A Heel Injured Side-Lined Towley until the east coast
rounds. read the interview on redbull-usa.com
pic from hondaredriders.com
Showing posts with label Ben Townley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Townley. Show all posts
Ben Townley RedBull Interview -ozzy go-
Ben Townley Presentation On RedBull USA -ozzy go-
No Ego, Just Tones Of Talent
You may think professional motocross racers are a jaded bunch
who take top-flight machinery for granted, but you won't catch a
whiff of that from Ben Townley. A 23-year-old Kiwi who is new to
the Honda Red Bull Racing team, Townley has won championships
on three continents. Yet his eyes still sparkle when he talks about
his first ride on a Honda motocross bike-and a stock one at that!
When I was still in New Zealand and I knew I was coming to ride
on the Honda Red Bull Racing team, I got a stock CRF450R and
did some riding on my farm. I wanted to try one before I arrived
here in America and got my racebike from the team.
"This was my first time on a Honda CRF, and I really enjoyed it-I
couldn't believe how good a stock bike could feel right out of the
crate from a dealership! I felt like I fit it well, and that's
something that's really important for me-I have to feel very
comfortable on a bike if I'm going to do well, and it felt right from
day one."
And that was just the beginning. After settling into life on the
Honda Red Bull Racing team, things only got better for Townley.
"The ergonomics between the CRF450R and CRF250R are pretty
similar, so that has also worked out real well. Now that I have my
racebikes, I've found that the size of my CRF250R also suits me
well. The ergonomics are so good it's made it easy for me to jell
with the bike, and I'm really happy with that.
On the track, Honda's CRF250R chassis is really good for
Supercross; it turns extremely well, and that makes life easier for
me. It also has an engine that's quite torquey, with a wide range
of power, and that makes it easy to ride. And the brakes on the
CRF250R are unreal! That was the very first thing I noticed about
the bike. I'm a big front-brake person, and I immediately noticed
the CRF250R has huge braking power in the front. As a whole
package the Honda CRF is an amazingly good bike for racing at
the pro level."
Townley began racing while quite young and soon conquered
everything in sight in his home country, New Zealand. So it was
time to broaden his horizons-at an astonishingly young age.
"As a kid, growing up I loved racing," he explained. "I was about
six years old when I started racing. As I got older I watched
Motocross and Supercross races on TV from America. It became
a dream of mine to race in America. full story on RedBull-USA
pic from hondaredriders.com
Ben Townley Injures Foot While Practicing
Torrance, CA - October 26, 2007
American Honda factory motocross racer Ben Townley recently
injured his right foot while practicing for the 2008 racing season.
Townley suffered a minor fracture that does not require surgery.
Plans for Townley’s 2008 Supercross and motocross racing
schedule have not been changed. RacerX - pic from vitalmx.com
Ben Townley Injured
New Zealand's Ben Townley crashed today in practice and
suffered a broken collarbone, sidelining him for the Red Bull
Motocross of Nations. His teammate, Daryl Hurley, also crashed
out, and New Zealand has withdrew from the event. RacerX
pic from transworldmotocross.com
Team New Zealand - Profiles for the 2007 Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations -ozzy go-
With Joshua Coppins’ injury, the New Zealand squad has lost one of their major players,
who will be replaced by Daryl Hurley (9). The rest of the team, which last year repeated
their best results of third from 2001, will be made of Ben Townley (8) and Cody Cooper
(7).
Cody Cooper, who debuted in the MXoN at Ernée 2005, made his name well known in
2003, when he beat Darryll King in the National MX2 Championship and conquered his
maiden crown. After that, he won several National titles, but he injured himself at the
beginning of this season, finishing fourth overall in the National Championship -Open
class, and third overall at the Australian Championship. As a warm up for the Red Bull
FIM Motocross of Nations, he raced the final two rounds of AMA Motocross –Open class,
finishing inside the top ten in three of the four heats –one dnf at Glen Helen.
This year Benjamin Townley has finally made up for the unlucky beginning to his career
in the AMA Motocross and Supercross racing. Former MX2 World Champion Townley, who
injured himself several times since he moved to Tallahassee (Florida) at the end of 2005,
has won this year’s AMA Supercross Lites East Championship and finished runner up in
the AMA Motocross Lites Championship.
