[Yamaha]

Ryan Villopoto: No Pressure!

5 years ago | Words: Eric Johnson | Photos: Monster Energy

The starting gate dropped and the 60th annual Motocross of Nations. Upwards of 25,000 fans teemed all over the hills and hung off the fences at Budds Creek Motocross Park, and with strained necks they all watched and waited. Way back in the forest area of the circuit, I could hear one bike out front being pushed for all it was worth. Some 30 seconds later, Ryan Villopoto and his Team USA Kawasaki KX250F leaped out of the shadowy darkness of the Southern Maryland forest and back out into a sunlit section of the circuit. The crowd, including this writer, watched on in awe. At the beginning of lap two of the opening 250/450 moto, Villopoto then put the hammer down and straight-up cleared out, and went on to defeat the world’s fastest and most accomplished 250cc and 450cc riders by over 11 seconds. That 2007 performance was almost biblical (as far as MX goes), and to this day among the greatest moments is USA motocross history.

“RV’s 2007 performance was almost biblical, and to this day among the greatest moments is USA motocross history.”

Twelve years removed from Ryan Villopoto’s epic day in Maryland sunshine, my phone rang on Sunday morning and, wow, RV was on the line. Seems the 10-time AMA Pro Racing Champion – four supercross titles, three 450MX titles and three 250MX titles in all – had a few things he wanted to talk about.

It’s been a busy summer for the 30-year-old with Pit Bike races, 125cc All-Star races, and Yamaha racing ambassador appearances. And as you’re about to find out, it’s become even more hectic as one of the sport’s all-time greats (and we mean, greats!) is looking to promote and oversee a couple of major Pacific Northwest motocross races his name is attached to. We spoke with the man…

EJ: Ryan, you’ve been a busy man. You’ve been all over the place this summer and you still have plenty of things to get to, don’t you?
RV: Yeah, July and August have been busy, you know? It all really started around Washougal. The Wednesday before Washougal, I drove up there. I arrived on Thursday and did that race. I was at my mom’s house for two or three days and then I flew to Loretta’s. The RV Cup is about to start and we’ll start bringing in people on Thursday, and that will run through Sunday. From there, I’ll go back home for about six or seven days and then it’s back up here for my dad’s race. That race will also be at Grays Harbor ORV up here in Washington.

How are you feeling about the races you have been coming up? Being a race promoter involves a lot of moving parts, huh?
I don’t know if the promoter part of me is that awesome at this point, but the track that we actually have is the track that I grew up riding. The lease came up for it a few years ago when I was still living up here and I didn’t want to see it go away. Tracks, once they’re gone, they’re hard to bring back. We wanted to keep it around. We took up the lease for that and have kept it going and made it a lot better.

You’ve lined up for a number of one-off races this summer and done quite well. How’s it feel to get back on the race bike and compete, and compete with no pressure on you?
Yeah, yeah, what did we do? We did Hangtown and we did Washougal with the 125 races. It’s just awesome, man. It’s a good time. It’s fun, but the most fun, actually, is just being at the races. Maybe not even the racing part. Just hanging out and seeing people that we haven’t seen in a while is just awesome. Other than the Anaheim rounds and a few other west coast races, I don’t travel to a ton of supercross rounds, especially east coast races. So when the guys come back out west for Hangtown, it’s good to see everybody again.

“I don’t know if the promoter part of me is that awesome at this point, but the track that we actually have [for my dad’s race] is the track that I grew up riding.”

I covered your entire racing career from 80cc minicycle racer to MXGP challenger. It was pretty damn easy for me to see that you placed an extraordinary amount of pressure on yourself. It’s just plain cool to see you at the races now and to see you enjoying it all so much. Thoughts?
Yeah, it’s awesome to be able to go back and hang out with all those people I grew up with from 14 or 15 years old on up. Now, it’s just fun to be back doing that and being out there with no pressure.

What’s really interesting to me is that it’s very plain to see how much you love the sport in being present and giving back like you are. You’re going to Pit Bike races, 125cc races and you’re promoting amateur races. That’s solid.
Yeah, like I said, just being back at the races and being able to go there and just have a good time and being around those people that we don’t see as much anymore is awesome. I used to see them all every single weekend – 32 or 34 weekends a year. Now I don’t need to go or want to go to that many races, but when I do it’s fun.

“The lease came up for the track I grew up riding. I didn’t want to see it go away. Tracks, once they’re gone, they’re hard to bring back. We wanted to keep it around so we took up the lease.”

Hey, your dad passed away around this time last year. It’s awesome that a Dan Villopoto Memorial race is going to be held. Can you give us a little intel on the race and how racers can sign-up and be a part of it all?
I’ll be August 30 and September 1, so it’s coming up a couple of weeks from now. We basically have it that practice will start around 9am and hopefully we’ll be done with everything by 3pm. We’ll have live music. It should be a lot of fun. We’re also implementing a couple of minibike classes right now – 50cc, 65cc and 80cc. It’s all just for fun. Actually, we just implemented the minibike classes because there are a lot of people who want to do it. Initially, we had no minibikes because I wanted to make sure we were done racing by 3 o’clock. I mean, this whole thing is about being a race that my dad would have thought about going and racing. As for him, it wasn’t like, “I’m going to go to a track and race and get up at five in the morning and be there until five or six at night”. He wouldn’t go and race that. So we’re going to make a quicker race schedule of it. One moto a day. One on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Super-cool you’re doing it for your dad as well. He’s going to be smiling down on this whole thing, huh?
Yeah, it should be fun. It really should be fun.

“It’s awesome to be able to go back and hang out with all those people I grew up with from 14 or 15 years old. It’s just fun to be back doing that and being out there with no pressure.”

Hey, what about Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship racing this summer? What’s your take on what’s played out thus far?
It’s been good, for sure. I’ve watched quite a few of them. It’s a shame the points gap is as big as it is right now, but it is what it is. I’ve been in that position. I’ve had big points gaps before, and as the guy racing, you love that. You don’t have to worry about anything. Yeah, it’s been good racing, you know?

Anybody jump out at you during the racing these past few months? Has anyone totally impressed you throughout the Outdoors?
Uhm … I’m trying to think. There has been some impressive rides and different races. I mean, I saw Eli at Washougal and he crushed them there. I wouldn’t say anyone has totally impressed me, though, you know?

What’s your take on the Motocross of Nations team of Anderson, Osborne and Cooper? To my way of seeing things, at least these three guys want to be there when the gate drops at The Cathedral (AKA: Assen, Holland).
I think we picked a good team. Obviously, it’s very bizarre that Kawasaki is just going to automatically pull out of the whole thing.

“I think that Eli [Tomac] will look back at all this when his career is over and probably think he should have raced the 2019 MX of Nations.”

I know. It’s not a good look. I just don’t get it. Never will. You fight, you know? I’d rather have someone kick my teeth in than run from a fight. Sometimes you’ve got to take one for the team, right?
Believe me, I get it. I’ve done the Motocross of Nations four times. It is, sometimes, a headache. But I think that Eli will look back at all this when his career is over and probably think he should have raced it. I know there are a lot of things I look back on and thought, ‘Well, I probably should have done that differently’. You only see that after you’ve been retired for a couple of years. You won’t see it right away; you’ll see it afterwards.


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