Tyler Poto

Uncleof2
Posts
1276
Joined
5/10/2008
Location
Silverdale, WA US
3/31/2012 5:31pm
zghosty wrote:
very good read about tyler, about how it all came to be. [url=http://www.directmotocross.com/news/features/2012/03/catching-withpat-oconnor]HERE[/url] [quote][b]Ok, let’s talk about the signing of Tyler Villopoto. I nicknamed him ‘TYPO’...
very good read about tyler, about how it all came to be.

HERE

Ok, let’s talk about the signing of Tyler Villopoto. I nicknamed him ‘TYPO’ by the way. How did this all happen?

(Laughs) Ya, I heard that. You can claim that one. We’re getting lots of people asking questions about this. I got a call from Steve Matthes from PulpMX and DMX asking if we were interested in the idea of somehow supporting Tyler Villopoto in the western nationals because he now wants to have pro motocross as a career. I told Steve then and there that we were definitely interested and we’ll figure out something.

From there, Steve gave my number to Ryan (Villopoto), his older brother, and he phoned me. Ryan has been working a little bit as Tyler’s agent and we just started figuring things out. As some of our other 450 leads were slowly slipping away, we sat down with Ryan, Tyler, and Jason Hughes and we decided to move forward on Tyler and see if he’s interested in riding the entire season and what he wants and expects, so we did.

He’s got a 450 down in California that he’s been riding. We sent him out with Kyle Beaton and Teddy Maier to Milestone so we could gauge his speed because we don’t know. From speaking with Kyle and Teddy, we decided that he was definitely going to be fast enough for the class.

From there, we just moved forward to what it was going to take to get him on our team and how we could fit him in our budget. It all worked out and he’s signed. He’s doing the whole series for our team.

So, did Monster or Ryan have any extra influence in your decision?

Monster is no more involved at this point with Tyler than they were without Tyler. They’re not pressuring us, if that’s what you’re getting at. They aren’t giving us extra funds for him. They aren’t involved any more now than they were.

Ryan is not paying for Tyler’s ride, either. Tyler is a member of this team on his own.

How much did you know about Tyler from his amateur days?

He’s been under the radar for a long time. He’s been ‘Ryan’s younger brother.’ He decided a while ago that he didn’t want to race professionally because his brother had that spot and there’s a really good possibility that he’s not ever going to be as fast as Ryan. I don’t know what was going through his mind at the time, but he decided not to push racing full-time. Having said that, he’s been riding the whole time. He’s had support from Team Green and still does from Thor and Alpinestars , and from his brother and from the family. Now he’s made the decision that he wants to be a professional racer and Ryan is willing to help him out with it.

Who is going to be Tyler’s mechanic this summer?

Frenchie (Luc Caouette) is going to be Tyler’s mechanic and Donk (Scott Donkersgoed) is going to stay with Kyle.

Does this mean there’s a chance we’ll see Ryan at some races that don’t conflict with his AMA national schedule?

Well, the only weekend that doesn’t conflict with his stuff, as of right now, is Edmonton. I know that there’s a rumour flying around out there somehow, someway, that he’s going to be at Walton—he will NOT be at Walton. I can confirm that right now. He’s not interested in flying a red-eye from Unadilla to Walton. He has shown interest that if we want him to come up to Edmonton and sign autographs and be an honorary Leading Edge team member for the weekend, he will do that.

Aside from Tyler’s skill on a bike, I assume his last name played into your decision too, right?

No doubt about it—absolutely. Yes. I’m not going to dodge that one, for sure. I mean, of course, right. That’s already helped us in some stuff and he hasn’t even been up here yet. That was definitely a factor in it. Having said that, we’re going to be disappointed if he comes up here and doesn’t hit the top 5 every weekend. After talking to him about it, and talking to Ryan about it, he’s going really fast.

I think that having him on our team will get us more press than any one of the other three guys winning the championship. I believe that.

I just spoke to Andy Wilson and he saw him out at Glen Helen and he said Tyler was passing some guys, some name guys that I’m not going to name, but guys that are running in the top 10 in supercross right now. It may not mean anything to anybody, but it shows that he’s got some speed.

What do you think of his style? He throws the bike around every chance he gets.

We’re going to try our best to make him stop doing that and to just focus on going forward instead of sideways. Ryan has mentioned a little bit about that too and so has Tyler, we’ve talked to him about it. All the scrubbing stuff you see on the internet was pretty much all for the camera. If he’s coming up here and doing really well and wants to scrub every jump, he can go right ahead (laughs). I think we need to focus on the fundamentals of going forward instead of sideways.

He seems like a very personable guy.

Ya, Ryan seems to be a pretty reserved guy, for the most part, but I know that in talking with some other people that, once you get to know Ryan, he’s like Dusty (Klatt), he keeps to himself, but once you get in he’s a great guy. Tyler is open and he’s willing to shoot the shit with you and chat about anything. He’s very outgoing and always in a good mood. He seems to be a great guy.

He’s had some injuries in the past and most of them have been from play-riding and screwing around.

When will he hit the ground up here?

Well, we’ve asked him to come up here as early as he’s comfortable with. He’s testing suspension, as we speak at Glen Helen today with Graham, our suspension guy. As soon as we get him comfortable on the bike and C4MX gets that thing going to where they like it, he’s coming straight up and we’re going to start going riding. The snow is all gone and we’re dirt biking right now.

At this point, Pat started throwing facts at me from all over the place. Here are some of the highlights:

Villopoto’s number will be #161 and Beaton’s number is going to be #108. Somebody snagged the #132 from us but he’s got Dean Wilson’s old number.

FMF is no longer doing a drink, so we can display the FMF logos on our bikes this year.

VP Fuels makes a great fuel and came to us with a really good offer that, in this economy, we could not refuse.

When Tyler gets up here, we’re going to go to all the western tracks and ride them, test out some tires, and figure out what works.

This is all great news for Tyler. I think that Tyler will be a good student and learn fast,
He has always had our love and support and I think he is earning his brothers respect.
Hope to see another brother team in the US next year. Go TV161Woohoo
kevin204
Posts
4065
Joined
12/29/2006
Location
Ontario CA
3/31/2012 6:29pm
sharkey wrote:
did any of you guys even listen to his video he said he would like to start off in the top 15 or 10 to start...
did any of you guys even listen to his video he said he would like to start off in the top 15 or 10 to start. that seems likely to me. in canada you can be a intermediate and race with the pros. a local intermediate from washington a few years back went there and finished 17th. give the kid a break
darius228 wrote:
A pro from up here in Washington that doesn't win local races was top 10 last year in the Canadian Nats.....
Roscoe33 wrote:
Many US pros have come to Canada with the illusion that they will clean house up here and dominate, just because your fast that doesn't mean...
Many US pros have come to Canada with the illusion that they will clean house up here and dominate,
just because your fast that doesn't mean your going to win a Championship.

Bike set up, new track memorization and competition you don't know all add to the challenge.

top 10-15 for Tyler the first year up here is realistic.
You've also gotta realize that the gap between Facciotti in 1st and the dudes running 5th-10th is absolutely MASSIVE. The depth of the field in Canada is less than stellar.

The Shop

Post a reply to: Tyler Poto

The Latest