds got together. Bonds banged him pretty hard, after that Langston was on a mission to show him who is boss.

I too was starting to like his skills, but that move was uncalled for. I don't think that the outcome was intentional but he should have just checked out.

 

[yarbonwick]

I like GL's riding. I like the fact that KTM is finally getting it's name respected. I like the fact of rubbin' is racing. I don't like deliberate attempts to take someone out. GL is an emotional guy (see Houston SX) and I believe he let his emotions get the better of him. I do not believe his intentions were to DNF Bonds,especially hurt him. GL doesn't mind competition but he had to let Bonds know that his riding was... questionable.

I also like the fact that someone who doesn't normally get his worthy name mentioned (Bonds) was up there doing all he could. I didn't like his deliberate attempts to keep GL back or DNF'd. If the guy behind you is going faster than you, and this isn't the last race where you are one point from the championship, it's uncalled for to do what Bonds did in every corner up to that part. Let's see him do that to the Leprechaun or Brown, or Larocket.

In respect to Brown, I like his riding and his aggressiveness. I believe that some of the Euro riding may have rubbed off on him though. He is definitely making a name for himself, and unfortunately I don't believe it's Champion. He has the snap-back attitude that Larocket has but is a little more immature about it. Larocket doesn't take any prisoners either, though he wouldn't gun down an entire village like Brown would.

 

[Coop]

I watched the race on ESPN and it really looked like Grant hit his brakes. I don't think he wanted to put Bonds out for the race, but I believe he intentionally put him in the dirt. Oh yeah, I ride a KTM, so no brand loyalty here.

Speaking of Euro riding anybody see the Mount Morris race? Happen to notice how Tortelli took Dowdy OUT with a dirty pass? How he also tried the same move on Hughes and the 450f in the same corner later on? That was uncalled for in my book.

Coop

 

[longtime]

Weak move

Langston's move was weak. Darn, I was just starting to get on his bandwagon and make him my rider to root for. Oh well, I at least I have someone to root against. :p

 

[BunduBasher]

Bliksem !

Those dang South Africans, can't take them anywhere ;)

It sure is going to be a great season of racing. I guess if Bonds were an innocent victim in this case we would have heard a lot more (Especially from the man himself). If he had crashed, eaten some dirt and not got hurt, we would all be having a good laugh right now at Bonds expense.

If you race dirty, expect reciprocal treatment. Brown is probably in for a rough time. Mind you, he has a thrilling style. I am sure glad I keep my bashin to the bundu :)