Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto
was named this past weekend as the AMA/ SPEED Athlete
of the Year for his spectacular performances in the AMA
Supercross and Outdoor Nationals seasons, along with his
winning performance in the recent Motocross of Nations
in Budds Creek, Md.
“Last year I watched Ricky get the award and it’s just
awesome to be one of those guys,” said Villopoto from
the stage at the AMA Awards banquet, of course referring
to Monster Energy’s Ricky Carmichael who won the award
in 2006.
Villopoto, 19, from Poulsbo, Wash., won the Supercross
West Lites title, then defended his Outdoor Nationals’ Lites
crown. He highlighted his season when he spanked the
rest of the world at the Motocross of Nations at Budds
Creek, helping fellow Monster Energy- backed racers
Carmichael and Tim Ferry (Monster Energy/Kawasaki) win
the coveted Chamberlain Trophy as the world’s top
motocross team.
“Everybody at Monster Energy would like to congratulate
Ryan on an unreal season, capped off with the AMA and
SPEED’s most prestigious award,” said John Lee, Monster
Energy’s Director of Sports Marketing.
“Ryan is one of the hardest-working guys in the sport and
sets and excellent example for the rest of our Monster
Army members. Again, congrats, Ryan, you certainly
deserve it.” fullnoise.com.au - pic from
picasaweb.google.com
Ryan Villopoto named AMA/SPEED Athlete Of The Year
RacerX Bench Racing Ammo: ROTY -ozzy go-
AMA MX Rookie Of The Year
2007 – Ryan Dungey
2006 – Ryan Villopoto
2005 – Juss Laansoo
2004 – Broc Hepler
2003 – Brian Gray
2002 – James Stewart
2001 – Bobby Bonds
2000 – Travis Pastrana
1999 – Ernesto Fonseca
1998 – Nick Wey
1997 – Brock Sellards
1996 – Ricky Carmichael
1995 – Paul Currie
1994 – Kevin Windham
1993 – Robbie Reynard
1992 – Tim Ferry
1991 – Butch Smith
1990 – Buddy Antunez
1989 – Damon Bradshaw
1988 – Donny Schmit
1987 – Jeff Stanton
1986 – Larry Brooks
1985 – Billy Frank (125) Scooter Stafford (250) Kevin Foley (500)
1984 – Guy Cooper (125) Keith Bowen (250) Ron Dunfee (500))
1983 – Ron Lechien (125) Billy Liles (250) Tim Locey (500)
1982 – George Holland (125) Jim Tarantino (250) John Finkeldey (500)
1981 – Ricky Johnson (125) Andy Stacey (250) Kenny Keylon (500
1980 – Scott Burnworth (125) Mike Loeffler (250) Alan King (500)
1979 – Larry Wosick (125) Donnie Cantaloupi (250) Goat Breker (500)
Ryan Villopoto Injured
Ryan Villopoto crashed yesterday at a friend's practice track in
Beaumont, CA. It was his first day back on a supercross track
after taking some time off. Six laps into it he cased the first three
in a triple-triple section and his feet came off the pegs. He hit the
next three sitting down and went over the bars. Randy Lawrence
said that he was unconscious at first. He is doing better now and
on his way to a surgeon to have his collarbone plated. He also
broke a couple ribs and may have slightly collapsed a lung. RL
said it was the gnarliest crash he had seen in a while. Stay tuned
to Racer X Online as we learn more on Villopoto's condition.
David Pingree/RacerX
Updated: 10/17/2007
Yes, the rumors of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan
Villopoto going down hard while practicing yesterday are true,
and while he spent the night in a local hospital, it sounds like he
may be released today.
While broken ribs, a broke collarbone and a concussion are no
fun, it sounds like we can be glad that his injuries weren’t much
worse.
Get well soon, Ryan. VitalMX
Motocross.com Video: Lites Class Championships Wrap Up -ozzy go-
Ryan Villopoto won his second consecutive
National Championship this past weekend.
