Catching Up With…Ryan Villopoto

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• January 12 2009
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Catching Up With Ryan Villopoto

By Donn Maeda

With fifth- and seventh-place finishes to his credit in the first two 450cc Supercross main events of his career, Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto isn’t exactly where he wants to be, but at the same time, he is not completely unhappy with his showings in the premier division. We caught up with RV2 on Monday evening to get his take on the first two rounds of 2009…

Two races into the season and you have a fifth and a seventh. That’s not where a lot of people expected to see you. Would you say that’s not where you expected to see yourself, either?

I think it’s good. Well… I wouldn’t say it’s good, but Anaheim was good and Phoenix wasn’t what I was shooting for. I did, however, get two good starts in each heat race, and I’ve been able to run lap times similar to Chad [Reed] and James’ [Stewart] times. I’m not going to say that I can do it for 20 minutes, but I think I can do it for half the race and capitalize on their mistakes, if it comes to that point, of course. I got a bad start at Phoenix and then I got cleaned out. I think I need to get a bad start in the heat race and a good start in the main event or just get two good starts.

During the opening ceremonies, there is this elaborate video of kids on BMX bikes and it talks about being the new kid on the block. Do silly things like that add any pressure on you to step up and be the top guy?

Not really. I didn’t exactly know where I was going to stand with those guys before Anaheim because I’ve never ridden with them. At Anaheim, I was third fastest in the second practice session. I know I have the speed to run with those guys, but if not, I think I can be close to them. As of right now I need to work on my starts.

How is it racing the big bike compared to the Lites bike? Have you found yourself more fatigued, or has Randy [Lawrence] done his job whipping you into shape?

It’s definitely different with those five extra laps, but I think it’s just about racing with those guys. The intensity in the 450 class is a little higher than what it is in the Lites class. All of these guys are running strong for the full 20 laps. I definitely think that I’m in shape to be racing with those guys, maybe not for 20 laps, but long enough to be there at the end.

You’re one of the more low key guys to work with, so when lining up at Anaheim 1, was there any nerves about lining up next to Bubba and Reed?

I was a little nervous. I was definitely nervous at A1 because of all the hype that surrounds that race, so there was more nerves at A1 then there was at Phoenix. I think I handled myself pretty well, though I didn’t really get too nervous when Chad was behind me, but I did make a few mistakes in the qualifier while he was behind me. Actually, I wanted to follow Chad anyways because he was the guy that night. So, it was a good thing for me to follow him while I could in that heat race.

Now that you’re out of the Lites class, who are your picks for the East and West Coast titles this year?

I can’t pick anybody for an East Coast title yet because I haven’t seen any of them ride. I know there are [Austin] Stroupe and [Christohpe] Pourcel, that’s all I know of so far. As far as the West Coast is concerned, I’d say either [Ryan] Dungey or Jake [Weimer]. If I had to pick, I would go with my buddy, Jake, but it’s too early to tell right now.

Have you been impressed with the things Jake has shown you on the track so far?

I think his biggest down fall is that he isn’t the greatest racer when he’s out front. He is definitely much faster during the practice days. Me, Randy, and Jake all go riding together, and I think that is helping him out. He made a little mistake at Phoenix last weekend, but that happens. It seemed like, to me anyways, that he was inching away from Dungey and then he made that mistake. He’s definitely got good speed right now.