Posts
4301
Joined
5/16/2007
Location
Ashbourne, GB
Edited Date/Time
6/3/2015 7:31am
Just read this on MX large website
http://www.mxlarge.com/2015/06/02/rv-is-he-coming-back/
or if you can't bear to click Geoff's article, here the text of the article:
We can’t forget in all the anti-RV stories that Ryan Villopoto offered so much to the MXGP series. For a month the whole world was busy with how RV was doing against the fastest motocross riders in the world. For a GP rookie he did himself proud, ran with the top guys, won a GP in Thailand in stunning fashion and was enjoying himself.
Of course it all went pear shaped at the GP of Trentino, on a circuit many of us expected RV to suck. He didn’t suck, in fact he looked damn fast. Just a silly mistake cost him big time as he broke his tail bone and hasn’t been seen since.
So what is the future of the American legend? I can tell you I have spoken to a lot of people who deal with RV and my gut feeling is he won’t be back to race again (and many told me RV doesn’t even know if he will be back). And in all respect, what does he have to win by coming back? Two months out of racing as the GP riders build to their best level, it wouldn’t be easy for him. These guys were probably 60% when they raced RV in February and March, and with him not racing he will only lose ground. Because now they are probably 90% of their best (at least the guys who haven’t been injured) and RV will probably still be 60% due to a lack of time on the bike.
I have to admit, listening to the American media make excuses for him is a little sad. He was fat they said, not the same guy who rode in America. When I asked RV was his weight more than in his AMA days he mentioned it was, but he also said he often put on some extra pounds by the time the Motocross season came along anyway. That guy I saw racing in Thailand was FAST!!!! As fast as I have ever seen anyone race. Maybe its time the US press actually gave the GP riders the credit they deserve, instead of trying to find reasons why their guys lose.
There was all the talk in the US media about him not racing MX for more than a year, but hey guys he had the chance to race some pre-season races and decided not to. Enough of the excuses US media, he came, he did well and he has probably retired. His preparation might not have been what you guys wanted, but wasn’t it the US media telling us he knows what he is doing when the euro fans were saying he should maybe be racing the pre-season races? Most GP riders I talked to said the same, he needed time on the bike in different conditions. He choose not to do that, and that was his call.
mxgp tv (1)
What we did learn from the whole RV experience was what a cool guy he is, and how much fun he had at the races. I don’t pretend to call him a friend, I hardly know him, and I invite friends to birthday parties and I go out with friends, drinking beer and having a laugh.
I have never had a rider/friend relationship with anyone, and only with maybe guys like Stefan Everts, Grant Langston, Andrew McFarlane, Marc De Reuver, Jimmy Albertson, Josh Coppins, Chad Reed, Ben Townley, the King brothers and a few more did I really want to spend more time with them to get to know them a little better, but none were/are friends.
Some of those relationships went south as I felt the particular riders changed as they got more famous. For the most part I still like most of those guys as they didn’t change as people from day one. Damn even had a beer with Joel Smets in France last weekend, but Joel and I are not friends, just a media guy and a legend spending a Friday night at some French café bench racing and trying to experience more than just motocross for the weekend.
Anyway, with all my ramblings I take us back to the RV story. I don’t blame the guy if he doesn’t come back to race. He ignited the MXGP series into another place. We have more US fans now because of his involvement and his attitude the whole time he was here was awesome. I wrote one of my anti-American articles just prior to Qatar, and he pulled me up on it, told me I was a jerk and I accepted that. A couple of weeks later he gave me a great interview and all was forgotten. I like guys like that, not holding grudges over something trivial and just getting on with their job.
It is a pity if he won’t be back to race, as we wanted to see him at the MXoN saying one final farewell. We wanted to watch him improve and win a few more GP’s. As much as I love the euro scene more than the American scene I like good racing above everything and he produces some great racing.
At the end of the day though, he deserves a happy retirement, family time with people he loves and not stuck in that world of results and drama. If we don’t see you back RV, thanks for your input into the most powerful and charismatic championship in the world, the FIM Motocross World Championships. We made us better and for that we are thankful.
http://www.mxlarge.com/2015/06/02/rv-is-he-coming-back/
or if you can't bear to click Geoff's article, here the text of the article:
We can’t forget in all the anti-RV stories that Ryan Villopoto offered so much to the MXGP series. For a month the whole world was busy with how RV was doing against the fastest motocross riders in the world. For a GP rookie he did himself proud, ran with the top guys, won a GP in Thailand in stunning fashion and was enjoying himself.
Of course it all went pear shaped at the GP of Trentino, on a circuit many of us expected RV to suck. He didn’t suck, in fact he looked damn fast. Just a silly mistake cost him big time as he broke his tail bone and hasn’t been seen since.
So what is the future of the American legend? I can tell you I have spoken to a lot of people who deal with RV and my gut feeling is he won’t be back to race again (and many told me RV doesn’t even know if he will be back). And in all respect, what does he have to win by coming back? Two months out of racing as the GP riders build to their best level, it wouldn’t be easy for him. These guys were probably 60% when they raced RV in February and March, and with him not racing he will only lose ground. Because now they are probably 90% of their best (at least the guys who haven’t been injured) and RV will probably still be 60% due to a lack of time on the bike.
I have to admit, listening to the American media make excuses for him is a little sad. He was fat they said, not the same guy who rode in America. When I asked RV was his weight more than in his AMA days he mentioned it was, but he also said he often put on some extra pounds by the time the Motocross season came along anyway. That guy I saw racing in Thailand was FAST!!!! As fast as I have ever seen anyone race. Maybe its time the US press actually gave the GP riders the credit they deserve, instead of trying to find reasons why their guys lose.