Date Added: Sep 13, 07 - click on ozzy go
to the video on motocross.com
Glen's party is over. Let's go to Budd's! -ozzy go- amamotocross.com
Glen Helen featured the final stop on your AMA Toyota Motocross
Championship Series – by FMF – and, granted it was minus a few
stars and it was at that spectacular track just up the street from
the women’s prison, yet it was still the end of the road for a
wonderful, exciting and unpredictable year of “outdoor” AMA
Motocross. South Africa’s Grant Langston (“Granite Langstone” in
Flintstonia…) was surely not the man in command all season, yet
for those watching at Southwick, Massachusetts, as Yamaha’s
Langston passed and briefly sparred with Kawasaki’s James
Stewart, these were signals that this fierce competitor with the
charming accent and bright resume was going to be making his
mark in this series.
At the hilly, difficult and incredibly breathtaking San Bernardino
course, Langston was granted a 1-3 finish that gave him the
overall and the championship and, indeed, it was well earned.
Naturally, admirable performances all season long from Mike
Alessi, Andrew Short and Tim Ferry made this one of the most
hair-raising series endings in a while.
Additionally, the Lites class came down to a near photo-finish, as
teammates Ryan Villopoto and Ben Townley went at it all season
long, while RV had five season overalls and more points Townley
had his share of victories, yet with RV coming in to California with
a small, yet comforting points lead, his 1-2 finish behind Townley
at Glen Helen was enough to gain the upper hand and the AMA
Lites class championship.
Who were the Surprise-STAND-Out riders of-the-year?
For me, I’d have to say Martin Davalos in the Lites and Gavin
Gracyk in the MOTOCROSS Class. Both had incredible seasons.
Next weekend is where we dust off our trophies in the garage,
use a cotter-pin to clean under our fingernails and think about this
upcoming WORLD CLASS FESTIVAL OF MOTOCROSS At Budd’s
Creek, Maryland.
September 22-23. Most of us pull in Friday and leave Monday. The
hardcores are already there, streaming past the Amish buggies,
the smoky fish-shacks and a sweating Jonathan Beasley – the
charismatic Budd's Creek...click on ozzy go to the full story
pictures from tedescophoto.com
Vital Buzz -ozzy go- vitalmx.com
After taking a day or so to muse over the final race
of the 2007 AMA National Championship Motocross
Series at Glen Helen, we have to think that was one
of the cooler days of racing that we’ve seen in a
while. Two championship titles decided on the same
day, in the final moto of the final race; watching
Grant Langston charging past every one of the title
contenders to take the first moto win, and another
dominating performance by the Monster Energy Pro
Circuit Kawasaki squad in the Lites class…that’s all
good stuff. Toss in one of the burliest tracks ever
seen along with over 26,000 of our closest friends,
and it added up to a very memorable weekend.
Ben Townley on Glen Helen Happenings -ozzy go- amamotocross.com
The Motocross Lites race at Glen Helen was yet another classic
example of winning the battle, but losing the war, as Monster
Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ben Townley took the overall win
for the day over teammate Ryan Villopoto – yet it was Villopoto
who took home the championship and another number 1 plate.
Success for BT
“Winning the overall today was good, but I think that the whole
year was a bit of a pronunciation on last year. I won the
supercross championship (East Coast Lites) and raced Ryan all
year for this championship. That’s what I said at Hangtown; that I
wanted to fight for this championship – and apart from a few
mistakes on my part it’s been a huge improvement on last year”
said overall winner Ben Townley.
International Pride
Commenting on the many New Zealand flags in the crowd, Ben
Townley would say “before the weekend I counted on my fingers
and toes probably twenty people coming, and it’s actually at least
double that - to win in front of them was amazing.”
Ryan Villopoto on Glen Helen Happenings -ozzy go- amamotocross.com
Villopoto Backs it Up
“I always had heard that it was harder to back it up; and I think it
is. Mitch had said that he had never seen two guys to go at it
harder (than Villopoto and Townley) for a Championship. You
know, Ricky never really had anyone close to him like Ben and I
did every weekend this summer – it was definitely harder than
last year” said Villopoto about taking his second AMA Motocross
Lites Championship.
Villopoto’s Vacation
Talking about his days following Glen Helen, Ryan would say that
“I’m going to maybe take this week off, then fly back down here,
because we need to go back to Budds Creek - we have another
race to do.”
Brett Metcalfe on Glen Helen Happenings -ozzy go- amamotocross.com
Brett is Back
Once again Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe
finished third on the podium and was a part of a Monster Energy
Pro Circuit Kawasaki class sweep – stating that “it’s very rare to
be on a team and to achieve this, and it’s cool to be in the record
books.”