Daryl Hurley has won several National titles, and has a broad racing experience in
Australasia, US and Europe. He was the 125cc rider of Team New Zealand when the
squad finished third at the 2001 Motocross of Nations, but missed several calls because
of injuries. Hurley was injured both in 2005 and 2006, allowing the position to open up to
Cody Cooper. Recently the 31 year old Kiwi won the Australian Motocross Title in 2005,
but failed to defend it in the two following years because of injuries.
Team head Russell Burling has a strong passion for Motocross, which was the reason
why he moved to Europe in the 70s, working as a GP motocross mechanic for the Suzuki
factory team. Burling is currently the managing director of SsangYong New Zealand.
Last year’s result and team (MX1/MX2/Open): 3rd; Joshua Coppins, Ben Townley, Cody
Cooper. pic from bentownleymx.com
Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations back to America after 20 year absence - Euro view
After an absence of 20 years, the Motocross of Nations will return
to US soil this weekend - where the reigning champions, led by
Ricky Carmichael, will seek to defend their title on home soil.
Budds Creek will host the 61st edition of the famous end-of-
season team event, which America has won a record 17 times -
and Team USA are again the overwhelming favourites for 2007.
After missing last year's event through injury Carmichael, the
most successful AMA Supercross/Motocross rider of all time, will
captain Team USA for the final time this weekend before
retirement. RC, a long-time supporter of the 'Nations, will be
joined by Ryan Villopoto and Tim Ferry, the latter replacing the
injured James Stewart.
With RC's skills beyond question in the MX1 class, and Villopoto a
reigning MX2 class champion in both AMA Supercross and
Motocross, Ferry represents the weakest link in a very strong
chain. Nevertheless, Ferry was in contention for the 2007 AMA
Motocross crown, after team-mate Stewart's injury, and Team
USA is considered to have a stronger line-up than the Stewart/
Villopoto/Tedesco team that triumphed - albeit without a moto win
- in 2006.
Individual star of last year's event was retiring ten times world
champion Stefan Everts, who won both his heats but couldn't lift
his country above America alone. This year's Belgian squad
features two Motocross of Nations rookies in the form of Ken De
Dycker and Jeremy Van Horebeek, with MX1 world champion
Steve Ramon completing the team.
At Matterley Basin last year, Belgium was the most successful
team from an individual point of view, with Ramon and Everts
winning the Open and MX1 classes respectively, while Villopoto
had won the MX2.
New Zealand, who finished an excellent third last year, has been
hit by Josh Coppins' shoulder injury, which cost the Kiwi the MX1
crown. Coppins will be replaced by Daryl Hurley, who will race
alongside countrymen Cody Cooper and Ben Townley. Former
world champion Townley will be well known to the American fans,
having won an MX2 class Supercross title and finished a close
second to team-mate Villopoto in the Motocross series.
It was a bitter Motocross of Nations for the Italians last year, who
missed the podium by just two points but look primed for podium
success in 2007. Antonio Cairoli, who dominated the World MX2
championship this season, will be joined by rookie MX1 race
winner David Philippaerts and Davide Guarneri, who won his
maiden MX2 GP this year at Namur. With the exception of Everts,
Cairoli was the only heat winner last year, when he brilliantly beat
his opponents in the MX2/Open class race.
Great Britain is the second most successful country after the USA,
with a total of 16 wins at the Motocross of Nations, and will call
upon a fast but unpredictable line-up of Billy Mackenzie, Tommy
Searle and James Noble.
South Africa will be another strong team, with AMA Motocross
champion Grant Langston joined by Gareth Swanepoel and Wyatt
Avis, while Australia will field experienced AMA riders Chad Reed,
Andrew McFarlane and Michael Byrne - and could cause an upset
on familiar soil.
Among the 35 teams participating in the event, those taking part
for the first time include Iceland, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican
Republic and Ecuador.
