A2 Results & RV2

Here's how I come up with my predictions: I read the update on RacerX, Transworld, VitalMX and PulpMX's twitter page, I look at the results of the previous race, I mix all those information and write my top 10. Here's how I did last week:

	Predictions	Results
1)	Dungey	Dungey
2)	Hill	Hill
3)	Windham	Stewart
4)	Short	Short
5)	Brayton	Windham
6)	Millsaps	Brayton
7)	Villopoto	Villopoto
8)	Hahn	Millsaps
9)	Langston	Byrne
10)	Chisholm	Tedesco

So, RV2 ended 7th and as you can tell by watching his segment of this video, saying that the guy was not exactly thrilled would be an understatement. Actually, as far as I am concerned, I thought his outburts was very unprofessional: come on, if you are so upset, either don't say anything, or just say that you are very disappointed about your performance. You really don't need to show your sponsors and fans this side of you.

However, that statement is just the latest instance in which Ryan Villopoto showed his new attitude, where by "new" I mean "post 2009 Nationals". As Steve Matthes pointed out in the past 2 Motoworld.com radio show, "the guy is upset": read the interviews on the aforementioned websites between the week before the 2009 US Open and last week's race, and you will notice it. Now, the question is, "what is the reason behind the change in Villo's attitude? Or to put in more Matthesque terms, "what's eating Villo?".

1) Is it a personal issues (e.g. family, girlfriend...)?

I hope it is not. As they say, "when a problem is a money-related problem, it is actually not a problem".

2) Is it because of the changes in his entourage (from Randy Lawrence to Dr. Spencer to...)?

Considering how much Carmichael, Short and Stewart rely on their trainers, I guess it is understandable that a change in the training regime may affect a rider's performance. On the other hand, neither Dungey, nor Pourcel, nor Reed seem to rely on a coach-like figure such as Aldon Baker and they seem to do just fine.

3) Is it because he is not performing as well as he was expecting he would?

Well, let's start with this: RV2 is definitey one of the fastest riders in the world, but I think he rides motocross better than supercross, and his 3 outdoor Lites-clss titles against his 1 supercorss Lites-class title seem to confirm this. Villo will win more supercross main event, but I think Dungey, Hill, Reed and Stewart are all better supercross riders than Villo is, hence RV2 needs to be patient.

4) Is it because of the buz surrounding Reed's arrival at Kawasaki (where Villo has been the golden child for the past 4 seasons) upset him?

Well, that is understandable. With the execption of Townley at Pro Circuit, Villo has always been the team's captain for the past 4 years and he just may be not used to be overshadowed by anybody.

5) Is it because some of the riders he used to dominate in the Lites class (e.g. Dungey and Lawrence), seem to attract more attention from non-industry sponsors?

Barring personal issues, I think this is the main source of frustration for RV2. I mean, in his days in the Lites class Villo dominated both Dungey and Lawrence and his curriculum was just a little less impressive than RC4's. Moreover, while Dungey seemed to be cracking under the pressure of J-Law's mental games, Villo confronted the New Jersey native and crushed him, especially results-wise: remember Hangtown 2007? Fast forward 3 years and Dungey has shown not only that he has nerves of steel in dealing with J-Law, with Jake Weimer and with Pourcel, but he is also leading the supercross championship in his first season in the 450 class! And J-Law may have lost some ground due to his off-track behaviors, but he has his own team and attracts more outside corporate sponsors than Villo. This has to do in part with RV2's personality, but his latest attitude (and his passion for hunting) definitely doesn't help.