The Moment: Two Champions, Two Crashes

The biggest moment of a race takes place in mere seconds, but sometimes the impact won’t be felt for days. Or even longer. In the case of the Seattle Supercross, Ryan Villopoto might have known his knee was wrecked the moment he crashed. Or maybe he didn’t. But the shockwaves didn’t roll throughout the industry until Tuesday, when Monster Energy Kawasaki announced that RV would be shut down for the rest of the 2012 SX and MX season to get the knee fixed.

That one crash shook up the Seattle race, and will now have a huge impact on the rest of year, with a 450 Pro Motocross field now absent of its champion, and the last two wins in supercross clearly up for grabs.

The impact of Ryan Villopoto's knee injury in Seattle will be felt for the rest of the 2012 season.
Garth Milan photo

Yup, we now know the long-term impact of one crash. But there is another we are waiting to understand. Kawasaki also employs the defending 250 MX Champion, as well, and he too went down in Seattle. Will Dean be able to bounce back from his shoulder injury to battle for the West Lites title and mount a strong defense of his National Championship? It could be a little longer before we understand the true impact of that crash.