2007 Motocross of Nations schedule:
Saturday September 22: Free Practice MX1 at 10:00 am; Free
practice MX2 at 11:00 am; Free Practice Open at 12:00 am;
Qualifying Heat MX1 at 2:30 pm; Qualifying Heat MX2 at 3:30 pm;
Qualifying Heat Open at 4:30 pm
Sunday September 23: Warm-up B-Final at 8:40 am; Warm-up
MXoN Group 1 at 9:10 am; Warm-up MXoN Group 2 at 9:40 am;
B-Final at 11:00 am; MXoN Race 1 at 1:00 pm; MXoN Race 2 at
2:40 pm; MXoN Race 3 at 4:20 pm. crash.net
pictures from tedescophoto.com Ricky Carmichael#4 Grant
Langston#8 Ben Townley#101 & alpinestarsinc.com Chad
Reed#22
NZ motocross team chases podium finish -ozzy go- stuff.co.nz
Team New Zealand was on the podium in England last year and
there's no reason why the three-rider Kiwi line-up can't repeat
that achievement in the United States this season.
The New Zealand trio, accompanied by mechanics and other
support crew, headed to the US this week to compete in the 61st
annual edition of the world's biggest motocross event, the
Motocross of Nations.
They are brimming with confidence. "I rate our chances very
highly," said the Kiwi team captain, Taupo's Ben Townley.
Speaking from his base in Florida, Townley said he had a lot of
faith in his Kiwi team-mates, Hawera's Daryl Hurley and
Tauranga's Cody Cooper.
Just over a week ago, Kawasaki rider Townley wrapped up his US
Motocross Championships campaign by finishing runner-up behind
defending champion Ryan Villopoto in the Motocross Lites class
(for 250cc four-stroke bikes). 
Townley had led the US series for much of the season, but bad
luck caused him to drop points at vital times.
Despite winning six of the 12 rounds, he finished the series 19
points behind Villopoto, a key member of America's Motocross of
Nations team.
This year's Motocross of Nations, an event regarded as the
Olympic Games of motocross, is to be held at Budds Creek,
Maryland, south of Washington DC, this weekend.
New Zealand finished a close third last season, behind the US and
Team Belgium, and ahead of more than 30 other nations.
Despite one of New Zealand's top riders, Yamaha star Josh
Coppins (Motueka), being forced to withdraw because of injury,
the re-jigged line-up has an impressive look about it and Townley
believes the Kiwis have as much chance as ever of reaching the
podium... click on ozzy go to the full story on stuff.co.nz
Ben Townley (101) & Cody Cooper (965) at Glen Helen ten days ago - pics from tedescophoto.com
Ben Townley on Glen Helen Happenings -ozzy go- amamotocross.com
The Motocross Lites race at Glen Helen was yet another classic
example of winning the battle, but losing the war, as Monster
Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ben Townley took the overall win
for the day over teammate Ryan Villopoto – yet it was Villopoto
who took home the championship and another number 1 plate.
Success for BT
“Winning the overall today was good, but I think that the whole
year was a bit of a pronunciation on last year. I won the
supercross championship (East Coast Lites) and raced Ryan all
year for this championship. That’s what I said at Hangtown; that I
wanted to fight for this championship – and apart from a few
mistakes on my part it’s been a huge improvement on last year”
said overall winner Ben Townley.
International Pride
Commenting on the many New Zealand flags in the crowd, Ben
Townley would say “before the weekend I counted on my fingers
and toes probably twenty people coming, and it’s actually at least
double that - to win in front of them was amazing.”