There was all the talk in the US media about him not racing MX for more than a year, but hey guys he had the chance to race some pre-season races and decided not to. Enough of the excuses US media, he came, he did well and he has probably retired. His preparation might not have been what you guys wanted, but wasn’t it the US media telling us he knows what he is doing when the euro fans were saying he should maybe be racing the pre-season races? Most GP riders I talked to said the same, he needed time on the bike in different conditions. He choose not to do that, and that was his call.
mxgp tv (1)
What we did learn from the whole RV experience was what a cool guy he is, and how much fun he had at the races. I don’t pretend to call him a friend, I hardly know him, and I invite friends to birthday parties and I go out with friends, drinking beer and having a laugh.
I have never had a rider/friend relationship with anyone, and only with maybe guys like Stefan Everts, Grant Langston, Andrew McFarlane, Marc De Reuver, Jimmy Albertson, Josh Coppins, Chad Reed, Ben Townley, the King brothers and a few more did I really want to spend more time with them to get to know them a little better, but none were/are friends.
Some of those relationships went south as I felt the particular riders changed as they got more famous. For the most part I still like most of those guys as they didn’t change as people from day one. Damn even had a beer with Joel Smets in France last weekend, but Joel and I are not friends, just a media guy and a legend spending a Friday night at some French café bench racing and trying to experience more than just motocross for the weekend.
Anyway, with all my ramblings I take us back to the RV story. I don’t blame the guy if he doesn’t come back to race. He ignited the MXGP series into another place. We have more US fans now because of his involvement and his attitude the whole time he was here was awesome. I wrote one of my anti-American articles just prior to Qatar, and he pulled me up on it, told me I was a jerk and I accepted that. A couple of weeks later he gave me a great interview and all was forgotten. I like guys like that, not holding grudges over something trivial and just getting on with their job.
It is a pity if he won’t be back to race, as we wanted to see him at the MXoN saying one final farewell. We wanted to watch him improve and win a few more GP’s. As much as I love the euro scene more than the American scene I like good racing above everything and he produces some great racing.
At the end of the day though, he deserves a happy retirement, family time with people he loves and not stuck in that world of results and drama. If we don’t see you back RV, thanks for your input into the most powerful and charismatic championship in the world, the FIM Motocross World Championships. We made us better and for that we are thankful.
As for the 'I don't have any friends' paragraph - classic!!!!
"For a month the whole world was busy with how RV was doing against the fastest motocross riders in the world. For a GP rookie he did himself proud, ran with the top guys, won a GP in Thailand in a stunnig fashion and was enjoying himself"
Which sort of implies that RV until now was riding B-series stuff and at last was riding against the real/only fast riders out there.
But at least there were no spelling mistakes in there
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I'm also not sure who in the "press" is making excuses for why RV is not winning. . . I haven't heard much of anything from the US press about RV. . . Just the fans. . . Sounds like Geoff is butthurt with the AMA fans.
Nice piece with absolutely 0 facts, a lot of hearsay, and a lot of stinky asshole opinions. He said a lot to say nothing.
Maybe the US press gets paid to write about the US series.
That's like blaming Wal-Mart for not featuring Target's sales on their website. I've never, ever seen someone with such a low IQ with such a broad reach in te moto community. It's utterly tragic, and if I were Aussie i'd be embarrassed of the guy.
^what in the fuck
" If we don’t see you back RV, thanks for your input into the most powerful and charismatic championship in the world, the FIM Motocross World Championships. We made us better and for that we are thankful."
^what in the flying fuck
RV was barely coming back from one of his worst injuries of his career and was not in shape, plain and simple.
Get over it and enjoy the racing, just as Geoff recognises - its best when the best are all in the mix. I to am going to miss following RV, that was quite a ride.
that he thinks RV is not returning, or that he wrote something that was actually worth reading for once,
Pit Row
After RV's short-lived effort I feel the GP championship is more competitive than the U.S. series. The depth of that field is crazy. I knew Cairoli was as good as any American champ. I have new respect for Nagl and Desalle. I've never even heard of Romain Febvre and he won last weekend.
I think the guys at the top – Dungey, Tomac and Roczen – would be competitive but not dominant. The battle for top 10 would be intense. The rest of the AMA 450 riders would find themselves 5 to 10 positions further back than normal, à la Mike Alessi, who would not be 18th in America. He'd be top 10 on a mediocre day.
We travel to what, 10 states?
Why is America badass? Different style than European racing.
Why is World Championship badass? It's different from America.
Americans do have a problem with putting an asterisk next to every MXON winner other than us, that's for sure. This guy was hurt or that guy isn't racing. This year it will be b/c Stewart wasnt racing, or Canard. Whoever. We will come up with an Excuse if we lose.
Once again, not really saying you are wrong as I agree that the GP field is stacked.
My post was 100% facetious about adding the word "World" to the title.
The argument is stupid over which side of the pond is "better". You'll never get an "apples to apples" comparison. It's just a circle jerk argument. The best test we currently have is a one off race. That's not a series and it's always on one side or the other's home turf. The only true test is to send our top 5 over there for a season, then send their top 5 over here for a season. It's just never going to happen so we get this hypothetical bullshit argument.
I could care less what they call each series.
Horrible bait- go back to fishing 101. Glad I never give the author clicks on his website.
Post a reply to: Is MX Geoff actually "The Source"? article on Villapoto not returning!