Ryan Villopoto
| File:RV Head Shot.jpg | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ryan Villopoto | |
| Nickname | RV | |
| Date of birth | August 13, 1988 | |
| Country | United States | |
| Major Titles | ||
| ||
Ryan Villopoto (born August 13, 1988 in Fortuna, California, resident in Poulsbo, Washington) is a motocross and supercross racer who currently competes in the AMA Supercross series and the AMA Lucas Oil Motocross series. He currently resides in Murrieta California and races for the Monster Energy Kawasaki team.
Professional 450cc career
2011
Ryan captured the premiere round of the 2011 season in Anaheim,California.
2010
Villopoto returned with the Monster Energy Kawasaki Team in the Supercross class and has been battling consistently with Ryan Dungey for the overall points lead.
Round 14 Injury
Whilst in the lead during the final at St Louis, Villopoto came up short on a triple jump and leaped from his bike landing hard. His bike dived into the face of the 3rd jump and flipped over several times. Medical workers arrived on the scene and cut Villopoto's racing boot off his foot. Villopoto had to be carried off the track. Further examination revealed a broken right tibia and fibula and surgery was performed to stabilize it.[1] Due to the extent of his injury, he will not return to complete the season.
| Round | Date | Place | Finished | Total Points | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 9 | Anaheim | 5th | 16 | 5th |
| 2 | January 16 | Phoenix | 2nd | 38 | 2nd |
| 3 | January 23 | Anaheim II | 7th | 52 | 3rd |
| 4 | January 30 | San Francisco | 1st | 77 | 3rd |
| 5 | February 6 | San Diego | 4th | 95 | 3rd |
| 6 | February 13 | Anaheim III | 1st | 120 | 3rd |
| 7 | February 20 | Indianapolis | 1st | 145 | 1st |
| 8 | February 27 | Atlanta | 19th | 147 | 3rd |
| 9 | March 6 | Daytona | 1st | 172 | 2nd |
| 10 | March 13 | Toronto | 1st | 197 | 2nd |
| 11 | March 20 | Dallas | 4th | 215 | 2nd |
| 12 | March 27 | Jacksonville | 1st | 240 | 2nd |
| 13 | April 10 | Houston | 1st | 265 | 2nd |
| 14 | April 17 | St Louis | 20th | 266 | 2nd |
| 15 | April 24 | Seattle | DNS | 266 | 2nd |
| 16 | May 1 | Salt Lake City | DNS | 266 | 3rd |
| 17 | May 8 | Las Vegas | DNS | 266 | 4th |
2009
Villopoto's beginning year in the AMA Supercross Seriesended in disaster he was hurt bad, racing a Team Kawasaki Factory KX450. Ryan Villopoto's first win in the 450 class took place on his "hometown" track at Qwest Field, Seattle, on April 18, 2009. He dominated the field and won convincingly over Chad Reed (2008 Supercross Series Champion) and James Stewart (who won 11 races and was the 2009 Series winner). Villopoto wrapped up the AMA Supercross series of 2009 with his second win in Las Vegas, NV, on May 2, 2009.
Lites 250cc career
2008
Earned his third consecutive AMA motocross 250cc Championship by winning eight events and finishing on the podium in 11 of 12 starts. Finished second in the AMA Supercross Lites East Region Championship with three wins and five podiums in seven starts. Claimed the MX2 championship at the Motocross of Nations helping Team USA earn the team title for the third consecutive year.
2007
Villopoto started the season with a dominating performance in the AMA West Supercross Lites Series, where he won seven of the eight races. He carried his momentum into motocross, winning his second-straight AMA Motocross Lites Championship. To cap off a perfect season, Villopoto became the first rider in history to win the overalls in both motos on KX250F against larger 450cc motorcycles at the Motocross of Nations.
2006
Villopoto began his professional career in the AMA West Supercross Lites Series at Angel Stadium for Anaheim I, where he finished second-place overall. He won his first race later in the season at Texas Stadium in Dallas and ended the Supercross Lites season third overall. Then Ryan headed to the AMA Motocross Lites Series with a little more experience stemming from his amateur days. With eight podium finishes and six first-place finishes, Villopoto proved to be unstoppable during his rookie season and became the AMA Motocross Lites Champion. That momentum was carried over into the post-season where Villopoto was selected as a member of Team USA at the Motocross of Nations in England and helped Team USA claim first place. Ryan was also named the 2006 AMA Supercross/Motocross Rookie of the Year.
Amateur career
2005
Villopoto concluded his career as a Team Green amateur racer and was honored for his many achievements as the recipient of the 2005 AMA Horizon Award. He competed in his first professional Motocross race at Binghamton’s Broome-Tioga Sports Center where he placed 15th overall. He finished up the remainder of his rookie season taking fifth overall at Steel City Raceway and second overall at Glen Helen Raceway.
2004
Competing in numerous amateur motocross races for Team Green and winning an impressive 12 titles. He won three races at Lake Whitney Spring National, three at the GNC Finals, two at Mammoth Motocross, and four at the NMA Ponca City Grand Nationals. Alessi did give Villopoto a hard time, but Sean Bohannon gave him an even harder time. Bohannon was dominating in the stock class until he unfortunately broke his femur at Ponca City.
2003
Villopoto won 12 titles for Team Green. He won two Kawasaki Race of Champions races, four Winter Olympic SX races, four Winter Olympic MX races, and two Winter Olympics Olympiad titles.
2002
Ryan won the NMA 85cc Open, and placed second in both the 85cc Stock and Modified classes at the AMA Amateur National Championships as a Team Green Rider.
Notable moments
Ryan Villopoto has been involved in some "on track incidents" with several different riders.
Villopoto and Mike Alessi battled each other in their amateur days. In the summer of 2006, RV collided with Mike Alessi at the Budds Creek Outdoor National and caused Alessi to crash. Villopoto called the incident "payback" for what Alessi had done to him throughout their amateur days.
In 2007, Jason Lawrence began racing dangerously and aggressively with Villopoto. The rivalry reached new heights at the opening round of the Outdoor Motocross season when Lawrence followed Villopoto around the track during practice and began putting block passes on him. Eventually Lawrence stopped in front of Ryan out of anger but an outraged Villopoto stopped and launched his motorcycle into Lawrence. Both racers began fighting in the middle of the racetrack, but AMA officials broke the fight up before it got too serious. Both racers were fined, and Lawrence was placed on probation.