Ryan Villopoto: Coming To Australia

In May, a massive announcement was made by the promoters of the AUS-X Open that four-time AMA Supercross champion, Ryan Villopoto, would be coming out of retirement to contest this year’s edition of the event in November at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena. Ryan talks about his highly anticipated return to competition, and living life in the “slower” lane. 

Kane: Ryan, what have you been up to since retiring?
Ryan: A little bit of everything; trying not to travel too much. Obviously at the start of the year, I rode a little bit in California doing those Science Of Supercross pieces, which was cool, and that was the first time I’d been on a supercross track in a while. But really, I’ve just been staying at home and enjoying being around where I grew up and around the rest of my family and things like that. So, to be honest, I’ve been staying pretty busy – I haven’t been sitting around twiddling my thumbs – so it’s been good.

You also have new family members on the way, too.
Yeah! That’s still quite recent; we’re just over halfway now. We have two boys that are on the way now, and that’s going to be a crazy thing. They’ll be here before I know it, and then I’ll be fully involved with them – cleaning their diapers, and, you know – it’ll be hectic there for a little while (laughs).

Sounds as though life has changed quite a lot since being a full-time factory racer, compared to where you are now.
Oh yeah, it’s changed a lot. The lifestyle that we live as professional racers is pretty hectic and on-the-go all of the time, and that’s one of the things that I kind of wanted to step away from and sort of settle down. I have sort of done that now with the two kids on the way. We’re really looking forward to see where that takes us from here on out.

Have you missed racing?
You know, to be honest, I come out and ride here and there, and unless the track is bitchin’ and everything is just perfect, I get out there and ride, like, three or four laps, then I come in and hang out, then go do three more laps, and then I’m like, “okay, I’m done” (laughs). It’s still not at the point where I’m really looking forward to going and riding – don’t get me wrong, it’s always fun – but I’m not at that point where I have the itch to load up all my shit and go ride by myself. I’m sure that’ll come later down the track, though.

You’re racing the AUS-X Open in November; what have you heard about the event?
I heard it was really good! I’ve always seen the races down there and stuff, and there are always guys coming up from Australia and racing supercross, and the majority of them are pretty good. You know Chad’s obviously been here for many years now and I know Dan Reardon was here racing at some stage too. So I’m excited to get down there, check Australia out, race those guys and have a hell of a time.

Why choose to race the AUS-X Open while you’re retired?
It seems like a unique race in many areas. It has metal ramps for some of the take-offs, so that in itself there makes it a little bit less stressful. Everything to do with the race seems like it’s something to draw the fans in, and it’s built as more of an event spectacle type of thing. It seems like more of a good enjoyable show, and sure we’ll be racing hard, but it’s not all about who’s going to win this race and then move onto the next round. It’s, from what I gather, just going to be something really cool that people are going to enjoy watching.

Let’s talk about Chad. What’s your relationship like with him?
My relationship with Chad over the years of racing was pretty good. You know, no real highs, no real lows. We’ve had some great battles, and shit, you have to give it to him, he’s still out there racing today. So, I’ll be lining up on the gate with him again, and sure I want to be up there and being able to race with him – we’ll see if I can do that (laughs). 

What’re you most looking forward to?
What am I most looking forward to? Lining up behind a gate. I mean, sure I’m a little bit nervous as it’s been a while, but that’ll be cool, and then also just the experience going down there and checking Australia out – I’ve heard it’s really cool.

How do you think your fans will react when they’re seeing you race?
I feel like it’ll be good. I think that, with my fans, maybe I didn’t completely give them the appreciation that they needed, but I feel that I was on a level playing field with them. But the AUS-X Open is something cool that I think all my fans will just like. I think no matter where they are based, they’ll want to tune in to some degree and see what’s going on. I think it’ll be a thing like, “cool, Chad’s down there racing and so is Ryan; shit, lets see where he’s at”, you know? So hopefully the fans will tune in, check it out and like it.

Sounds good. See you in November!
See you then.