Words by: Dan lamb, Interview by: Chase Yocom, Photo by: Andrea Barnett
With the four-time reigning 450SX Champion, Ryan Villopoto, vacating his Monster Energy Supercross 450SX Championship and heading to contest the MXGP Motocross World Championships, “who’s next” became the theme of the 2015 season. Most thought that title would belong to one of the up-and-coming young guns, but in the end, it was one of the two past Champions resurrecting himself and winning the 450SX Championship in dominant fashion.
After finishing fourth at the opening round in Anaheim, the 2010 450SX Champion, Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey, never finished off the podium again. It was a slow building process that saw Ryan finish third at round two, second at rounds three and four and not grab his first win until round five at the Anaheim 3 SX. Since then, though, the #5 has been a machine—clicking off eight wins and only finishing worse than second place once. In the end, Dungey clinched the 2015 450SX Supercross Championship three rounds early and finished the year with a dominant 85-point lead over Eli Tomac in second.
Last Saturday night in Las Vegas, Ryan closed out his dream 2015 season with his career-best eighth win. After his win, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom caught up with the now two-time 450SX Champion to talk about his night, his season and how he feels heading into the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motcoross Championship. You can read that below.
Ryan, thanks for taking the time. I know you’re ready to celebrate. Awesome season, and you got the job done again tonight with a win. What is it with guys like you? You wrapped the season up a couple weeks ago, but you’re still out here pushing it and winning.
Wrapping the Championship up in Houston with three races left was great, but I still wanted to perform and keep winning races ideally. Obviously performing from the start of each race day, having good practices and putting ourselves in good positions in the heat races and main events to possibly win—I don’t want to settle. I’ve said it before, I’m in it for the long haul, and just because the Championship is wrapped up doesn’t mean these other races aren’t important. They are very important to do good in and to climb up in the stats as well. It’s nice, but we’re not looking at that too much. You don’t get anywhere looking at the results, stats and where you’re sitting in the all-time stats. Ideally, it’s out there on the race track. We want to end the season on a strong note, though.
Ryan, you and Eli Tomac were the two fastest guys all day and you both got good starts tonight. Eli got close to you, but was it just one of those nights where you were ready to push as hard as it took to get the win?
Yeah, I mean, basically. Eli’s been going good—especially as the season’s coming to an end—and I knew he was going to be tough tonight. In practice, he showed it. He had a good heat race and that showed it. Basically, when the gate dropped I wanted to get to that first turn first, and from there it was an all out effort. He ended up making a mistake, but he rebounded pretty quick. I was managing the race and watching where he was at, but we were really pushing the pace hard.
With you wrapping the Championship up early and the Lucas Oil Pro Motcoross Championship right around the corner, were you guys able to get going on the outdoor testing for Hangtown earlier than normal?
Yeah, after Houston we started riding outdoors once a week which I think has been really helpful. Obviously, you can’t eliminate outdoors. You have to keep up on that aspect of it all, but with the short time we have from now until Hangtown—it’s only two weeks from now, or actually less than that with press day—we try to get ahead of the curve as much as we can. I think we did that and have been testing coming into this week. We’re building, slowly gaining ground and making the best use of the time we have because we have got to be ready. Right when things start we need to have a good setup and be ready.
You guys at KTM have an all new bike for 2015 and it obviously proved it’s worth in Supercross. How do you think the new bike is going to work for you outdoors?
Outdoors it feels just as good. I’m really happy with it, and we’ve actually been fining some great stuff testing that we were able to incorporate this weekend. We’re find new things, even for next year’s Supercross season. I don’t wan’t to settle, but it’s also great to see the team keep trying to improve the bike—the chassis, the suspension, whatever it is. Our test rider, Ryan Morais—who does a great job—he was able to come up with some stuff. I rode that last week and they incorporated that into our Supercross package and that ended up helping me with traction and comfort here in Las vegas. It’s nice to make changes to the bike and already make it better for next year.
To answer your question, though, outdoor suspension testing is going good. I think it’s more just getting used to it because we are so used to riding such stiff suspension then we go to something that moves so much more. You have to take your time with the setup. You can’t rush it. I don’t like this, I don’t like that, I think maybe it’s just more having to get used to it.
Well you got that #1 plate back in Supercross. Are you now ready to go to war to get it back in motocross?
I am! Last year we came up just a little bit short. I definitely want to win that outdoor title again. It starts at Hangtown. Then there’s next year in Supercross and the challenge of backing it up. We worked hard to get back to this position and I want to stay here and keep working hard.
Alright, well, go celebrate your Championship and win tonight.
Thank you for your effort this year, Chase.
