A few weeks after he announced his retirement from the sport, American MX star Ryan Villopoto will attend the fourteenth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship at Lommel in Belgium this weekend.
Ryan will not be racing aboard his #2 Monster Energy Kawasaki, as the ten-times US champion has packed up his boots after sustaining an injury at the GP of Trentino in April. But Ryan has decided to fly to Europe to attend the GP of Limburg and various other events where he will meet thousands of fans and of course his long-time partners.
Lommel is not an unknown destination for him as he was based in the area earlier this season, training there on several occasions during his brief career in Europe. Ryan will of course visit the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team in Lommel, where he will also support long-time friend Tyla Rattray.
He will be there to sign autographs for the fans during the weekend; he will be one of the guests of TV commentator Paul Malin in the Studio Show, hold a press conference on Saturday afternoon and will also join the Monster athletes at the Monster rig on Sunday at 10.15 am.
"Returning to Belgium this week is bitter-sweet." Ryan Villopoto admitted. "It was our home base for a couple of months earlier in the year, so it will be nice to return and say goodbye to the folks that helped us out.
"Unfortunately, the year didn‰Ûªt go as planned but I was looking forward to racing Lommel; it‰Ûªs a tough track‰Û_ kind of like Southwick in the US but with even deeper sand. But I‰Ûªve always liked riding in that stuff so it would have been fun. I‰Ûªm excited to see my team and the fans and look forward to seeing everyone this weekend."
