Racer X Online - Motocross & Supercross NewsRacer X Online

  • Subscribe Now
  • Latest
  • Features
  • Breaking News

Racer X Online - Motocross & Supercross NewsRacer X Online

  • One Click Sign-In

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    OR

    Sign in with your username and password

    • Sign In
  • Features
    • 10 Things
    • 30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers
    • 3 on 3
    • 250 Words
    • 450 Words
    • Between the Motos
    • Breakdown
    • Deals of the Week
    • GNCC Report
    • Great Battles
    • How to Watch
    • Injury Report
    • Insight
    • In the Mag, On the Web
    • Lockdown Diaries
    • Longform
    • MXGP Race Reports
    • My Favorite Loretta Lynn's Moto
    • Next
    • Observations
    • On This Day in Moto
    • Open Mic
    • Privateer Profile
    • Race Day Feed
    • Racerhead
    • Racer X Awards
    • Racer X Redux
    • Rapid Reaxtion
    • RX Exhaust
    • Saturday Night Live
    • Staging Area
    • The Conversation
    • The List
    • The Moment
    • Things We Learned at the Ranch
    • Unphiltered
    • Wake-Up Call
    • Where Are They Now
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Photo Galleries
    • The Weege Show
    • Racer X Films
    • Video
    • SX Preview Shows
    • Factory Tech Tip
    • MX Preview Shows
    • Behind The Bars
    • Racer X Rapid News
  • Races
    • Series Schedules
    • TV Schedules
    • Results
    • Champions
    • Teams
    • 2021 Numbers
  • Results
    • Points Standings
    • Race Results
    • Riders
    • The Vault
    • Loretta Lynn's Vault
  • The Mag
    • Customer Care
    • Digital Magazine Bookstand
    • Current Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletter
    • Store Locator
    • Sell Racer X
    • Free Stickers
  • Shop
  • About Us
  • Table of Contents
  • Subscribe Now
  • Latest
  • Features
  • Breaking News
Results Archive
GNCC
Camp Coker Bullet
Articles
Overall Results
  1. Steward Baylor
  2. Josh Strang
  3. Jonathan Girroir
Full Results
XC2 Pro Results
  1. Jonathan Girroir
  2. Lyndon Snodgrass
  3. Craig Delong
Full Results
Supercross
Atlanta 1
Articles
450SX Results
  1. Eli Tomac
  2. Chase Sexton
  3. Cooper Webb
Full Results
250SX West Results
  1. Nate Thrasher
  2. Justin Cooper
  3. Cameron McAdoo
Full Results
Upcoming
Supercross
Atlanta 2
Tue Apr 13
Articles
Upcoming
GNCC
Tiger Run
Sat Apr 17
Articles
Upcoming
Supercross
Atlanta 3
Sat Apr 17
Articles
Upcoming
Supercross
Salt Lake City 1
Sat Apr 24
Articles
Full Schedule

5 Minutes With... Ryan Villopoto

May 6, 2009 2:16pm | by: Steve Cox
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • 5 Minutes With
  • 5 Minutes With... Ryan Villopoto
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto wasn’t expected by many to win races in the 2009 Supercross championship with Chad Reed and James Stewart out there, but he was high on the list of riders to win the Lucas Oil AMA National Motocross Championship. Obviously, no one told this to Ryan, who expected to be competitive from the get-go. Even though he was up there, it wasn’t until he returned from illness that he was competitive for race wins, and he definitely was, winning two of the last three supercrosses of the season. We talked to Ryan just after the race in Las Vegas last Saturday night.

Racer X: That’s a heck of a set of three races there, coming back from illness and winning two of them.
Ryan Villopoto: It was awesome. Seattle was good. Salt Lake was okay, but it obviously wasn’t the weekend that I wanted, for sure, but it was a good weekend. I ended up with fourth, then came here and ended up with a pretty good second practice, a pretty good qualifying race, changes some stuff up in the main, and I felt good. It was definitely a clean race for me.

When you passed James a few laps into the race, that hasn’t happened a whole lot, so what was going through your head?
It was tough. He made that little mistake and I was able to get around him, and I was able to pull that little bit of a gap. I just tried to run 20 clean laps. Vegas is normally a very tough track to run 20 clean laps on, and I’d have to say this was the best Vegas track that I’ve ever ridden, but it’s still tough. The whoops were hard-packed and slippery, so it was awesome. I was just trying to break away and get a little bit of a gap. It was tough for a while. I got it to three or four seconds there for a couple laps, and I kept inching away at it and got it up to like eight.

You were ripping through the whoops, and that hasn’t been your strong suit this year. What changed there?
Yeah, even in the qualifier and in practice I was just okay in the whoops. All the guys came back, and I knew what they were doing – they were wheelieing into it, and that was really fast. James is always fastest in the whoops, and I came back, changed my line in the main, and was able to wheelie into it every time.

What was the biggest contributing factor that changed you from a podium contender to a regular contender for the win?
I wouldn’t call it “regular” but it’s definitely awesome. It’s a good change. It’s something where I came into the season expecting myself to be up there, and I’m not going to say that I expected to be winning races the whole time, but I expected to be closer than I was. But I ended up being sick, and then I came back and it seems like these last three races were good for me.

Did you change anything besides just getting healthy? Bike stuff, or attitude, or anything?
We tested and got the bike pretty good. We tested one day at the Kawi track and kind of came up with a Vegas setting, and then we ran our normal setting at Salt Lake – actually, we went to our Vegas setting at Salt Lake – but we knew what we were going to run here, did it, and it was awesome.

How does this change your outlook for the 2010 series?
It’s definitely going to be awesome, but I want to go out there and win the outdoors for sure. That’s my goal right now.

But then what about 2010?
I want to come out and be competitive, for sure.

Have you done a lot of outdoor testing yet?
We have a pretty good base, but it’s good. We’re going to go back with the two weeks off and go back and test, but other than that, we’re good. My goal for outdoors is to come out strong for the first three races and then try to nail down some wins.

Chad Reed said up on the podium that he welcomes you to the party and he expects to see you up front more from now on...
That’s awesome that they think about that. It’s definitely good looking forward to next year.
  • Racer X Films: Kevin Windham Racer X Films: Kevin Windham 10:20am
Read Now
June 2021 Issue Now Available
Get Racer X on your iPhone
Check out all the exclusive content this month on any device!
Read Now
The June 2021 Digital Issue Availalbe Now

Motocross & Supercross News - Racer X Online

122 Vista Del Rio Drive, Morgantown, WV 26508 | 304-284-0084 | Contact Us
©1999 - 2021 Filter Publications LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
designed at: Website DesignImpulse Studios