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What's in that pipe you got?
Disagree on Jett, but yeah RV is underrated.
He struggled with a past prime Reed outdoors.
James laying it to him at MEC 2013 comes to mind
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He was bad ass for sure. Hang it out style was fun as hell to watch. But this RC guy was just better. And his prime lasted a decade of outdoors and he was probably still in it the day he retired!
All world class riders have their day in the spotlight.
A statement was made in 2007 for all the motocross world to see.
Villopoto dominated the field at the 2007 Mxon which was held at Budd’s Creek, USA. A 1-1 score led him to the MX2 class overall and a successful defense of the Chamberlin trophy.
That is a rare accomplishment on a 250.
Whose underrating RV?
Jett and RC are the only guys that have him covered in a series.
That Reed comment was peak carrot island shit.
There was nobody better than RC in his prime. That’s why he holds the records and is known as the GOAT.
You can debate second all you want, but RC is at the top.
SX that discussion is for second after McGrath.
Horseshit. Championships and scoreboard? 😂
Very true about his 2007 MXDN ride, I was there and it was awesome.
I do have a theory that all the off-cambers at Budds requiring throttle control really equalize the 250 and 450 (not saying his ride wasn't impressive). In fact, you can't race a 250 in the 450 class in amateurs at Budds, or at least it used to be that way. Then again, it does have a lot of hills that you would think would favor a 450.
Rv2 was indeed an absolute beast... and yes... when he was at his peak he was nearly unbeatable... will never forget his mxdn ride...
The only year Reed or James ever finished ahead of RV in any championshi was 2009 when he entered his rookie season late due to injury. Neither of them ever beat him again. Not once. When RC left, they were supposed to dominate everything. But Ryan ended any shot they had at ever winning another championship.
Reed was 27 and James was 24 in RVs rookie year. Both in their primes.
His record of championships is the only one comparable to RC. He won every 450 championship he ever completed except one. And he even won one that he didn't complete.
The only thing I'll say to this is that's a red plate at round 7, not that it means a whole lot but still
4 straight SX Titles.
In his last SX title campaign, RV led the all 80 laps of the last 4 SX events. Tough to beat.
His stats are some of the best we have ever seen, but to say no one would beat him, I’ll give you this.
In 2011/2012 Chad got the better of RV many times even outdoors, and probably wins that title straight up if the Chadapault didn’t happen (if my aunt had balls.. I get it)
Now Chad never had anything for RC outdoors, he was better than everyone except often KW, but usually not in the same zip code as RC.
If 8 years later Reedy has the speed to straight up beat RV at times, I have no hesitation in saying RC still dominates if you put him in a time capsule.
RV was badass....no need to embellish however
I was always bummed that RV's MXGP efforts did not pan out.
Pit Row
Bad ass ride by Rv, but rc crashed in the first turn after giving rv the good start gate. Then charged back to third. All while being sick if I remember correctly. I think that is the only time they ever raced against each other and yes RV beat him.
Outdoors I'd back Jett or RC to beat RV. He only won 12 450 overalls in his career.
His MXoN results on the 250 were great but he only raced on the 450 once in 2011, for 10-1 moto scores, although he still won his class (MX3).
Mcgrath, Hannah, Dungey, Jett.
Don’t necessarily disagree but If I remember correctly, RV was injured outdoors a couple seasons when Dungey won. Also recall one of the years, he was not getting along with the bike at all and Kawasaki let him switch to the new bike early, and his results changed immediately.
I would say Jett and RC would have been a tough competitor for RV, but also think with a healthy RV, they wouldn’t have had perfect season outdoors. He would have won some.
Kevin Sherman from Florida.
Hi Mr. Moto Nomad,
I believe there is some visual observation logic to your post.
Keep in mind, RV tended to steer with his rear wheel. More so on the 450 versus the 250 for the obvious reason it appeared.
Mr. Prozach
Those are facts that cannot be denied.
Us moto fans lost out on that one. It would’ve been fabulous to watch those two battle in front of the world class MXoN field.
On a side note, I will always feel all us moto fans also lost out when they took away the two stroke from James Stewart. ☹️
you know it’s a big deal when the one race you remember is the one time James actually beat RV 😂
It wasn't that he beat him, it was that he schooled him - it was fun to watch James lay that magic on anyone, this time just happened to be RV.
No doubt, RV was a bad ass during his prime, but weren't we all?
I think his only real "peak" year outdoors on a 450 was 2013. He absolutely schooled Dungey that year, which is difficult to do. His 2012 and 2014 SX seasons were also insanely impressive. His dominance in SX is up there with the best ever, but he didn't do it for as long as McGrath. But, from 2011 SX to 2014 SX, he won every championship he didn't miss due to injury. That is an insane run. The only other racer to ever have that level of dominance across both disciplines was RC.
That is completely true but in 2012 SX, Chad had RV covered on speed until (correct me if I’m wrong) Houston?
Gotta be in it to win it I know, and not saying Chad had a shot at the title, but it’s not like RV was untouchable.
He was the best over the series and a deserving champion, but I think it’s easy to see the stats on paper and forget the individual races.
James was also putting 2 seconds a lap on him at Daytona.
RV is all-time great, but even with all his titles he was never RC or Jett dominant.
Post a reply to: In his prime, there was no one better than RV2