RYAN VILLOPOTO: Trading Places

In one of the worst kept secrets in modern racing history, four-time AMA Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto announced on September 30 that he's leaving the kleig-lit stadiums behind to contest the 2015 MXGP World Championship. The question is why? And the answer? There's more than one, really...

Villopoto, 26, had surgery to repair his left knee at the conclusion of the 2014 Supercross series in May. That was his second ACL reconstruction, and the recovery is taking longer than expected, to the point that he doesn't feel he'll be 100 percent for the start of the 2015 series in January. His options were to ride hurt, return partway through the indoor season, or wait and return for the outdoors, none of which appealed to him or his sponsors. He also considered retiring, but has a year left on his contract.

There was one other possibility that was not readily apparent. Villopoto is sponsored by Monster Energy, which also backs MXGP and the Netherlands-based Kawasaki race team. With Italian Antonio Cairoli having won five consecutive World Championships on his Red Bull KTM (and one more before that on a Yamaha), Monster is keen to have one of its riders challenge for the title. Who better than the fastest man in America?

Joining Villopoto on the team will be his friend Tyla Rattray.

And so Villopoto is heading to Europe, replacing Motocross of Nations winner Gautier Paulin of France, who's going to Honda. Joining Villopoto on the team will be his friend Tyla Rattray, the former MX2 World Champion from South Africa whose experience should prove invaluable. Simple tasks like finding a track on which to practice become much more complicated when one is gallivanting all over the planet. Back home in Florida, Villopoto had his own training compound, which he recently sold.

MXGP organizers Youthstream are also pumped to have Villopoto in the series, as they hope his participation will pique interest amongst American fans. Southern California's Glen Helen Raceway is banking on that, having signed on to host the United States Grand Prix from 2015-2016, plus the Motocross of Nations in 2017. Those USGPs will follow the conclusion of the AMA Motocross Championship, incidentally, so hopefully other American riders will be able to compete.

Shortly after announcing that he would be contesting the 2015 MXGPs, Ryan Villopoto flew to Europe to meet with his new team. While there, he felt well enough to put in a few tentative practice laps—though he admitted he was sore afterwards!

Villopoto is reportedly burned out on racing 30 weekends per year in America (17 supercross and 12 motocross, plus the Monster Energy Cup), and has stated that he intends to retire when his contract runs out at the end of 2015. With the MXGPs running on just 18 weekends, he may find his final season a bit more relaxing, though still no walk in the park. “This is a one-time deal. I am going to finish my career, win or lose, after this next season … but I'd love to win and leave on top,” he wrote in a blog on his website. “I’m not going to say it’s going to be easier or harder—it will for sure be different though.”

While it's not unprecedented for a top-ranked American to head overseas, it hasn't happened in decades. Nowadays, foreign riders typically come here, lured by the bright lights (and big bucks) of supercross.

Can Villopoto win the MXGP World Championship in his first attempt? Given Cairoli's utter dominance in recent years, that's a tall order. But if anyone can do it, it would be Villopoto.