Happy Ending
Expanding on his Motocross Lites, Metcalfe would add that “it
started good, went really bad when I broke my thumb, but then I
was happy with the end of the series as I got several podiums,
and was always in the top five.”
Disappointed Metcalfe
“It definitely stinks; I definitely would have liked to be a part of
that (Australian MXON) team. But I also don’t want to be a part of
it, if that’s the way that they are going to look at it. If they don’t
want to have a team that takes the best riders then I don’t want
to be a part of it” said Metcalfe about not being included on the
Australian Motocross of Nations Team - which includes Chad
Reed, Michael Byrne, and Andrew McFarlane.
pic from vitalmx.com
Yamaha's MX Lites Riders on Glen Helen Happenings -ozzy go- amamotocross.com
B-HEP
Team Yamaha’s Broc Hepler was the first non-green
bike with his fourth overall; riding solid all day.
Ibelieve that if the Pennsylvanian can stay healthy,
he can definitely be a championship threat in 2008
Sick Day
Yamaha of Troy’s Matt Goerke was MIA at Glen
Helen. According to one of the boys in blue, Goerke
was sick with the flu. Soon Goerke moves to the new
MDK KTM Lites Team.
Loud
In one of the scariest crashes of Sunday, I saw Lucas
Oil Star Racing Yamaha mounted Matt Lemoine and
his bike careen off the finish line jump – hitting the
ground hard. What actually tipped me off to the
upcoming crash was not Lemoine’s bike revving; but
a collective “Noooooooooo” from the bystanders
around the jump.
pic from motocross.com
2007 AMA MX PRO Overall Standings Points
Grand National fnal standings after Round 28 (80 Races)
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 741pts - #1 250MX & 250SX West
2. Tim Ferry (Kawasaki) 693pts
3. James Stewart (Kawasaki) 675pts - #1 450SX
4. Ben Townley (Kawasaki) 658pts - #1 250SX East
5. Kevin Windham (Honda) 603pts
6. Grant Langston (Yamaha) 511pts - #1 450MX
7. Mike Alessi (KTM) 507pts
8. Andrew Short (Honda) 463pts
9. Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki) 451pts
10. Josh Grant (Honda) 437pts
11. Jason Lawrence (Yamaha) 434pts
12. Michael Byrne (Suzuki) 419pts
13. David Vuillemin (Honda) 403pts
14. Ivan Tedesco (Suzuki) 395pts
15. Jake Weimer (Honda) 375pts
16. Chad Reed (Yamaha) 372pts
17. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) 365pts
18. Josh Hill (Yamaha) 310pts
19. Tommy Hahn (Honda) 304pts
20. Josh Summey (Honda) 276pts
21. Martin Davalos (KTM) 267pts
22. Davi Millsaps (Honda) 265pts
23. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki) 242pts
24. Gavin Gracyk (Honda) 218pts
25. Chris Gosselaar (Kawasaki) 204pts
26. Broc Tickle (Yamaha) 201pts
27. Troy Adams (Suzuki) 200pts
28. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 196pts
29. Broc Hepler (Yamaha) 190pts
30. Jason Thomas (Honda) 177pts
Villopoto at Glen Helen - RacerX
AMA MX High-Performance Of The Week #12
Glen Helen HP Top-5
Ben Townley: 1st in moto one/1st overall 1-2 (KX250F)
Ryan Villopoto: 1st in moto two/2nd overall 2-1 (KX250F)
Grant Langston: 1st in moto one/1st overall 1-3 (YZ450F)
Kevin Windham: 1st in moto two/3rd overall 5-1 (CRF450R)
Mike Alessi: 2nd in both moto’s/2nd overall 2-2 (450SX)
Brett Metcalfe: 3rd in both moto’s/2nd 3rd overall 3-3 (KX250F)
Andrew Short: 3rd in moto one/5th overall 3-6 (CRF450R)
Tim Ferry: 4th in both moto’s/4th overall 4-4 (KX450F)
Austin Stroupe: 4th in moto two/5th overall 10-4 (KX250F)
Trey Canard: 4th in moto one/8th overall 4-12 (CRF250R)
Broc Hepler: 5th in both moto’s/4th overall 5-5 (YZ250F)
Josh Hill: 5th in moto two/6th overall 8-5 (YZ450F)
in: Kevin Windham
out: Martin Davalos, Ivan Tedesco & Cody Cooper
pic from bentownleymx.com