Ryan Villopoto raced to his first win of the 2011 season at High Point on Saturday.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto has admitted that capturing his second ever AMA Pro Motocross round win came as a huge relief last Saturday at High Point in Pennsylvania.

Villopoto earned his first overall victory of the season with a 1-2 moto result, the win coming as just the second of his career in the 450cc class.

While Villopoto had finished on the podium at the first two rounds of the championship, he had struggled to match the pace of Australia’s series leader Chad Reed and defending champion Ryan Dungey, battling the flu following his AMA Supercross title win.

“It was definitely good to get the monkey of my back,” said Villopoto. “My last win was in 2009 and I just wanted to get this one out of the way.

“It’s been good getting back to the east coast and I’m really excited for the next few rounds.”

Villopoto closed the gap in the standings on Reed by six at High Point, now sitting 15 points in arrears after three of 12 rounds.