Villopoto will be looking to improve on a third place at Texas this weekend.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto has started the 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross with a third overall at Hangtown, but is ready to step it up for some wins as the season moves on.

After almost completely missing the last two outdoor seasons due to injury, Villopoto was happy to be back racing motocross again.

“It’s good to get back into racing motocross after being out of it for so long,” Villopoto commented after the race.

Villopoto, who had been battling the flu in the lead up to Hangtown, ran third in moto one. He went on to holeshot and lead moto two before being run down by Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey and round one winner, TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed.

“It was a tough track today and recovering from being sick definitely didn’t help,” he said.

Despite being slightly upstaged on the day by the riders who most would call his two major rivals, Villopoto is content with a solid start to the season and is ready to take some wins in the coming rounds.

“I got some good points and we still have 11 races left. I’ll be working hard to get a win.”

The series now heads to Freestone, Texas this weekend for round two.