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| Photo courtesy Kawasaki.com |
Ryan Villopoto fully lived up to the promise he has always shown by winning the whole enchilada, taking home both indoor and outdoor 450 titles. Prior to this year, RV had already firmly established himself as one of the world's premier riders with his many 250cc titles. Green to the bone, Villo earned all of his titles on Kawasaki motorcycles.
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| Photo by GuyB at VitalMX.com |
Speaking of green, Villopoto ended the year making history by being the first man to win a $1 million purse for a single motocross event, the inaugural Monster Cup.
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| Photo by GuyB at VitalMX.com |
Ryan Dungey may have failed to defend his 2010 450 titles, but he scored his biggest points in the post-season, by making a jump to the team managed by the Man who "discovered" him, Red Bull/KTM, just before team Rockstar Makita Suzuki folded. By picking up Dungey, KTM is now a very serious threat to win at least one of the 450cc American titles, a feat that has to this date eluded the Austrian manufacturer. Dungey will now have to adapt to an different motorcycle, the first time in his career that he has faced this challenge.
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| Photo courtesy JS7.com |
Yet the biggest news of the year occurred even later, when it was announced that Joe Gibbs Racing had signed James Stewart, Jr. to a multi-year contract to campaign their Toyota-backed Yamahas. It was a deal that has been quietly forming since the day that Jeremy Albrecht, Stewart's former mechanic, left Kawasaki to form the and manage the team for Cody Gibbs, son of the legendary NFL coach/NASCAR team owner. This is one of those rare deals that has significant ramifications for industries outside of the insular motocross world. Look at the sponsor decals on the YZ above: Both Toyota and SportsClips are heavily involved in NASCAR marketing to draw buyers to their products and services; that they're willing to take a chance a comparatively small sport like indoor and outdoor motocross says a ton about the trust they have in the Gibbs organization's ability to deliver value. With Stewart's star power bringing sport drink giant Red Bull and athletic apparel juggernaut Nike to the mix, this team will probably be the most well-documented and publicized of all, whether they win the 2012 championship or not. Clearly, there's a lot riding on 7 to win.
