Tony Alessi on Villopoto: So much respect

Growing up there was a rivalry between Mike Alessi and Ryan Villopoto as they battled together during youth racing. It was Mike Alessi who came out on top then but it was a change of guard when they moved up to pro racing with Villopoto seriously stepping things up.
Villopoto went on to clinch four Supercross titles and three Motocross Championships whilst Alessi couldn’t translate his youth results into the pro’s but did have a good career nevertheless. Looking back at everything, Tony Alessi (Mike’s father), has lot of respect for Villopoto as a rider and a person.
“No words can describe how much respect I have for this guy right here @ryanvillopoto …we worked hard to beat him as an amateur but he never gave up and worked to beat us in pro racing. Maybe we can see a future rematch in the near future as 30+ racers”.