INTERVIEW
RYAN VILLOPOTO
P68
the game and passed it on to me.
Them going before me opened
the door in many ways for what
I have done. I would like to think
that I have done the same thing
for today's younger riders. It rolls
way past what you've ever thought
you would see right away.
The fact that you didn't race
the Nationals caused a bit of a
commotion.
Yeah. Once I hurt my knee and
had to make the decision not to
race outdoors. That was tough.
Being in my position, it wasn't
something where I could just say,
"Oh yeah, I hurt my knee and I'm
not racing outdoors." I have a lot
of companies that I ride for, all
major companies and sponsors,
and things have to be methodi-
cally thought through. Things
like, "How long will it take to
comeback, if I even can? When
are we going to tell people we're
not racing, if that is the best de-
cision?" Sponsors have to think
things through and maybe find a
fill-in rider. I got a lot of criticism
for saying, "Yeah, I'm racing out-
doors." But what else did they
want me to say? The severity of
the injury wasn't fully apparent
right away. So, for me, for the
companies that I represent, and
for the team, it wasn't time for
me to come out and say, "I'm not
racing outdoors." So what's the
other answer? "I'm racing." I got
Villopoto could have
tried for a record fifth
straight Supercross
title, but RV says he's
not about breaking
records.
