After many, many weeks of total absence from the motocross scene and just a few weeks after he announced his retirement from the sport, American MX star Ryan Villopoto will attend the 14th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, which will be held at Lommel in Belgium this weekend.
Sadly Ryan will not be racing aboard his #2 Monster Energy Kawasaki, as the 10-time US champion has packed up his boots after sustaining an injury at the GP of Trentino in April. But Ryan has decided to fly to Europe to attend the GP and various other events where he will meet thousands of fans and of course his long-time partners.
Lommel is not an unknown destination for him as he was based in the area earlier this season, training there on several occasions during his brief career in Europe. Ryan will of course visit the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team in Lommel, where he will also support long-time friend Tyla Rattray.
He will be available to sign autographs for the fans (the timing of the sessions will be posted at the KRT awning in the paddock) during the weekend; he will be one of the guests of TV commentator Paul Malin in the Studio Show, hold a press conference on Saturday afternoon and will also join the Monster athletes at the Monster rig on Sunday at 10.15 am.
“Returning to Belgium this week is bittersweet,” says Ryan Villopoto. “It was our home base for a couple of months earlier in the year, so it will be nice to return and say goodbye to the folks that helped us out. Unfortunately, the year didn’t go as planned but I was looking forward to racing Lommel; it’s a tough track… kind of like Southwick in the US but with even deeper sand. But I’ve always liked riding in that stuff so it would have been fun. I’m excited to see my team and the fans and look forward to seeing everyone this weekend.”
Steve Guttridge (Kawasaki Europe Racing Manager) commented: “It’s an exciting concept to welcome RV back over to Europe. In his new role he’s naturally going to be more relaxed and give a lot of good feedback to the team, our riders, the press and ultimately his fans.”
François Lemariey (KRT team manager) added his thoughts: “It will be great for the Monster Energy KRT team members to meet up with Ryan again, as we all enjoyed working with him earlier this season. Unfortunately our racing story ended too early, but that’s also part of racing.”
