Villopoto and the team didn’t originally plan on racing the U.S. Open. After two good weeks of riding at the Kawasaki practice track, a last minute decision was made to enter the event. Despite the short notice, Villopoto showed he would be a contender winning his one-on-one and heat race on Friday night. In the main event, he was running fifth and moving up through the field when he hit a tuff block and bent his shift lever back to the foot peg forcing him to retire early. Most of Saturday was a repeat of Friday as Villopoto once again swept his head-to-head battle and heat race. In the main event, he narrowly missed the holeshot, but took the lead in the next corner and led the first half of the race. By the checkered flag he was second place and despite Friday’s DNF, he just missed an overall podium position.

“Saturday night was a lot better for me,” said Villopoto. “I got a good start in the main event and built up a bit of a lead. With only two weeks of riding I’m still not in race shape. I was only really able to charge for the first half of the race.”