Villopoto has had a slow start to the outdoor season by his standards.

Newly crowned AMA Supercross champion Ryan Villopoto has said there are a few things he needs to work on to start taking wins in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

Widely known for his outdoor prowess, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider has been a consistent podium finisher in the series first two rounds, and actually sits second in the standings after Freestone. However there has been a noticeable gap between the pace of himself and his main rivals, TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed and Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey.

Coming into the series battling illness has made it tough for Villopoto to come out swinging, that and a few small crashes has made for a slightly slower start to the outdoor season.

“I’m still getting back up to speed and have a few things to work on,” said Villopoto.

“I didn’t have the greatest of starts in the first moto, but was able to work my way back up to third. The second moto started off good, but I pushed a little too hard and went down. The heat definitely made it harder to get back up,” he reflected after the Freestone round.

“I know I have the speed, and my KX450F is running great, I just need to work on some things. I’m looking forward to next weekend off so I can get things dialed-in and can come back to High Point stronger.”

The outdoor series takes a one week break before heading to Mt. Morris for the High Point National on June 11.