New AMA Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto will use the weekend off in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship series as an opportunity to refine his program in time for the second half of 2011.

After racing four weekends straight, the series will get a weekend break before heading to Spring Creek MX in Millville, and the Monster Energy Kawasaki contender says it’ll be a nice change with a weekend off.

“It will be nice to have a break,” said Villopoto. “While I won’t take a break from training, being able to stay home and not travel will be a good change.”

Last weekend at RedBud, Villopoto raced to third overall despite a crushing crash in the first moto. He went down in the opening corners, fighting his way back from last to ninth.

Ready for redemption in moto two, Villopoto led from the first lap on his way to the victory and earned a trip to the podium with third overall.

“I’m definitely lucky to walk away from that crash,” said Villopoto. “I knew after I crashed that I had to get focused and start working my way to the front.

“It wasn’t easy since I had damaged my bike a little bit when I went down. The KX450F held together and I was able to get ninth.

“I knew I had to go back out and gain as many points as I could in the second moto.”

Villopoto now sits second in the championship, trailing Australia’s Chad Reed by 16 points at the halfway point.