Ryan Villopoto 2012 Seattle Supercross Crash And Update
Last night’s 2012 Seattle Supercross proved that anyone who lines up on the starting gate these days, is vulnerable to both good fortune and bad. Ryan Villopoto, easily the most dominant rider of the last 2 years, saw bad fortune last night. Villopoto had already claimed the 2012 Supercross championship in Houston with four races still left, the earliest any rider has clinched a SX title in 39 years. Unfortunately, RV took an odd first turn spill. The Champ, who successfully dodged the storm of dozens of pro rider injuries this year, finally went down in pain himself. It couldn’t have come at a worse time either, in front of his hometown Seattle crowd, with little more than ‘cruise control mode’ required. At first look it looked as if RV just tipped over and would remount to head back to the front of the pack. That is unfortunately, not how it played out. Ryan Villopoto’s crash, right before the first set of triples, turned out ugly, and seemed to suggest a knee injury. The Seattle fans instantly went from screaming in cheer, to a near dead silence, as they watched Ryan rolling around on the ground, trying to breath and grasping his delicate, injured prone leg. It was a gloomy site televised live on SPEED, as RV tried his best to walk off of the track. Villopoto was barley even able to crawl to the side of the turn. One could have heard a pin drop in the Seattle Seahawk’s stadium. RV fans seemed to ignore the ongoing race, as the two time Supercross champ limped away. All thoughts instantly turned to visions of a possible interruption in RV’s unreal domination. Could this affect the start of his outdoor season… fans mumbled? RV managed to somehow hop on the the back of his factory Kawasaki KX 450F driven by his mechanic, and went straight back to the Kawasaki big rig as Andrew Short claimed a first time ever supercross victory.
The good news, is that later that night, Team Kawasaki assured everyone that Ryan Villopoto had no significant injuries. No broken bones. No tears in his knee. They explained that he took a handle bar to the stomach pretty hard, while twisting his knee. In a season that will always be noted for the high amount of top riders sidelined, we sure hope that Villopoto is ok and heals up quickly. Hopefully he will be back to attempt his winning streak in Salt Lake City next weekend.
Reid Nordin, senior manager of Villopoto’s Kawasaki racing team, issued this statement: “Ryan didn’t get such a good start. He was charging through the pack, lost the front end and ended up getting a handlebar to the gut, which knocked the wind out of him. He got a stinger when the foot peg came down on him. He’s really bummed out and upset with himself with what happened. He really wanted to do well for the Seattle fans here. … We’re going to have him checked out, but everything should be good to go.” Best wishes to Ryan and his team for a quick recovery. Reporting for Chronic MX, I’m Charlie!
UPDATE: BREAKING NEWS 4/24/2012: Villopoto Out For Rest Of The Year: We have recently received news that the two time AMA Supercross champion and defending AMA Outdoor National champ will be sitting out the rest of the year. After getting a MRI yesterday Ryan Villopoto found out his injury was worse then they thought. Ryan is scheduled for surgery this week. He will not be racing the 2012 National Outdoor Motocross season. Here is what the defending champ had to say “I’m pretty disappointed right now,” said Villopoto. “I have trained hard for this season and even though I won the supercross title, I really wanted to defend my outdoor championship. I’ve been through injury before and I know how hard I have to work to get back.” Ryan has the some of the best people and best trainer in motocross history by his side so if anyone can get him back on the bike Alden Baker can. So where does this leave us for outdoors with only one of the five fastest healthy and committed to race the outdoor nationals. Will this be a repeat of the second half of the Supercross season. I know one guy who is sitting there with championship hopes in his eyes. Is this the motivation that James Stewart needed to get off the couch and ride the outdoors. Time will only tell. Once we have a update on Ryan Villopotos condition we will let you know.
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