Photo:
Stanley Leroux / Pascal Haudiquert
Of course 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 available to sign autographs for the fans (the
timing of the sessions will be posted at the KRT awning in the paddock)
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.
Ryan Villopoto: "Returning to Belgium this week is
bitter-sweet. 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’t go as planned but I was
looking forward to racing Lommel; it’s a tough track… kind of like
Southwick in the US but with even deeper sand. But I’ve always liked
riding in that stuff so it would have been fun. I’m excited to see my
team and the fans and look forward to seeing everyone this weekend."
Steve Guttridge (Kawasaki Europe Racing Manager): "It's
an exciting concept to welcome RV back over to Europe. In his new role
he's naturally going to be more relaxed and give a lot of good feedback
to the team, our riders, the press and ultimately his fans.”
François Lemariey (KRT team manager): "It
will be great for the Monster Energy KRT team members to meet up with
Ryan again, as we all enjoyed working with him earlier this season.
Unfortunately our racing story ended too early, but that’s also partof
racing.”