With the SX Series on snooze mode, I’ve got some thoughts on RV’s task at hand.
With the SX Series on snooze mode, I’ve got some thoughts on RV’s task at hand.
Lead Photo by: James Lissimore
If you think back to the first mumblings of Ryan Villopoto heading to Europe and waging battle on the Grand Prix Motocross Series, there was a lot of laughing, rolling of eyes and immediate dismissals of the notion. It sounded just crazy enough that even the most open-minded moto-fan had to err on the side of doubt and assume it was a random dart thrown at the “what’s RV doing” dartboard.
The rumors ebbed and flowed. “RV was going to retire”. “RV was burned out and would forfeit his final year in his contract, pay and all”. “RV would race the Nationals but wouldn’t be ready for Anaheim 1”. As all of these brainstorms circled the pits, the rumor of him going to the GP’s would be “guaranteed dead” and a week later, “I know someone who says it’s happening”. And yet, the rumors continued to be swallowed with a Unadilla-rock sized grain of salt.
When it became clear that RV’s plans for the GP’s were actually a plan in motion, there was shock, more disbelief, gobs of interest and then the predictions. I’ll be totally honest, I was one of the #Merican’s who looked at what Ryan Villopoto has done in Supercross the last four years and his even more dominant work on the Motocross tracks of the United States and thought, this is going to be awesome! I didn’t think there was a chance that RV wouldn’t show the Euro’s who is the real Boss of outdoor racing. I’ve long believed that RV was second to only Ricky Carmichael when it came to pure unapologetic hatred for losing. RV has never been the guy who came across as loving the sport, loving the ride or enjoying and appreciating the fans. He did it because he was good at it and even more than that, he absolutely hated a gate drop that didn’t end with the field finishing somewhere behind him.
We’ve all heard the great debate among American fans and European fans over which Series’ racers are truly the best but not until recently did I honestly believe that maybe it wasn’t the US. I’m not throwing in my RV-towel by any means, not even close and I don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t respect what the Europeans had to offer either, not at all! I mean who can argue with Stefan Everts, Antonio Cairolli and plenty of the forefathers of Moto that carved a path to bring Moto to America? I have the utmost respect for the guys in the GP’s. We’ve seen the last few years in the MXdN that there is great reason to fear what they bring to the track. My one asterisk in recent years though, was that RV was injured and not present.
I do believe that the amount of time RV had off due to his injury that kept him out of the 2014 US National Motocross Series has had an effect on his start to this GP series but I don’t see that as as big of a hinderance as the sheer scope of his life transition just by moving to Europe and throwing his entire world and program into upheaval. He is literally an alien in a strange land and the shock to the system can’t be overstated. He’ll find his stride as the series progresses and we’ve seen that he has the speed; as we’ve seen and heard so many times around the MXdN though, it’s just a totally different deal. Bikes need to be setup differently, tracks attacked differently, race-craft formulated differently… all of these things add up to even a world class talent like Ryan Villopoto being uncomfortable and adapting to a new status quo.
I’m not going to make excuses regardless of the outcome, 3 rounds in and we’ve had some stress as American fans as well as a few shining moments of promise and you know what? That’s what I’m paying to see. A Ryan Villopoto who is put to the absolute test. Overcoming wholesale changes to his entire reality as well as a field of competitors he’s at best only read about (save for the MXdN stand-outs) and mostly never heard of. It’s a very impressive task to take on and I honestly think he’s happier when he has a real challenge to attack. And he’s got all that and then some.
The word has always been that RV is one and done with this GP effort. I actually feel like the format of the series with more breaks, may just enliven his passion for racing again. Win or lose, he’s earned the right to mold his own destiny.
