While it seems that almost every factory MXGP team will have some presence at Riola Sardo at the end of the month for the opening round of the Italian motocross Championship (Internazionali D’Italia) the awaited debut of Ryan Villopoto on European shores for his Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team will not happen in the Sardinian sand.
We believe that KRT are unlikely to commit to the race, nor join the likes of KTM, Yamaha, Honda and Husqvarna in using the Italian island for training and testing this month. Villopoto and team-mate Tyla Rattray have been enjoying pleasant weather conditions back in the United States for training over the holiday period and have even seen the likes of works Suzuki riders like Kevin Strijbos, Glenn Coldenhoff and Clement Desalle also battering American dirt.
Details of the former AMA Supercross and Motocross Champion’s first competitive outing in the build-up to the Grand Prix of Qatar at the end of February have still to be released but Monster Energy KRT have favoured the Valence International in France in recent years (Feb 14th) and are likely only to make one race appearance before the MXGP season gets underway. The Valence event was cancelled in 2014 after the central region of France was battered by heavy rain.
