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Interview: Ryan Villopoto
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto hasn't even really been in the hunt for wins very much in the 2011 AMA Pro Motocross Championships. He led for a little bit at Hangtown, but in all four motos that were run previous to High Point last weekend, he finished well behind Chad Reed and defending champ Ryan Dungey, with the exception of moto two in Texas where Dungey's bike quit with only a few laps left to run while leading. But at High Point, it was a different story. He grabbed the lead from Ryan Dungey early on the first lap and then steadily pulled away in moto one, taking the victory, then in moto two came from well behind in the mud for second place behind points leader Reed. He won his first overall 450cc national since May of 2009 with the 1-2 score. Here's what he had to say.
Motocross.com: We've talked the last couple weeks about you being sick and you also said you had to address some things on the bike, but it seems like you figured all of that out now, huh?
Ryan Villopoto: At Texas, I personally felt fine. It goes back to just coming off Supercross and not having a lot of time to test, or a lot of bike time in general. We had this weekend off. Kaipo [Chung, the Monster Energy Kawasaki team's suspension expert] came to Florida this last week and we rode every day and we tested every day and got the bike a lot better. I feel like I can ride it now. I feel comfortable on it. The first moto showed it. I felt good and obviously for the second moto it was completely different with the rain.
You did look super comfortable out there in the first moto...
Yeah, I mean, I felt good. We did a lot of good work on the bike and made it... a lot better.
Ryan Villopoto scored his first 450 outdoor win since May of 2009, but more importantly showed his competitors that he's going to have to be reckoned with for the outdoor title as well as the indoor title he just snatched. (Photo: CoxMX.com)
So, can you shave now? Is that how this works? It looks like you haven't touched that orange beard in weeks.
You don't like it?
It's just so incredibly red!
I know, but you don't like it?
Well, I don't particularly care either way...
I don't know; we'll see. I'll probably shave it...
That beard has to be hot in this kind of weather...
[Laughs] I'll shave it here soon.
You can't just keep it forever...
Although Kevin said he liked it, too.
Kevin who?
Windham...
Oh, yeah... Well, he's all about weird facial hair, though. He's a biased judge on this.
Well, it looks good...
If you say so... Well, what did you think coming to the line for moto two, after dominating moto one like that and then have the skies open up before moto two?
I just wanted to get a good start and stay up. That was really my only concern. When you crash in the mud, it really throws you completely off...
Yeah, you get it all on your gloves and all of that...
You get it on your gloves, yeah. It's just not a good thing to do. So, those first laps I just wanted to get the track broken in and not fall.
We're a fourth of the way through the series already, and I know it's still early, but it has to feel good to put a win in the books and pick up some points for the first time this year, right?
Definitely. It's completely better. My bike, like I said, it's a hundred times better. So, now it's just getting the motos in, getting more wins, and we go to Budds Creek, so I'm looking forward to that.
Ryan Villopoto was gone in moto one, and his 1-2 score landed him the overall and gained him considerable points on points leader Chad Reed heading into one of Villopoto's favorite tracks, Budds Creek. (Photo: CoxMX.com)
Yeah, you go all right there...
Yeah, we'll see how it goes!
You've never raced there on a 450, huh?
Nope...
Think you can go faster there on your 450 than you did on your 250?
We'll see...
