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Supercross & Motocross
SX: The Holeshot - Seattle
One man's pain is another man's gain. Brandon Short reviews an eventful Seattle Supercross.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The SLC round of the Monster Energy Supercross Lites Championship will air on SPEED Sunday, April 29 at 6:00pm ET. #SXonSPEED
There really are no words to describe the complete utter silence that fell over CenturyLink Field last Saturday night as Ryan Villopoto lay on the ground, writhing in pain. It was clear that the champ had done something to his knee, but there was no telling what the magnitude of that damage might be. Being the incredibly tough individual that he is, Villopoto walked off the track under his own power. Little did we know at the time that it would be the final time anyone saw the double Monster Energy Supercross Champion on a racetrack this season.
Monster Energy Kawasaki issued a statement expecting Villopoto to be back in action this weekend, citing a “tweaked” knee. However, yesterday it was revealed that the injury was severe enough to require surgery, ultimately taking Villopoto out of action for the next few months.
Seattle was supposed to be a happy homecoming for Villopoto. It signified his first visit to his native city as a world champion and presented an opportunity to, in a way, bring everything full circle. Ironically, Seattle was also the site of RV’s inaugural 450 win and ever since that fateful evening in 2009, he’s overcome incredible adversity to rise to his current status as the most dominant rider on the planet.
Fans came out in droves, the media couldn’t get enough of him, and his longtime gear supplier, Thor, created a unique way for those in attendance to show their love by putting Villopoto’s face on a stick. The evening was intended to be a celebration of a champion.
Instead, the crowd fell silent and Villopoto is now forced to endure yet another setback in his developing career. Just days earlier, Ryan told a reporter with the Seattle Times that he thought he had a good three years ahead of him before he looked towards potentially walking away from the sport and maybe starting a family of his own. With his second serious knee injury in four years, no one could blame him if that reality set in a little sooner. However, often times when a rider’s season is cut short like this, he’s more motivated than ever to return and prove that he hasn’t lost a step. Here’s to hoping that trend continues with RV.
With Villopoto out, the race for the win became one of the best underdog moments in the sport’s history. Andrew Short and Ken Roczen engaged in a fierce battle out front for several laps, pulling away from the field in the process and making it clear that someone would be leaving Seattle with his first career win.
After nearly six years of trying, Short finally became as a winner in the 450 class. The longtime ironman of the sport has hit hard times the past couple seasons and was saddled with even more misfortune this year, suffering an injury in San Diego that put him out for seven rounds in addition to sponsorship and financial woes for his L&MC Racing team. However, through it all Short was able to emerge victorious, leading every lap of the main event in the process. After coming close for so long, at last it was his time to shine and it served as a welcomed outcome to what was otherwise a bummer of an evening for the sport.
Ask anyone -- Short is one of the good guys of our sport and I don’t know if there is a person in the paddock who doesn’t enjoy seeing him succeed. Many thought Short would never grab a checkered flag once he made the move into the premier class, being forced to go head-to-head against the likes of Chad Reed, James Stewart, and Kevin Windham from the moment he saddled a big bike, and then having to battle alongside young superstars like Villopoto and Ryan Dungey the past few seasons. The odds were against him by no fault of his own, but at 29 years of age, # 29 is finally a winner. It’s kind of fitting.
A lot of the hype coming into Seattle also surrounded the return to action of Dungey for the first time since having surgery to repair a broken collarbone. The KTM ace won his heat race and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat despite his times spent sitting on the sidelines. However, Dungey didn’t get the start he needed in the main event and later made an error in judgment when battling alongside Justin Brayton, ultimately putting him on the ground briefly. Needless to say, with two weeks to go and no championship on the line, Dungey didn’t need to put himself in harms way and just stayed out of trouble while bringing home a sixth-place finish, which happens to be his worst result of the season.
Dungey’s teammate, Ken Roczen, brought the crowd to its feet by going bar-to-bar with Short for the win early on, and made the most of his guest appearance in the premier class by giving the KTM 350 its best-finish ever in second. Roczen and Short were teammates for a time last season and became good friends while the German youngster was Stateside. The full-time Lites competitor had the opportunity to make a hard pass if he wanted but later said that he’d never do something like that to Short, showing how much respect he has for his veteran counterpart. That also says a lot about Roczen’s maturity at only 17 years of age.
