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The West Coast Lites class of the AMA Supercross series is living up to its billing as unpredictable and wild.  Through three races, we have three different winners, and a very close points chase in the championship standings.  While title contenders Andrew Short and Nathan Ramsey earned wins in the first two rounds, Grant Langston, another favorite, has been plagued by bad starts that have kept him off the top step of the podium.  Nevertheless, Langston was in fourth place in the standings and trailed leader Billy Laninovich by just four points.

Round 3 at Anaheim looked like it had a chance to go Langston's way.  He was throwing down some of the fastest laps in practice, and the word around the pits was that Short was nursing a bum ankle.  If Langston could get a good start, things might finally go his way.

Langston did very well in his heat race, beating runner up Sean Collier by more than 10 seconds.  Ramsey finished that heat in third place and Laninovich ended up in fifth.  In the other heat, Langston's teammate Ryan Villopoto got the job done.  The rookie pilot out of Washington state crossed the finish line just two and a half seconds ahead of Short, and six seconds ahead of Team KTM's Mike Alessi.  The wins assured both Langston and Villopoto of excellent gate picks for the main event.

When the main event finally got under way, Mike Alessi took the holeshot and the $1,000 bonus check from series sponsor Toyota.  Langston did indeed get the good start he was hoping for, as he finished the first lap right behind Alessi.  Short and Ramsey were in third and fourth, respectively, so the three biggest contenders were in a great position to make it an exciting race.  

Alessi held on to the lead for a lap and a half before Langston put a move on him.  By the fourth lap, Alessi had dropped all the way to sixth place as the freight train of Short, Ramsey, Laninovich and Collier passed him by.  Alessi, an admitted outdoor specialist, has been having trouble in the whoops all season long.  The other riders know this and have been passing him in that section more often than not.  

Despite Short and Ramsey moving into second and third place on the third lap, Langston was able to pull away and win easily.  He led 14 out of 15 laps for his first victory of the year.  Not surprisingly, he had the fastest lap time in the main event, clocking a 00:45.74 at one point.  Short finished in second, while Ramsey rounded out the podium in third place.

After Round Three, the points chase is even more congested than before.  Now Langston and Short are tied for the lead with 63 points apiece.  Laninovich sits in third place with 60 points, and Ramsey is right there in striking distance with 54.

The top four riders in the series should not be a surprise to anyone.  Someone who has been turning heads the last couple of weeks, however, is privateer Sean Collier.  After finishing dead last in the first race of the season, Collier has put together two fantastic rides in the last two weeks.  He finished sixth in Phoenix after running in second place until the last lap, and he backed it up last week with a fifth place showing.  So even after not scoring any points in the first round, Collier sits in 10th place overall.  If he continues to turn in consistent rides like this, you can bet he won't be a privateer for much longer.  Several teams have riders out with injuries right now, so there's a chance that Collier will be picked up as a mid-season replacement for someone.  That would be a smart move on the manager's part and would give Collier to showcase his talent on better equipment.  He seems like a great kid, so here's hoping that someone gives him a shot.

The series resumes next weekend in San Francisco.  It will be interesting to see if we'll have yet another different winner in the Lites class or if one of the previous winners will be able to pull off a repeat.