There really are no words to describe the complete utter silence that fell over CenturyLink Field last Saturday night as Ryan Villopoto lay on the ground, writhing in pain. It was clear that the champ had done something to his knee, but there was no telling what the magnitude of that damage might be. Being the incredibly tough individual that he is, Villopoto walked off the track under his own power. Little did we know at the time that it would be the final time anyone saw the double Monster Energy Supercross Champion on a racetrack this season.
Monster Energy Kawasaki issued a statement expecting Villopoto to be back in action this weekend, citing a “tweaked” knee. However, yesterday it was revealed that the injury was severe enough to require surgery, ultimately taking Villopoto out of action for the next few months.
Seattle was supposed to be a happy homecoming for Villopoto. It signified his first visit to his native city as a world champion and presented an opportunity to, in a way, bring everything full circle. Ironically, Seattle was also the site of RV’s inaugural 450 win and ever since that fateful evening in 2009, he’s overcome incredible adversity to rise to his current status as the most dominant rider on the planet.
Fans came out in droves, the media couldn’t get enough of him, and his longtime gear supplier, Thor, created a unique way for those in attendance to show their love by putting Villopoto’s face on a stick. The evening was intended to be a celebration of a champion.
Instead, the crowd fell silent and Villopoto is now forced to endure yet another setback in his developing career. Just days earlier, Ryan told a reporter with the Seattle Times that he thought he had a good three years ahead of him before he looked towards potentially walking away from the sport and maybe starting a family of his own. With his second serious knee injury in four years, no one could blame him if that reality set in a little sooner. However, often times when a rider’s season is cut short like this, he’s more motivated than ever to return and prove that he hasn’t lost a step. Here’s to hoping that trend continues with RV.
With Villopoto out, the race for the win became one of the best underdog moments in the sport’s history. Andrew Short and Ken Roczen engaged in a fierce battle out front for several laps, pulling away from the field in the process and making it clear that someone would be leaving Seattle with his first career win.
After nearly six years of trying, Short finally became as a winner in the 450 class. The longtime ironman of the sport has hit hard times the past couple seasons and was saddled with even more misfortune this year, suffering an injury in San Diego that put him out for seven rounds in addition to sponsorship and financial woes for his L&MC Racing team. However, through it all Short was able to emerge victorious, leading every lap of the main event in the process. After coming close for so long, at last it was his time to shine and it served as a welcomed outcome to what was otherwise a bummer of an evening for the sport.
Ask anyone -- Short is one of the good guys of our sport and I don’t know if there is a person in the paddock who doesn’t enjoy seeing him succeed. Many thought Short would never grab a checkered flag once he made the move into the premier class, being forced to go head-to-head against the likes of Chad Reed, James Stewart, and Kevin Windham from the moment he saddled a big bike, and then having to battle alongside young superstars like Villopoto and Ryan Dungey the past few seasons. The odds were against him by no fault of his own, but at 29 years of age, # 29 is finally a winner. It’s kind of fitting.
A lot of the hype coming into Seattle also surrounded the return to action of Dungey for the first time since having surgery to repair a broken collarbone. The KTM ace won his heat race and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat despite his times spent sitting on the sidelines. However, Dungey didn’t get the start he needed in the main event and later made an error in judgment when battling alongside Justin Brayton, ultimately putting him on the ground briefly. Needless to say, with two weeks to go and no championship on the line, Dungey didn’t need to put himself in harms way and just stayed out of trouble while bringing home a sixth-place finish, which happens to be his worst result of the season.
Dungey’s teammate, Ken Roczen, brought the crowd to its feet by going bar-to-bar with Short for the win early on, and made the most of his guest appearance in the premier class by giving the KTM 350 its best-finish ever in second. Roczen and Short were teammates for a time last season and became good friends while the German youngster was Stateside. The full-time Lites competitor had the opportunity to make a hard pass if he wanted but later said that he’d never do something like that to Short, showing how much respect he has for his veteran counterpart. That also says a lot about Roczen’s maturity at only 17 years of age.
SX Seattle
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