AMA MX High-Performance Of The Week #12
Glen Helen HP Top-5
Ben Townley: 1st in moto one/1st overall 1-2 (KX250F)
Ryan Villopoto: 1st in moto two/2nd overall 2-1 (KX250F)
Grant Langston: 1st in moto one/1st overall 1-3 (YZ450F)
Kevin Windham: 1st in moto two/3rd overall 5-1 (CRF450R)
Mike Alessi: 2nd in both moto’s/2nd overall 2-2 (450SX)
Brett Metcalfe: 3rd in both moto’s/2nd 3rd overall 3-3 (KX250F)
Andrew Short: 3rd in moto one/5th overall 3-6 (CRF450R)
Tim Ferry: 4th in both moto’s/4th overall 4-4 (KX450F)
Austin Stroupe: 4th in moto two/5th overall 10-4 (KX250F)
Trey Canard: 4th in moto one/8th overall 4-12 (CRF250R)
Broc Hepler: 5th in both moto’s/4th overall 5-5 (YZ250F)
Josh Hill: 5th in moto two/6th overall 8-5 (YZ450F)
in: Kevin Windham
out: Martin Davalos, Ivan Tedesco & Cody Cooper
pic from bentownleymx.com
AMA Champs are crowned at Glen Helen -ozzy go- alpinestarsinc.com
All Stars: Grant Langston and Ryan Villopoto win National
Championships. At 6:30 in the morning of the 2007 Glen Helen
National, I motored north up the 57 freeway towards San
Bernardino and looked out the windshield of my car. There was
the Big A of Angel Stadium. Down below, I could see the parking
lot that served as the pit area for the opening round of the 2007
AMA Supercross Series. The Friday evening before, Grand
Langston quietly confided to fellow South African and World and
National Champion Greg Albertyn that he was struggling to come
to terms with his new Yamaha YZ450F. And he did. The next
evening, he went out and ended up on his head the dirt, his
supercross season shot. Hoping for a new start in the 2007 AMA
Nationals, Langston also struggled, his average finish in the first
seven rounds somewhere between sixth and seventh place. Then
EVERYTHING changed. Ricky Carmichael kept his promise and
went into retirement and James Stewart began to hear footsteps.
At one point, Langston went on record claiming that the big race
was going to be for second overall in points between himself,
Andrew Short and Tim Ferry. And it was. Until James Stewart blew
out his knee at Millville. Then it was on, as everyone smelled
blood and the race for the prize that was the 2007 AMA Motocross
Number One plate truly began. Serendipitously, Langston took
possession of his new works 2008 Yamaha and placed second
overall at both Washougal and Millville. The he won both Steel
City and Freestone and found himself with a nine-point lead
heading into Glen Helen. And that’s exactly where I was headed.
At 2:15 P.M. on Sunday afternoon, an AMA official blew an air
horn and the mechanics of Grand Langston, Mike Alessi, Andrew
Short and Tim Ferry rolled the bikes to the starting gate. Only 17
points separated the four, and with Kevin Windham and Mike
Brown — straight from last Sunday’s MX Grand Prix in Holland —
in the mix, there was plenty of potential for chaos and trouble.
When the gate dropped, the race was a sort of accordion. As
things sorted themselves out, Alessi rode brilliantly at the front,
hounded by Windham. Just behind and beginning to collapse in on
the leading duo were Short, Ferry and Langston. Then, two-thirds
into the moto, both ferry and Windham had bailed and Langston
closed right up on Short. Soon, Langston was past Short, and then
at the top of the 2000-foot high Yamaha hill (ironically), Langston
dove under Alessi and stole the moto win. Once the 40-rider pack
roared around the Talladega turn to begin the final moto of the
season, for Langston, it was nothing more then a case of hanging
on for 30-minutes-plus-two laps. He did that easily to place third
behind Windham and Alessi, and in doing so won both the Glen
Helen overall and his first AMA Motocross Championship.
Right from the onset at Hangtown on May 20, the race for the
2007 AMA Motocross Lites Championship was a race inside a race.
There were Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates Ben Townley
and reigning AMA Lites champion Ryan Villopoto and, well, the 38
other guys who lined up with them on any given Sunday. In fact
Townely and 19 year-old Villopoto split moto wins in five of the 12
Nationals, with Townley wining the tiebreaker four times. The duo
also won eleven of the 12 Nationals and 22 of 24 motos (Josh
Grant and Broc Hepler won the other two). What really did
Townley’s title hopes in, though, were his back-to-back 6-2
overalls at Steel City and Freestone. Thusly, upon arriving at Glen
Helen Raceway, Villopoto had a 19-point edge on his rival. When
it came time to race on the 1.5-mile, 36-obstacle track —
complete with three hills hovering at 2000 feet in altitude — Ben
Townley and Ryan Villopoto came flying out of the Talladega turn
side by side. Townely led for the first six laps before Villopoto
raced by to steal the moto win. With 22 points to make up,
Townley went straight to the front in moto two, and by the nine
minute mark had a 7.212-second lead on Villopoto. When the two
-lap card was flashed, Townley... click on ozzy go to the full story
Langston Wins AMA Toyota Motocross Championship
Yamaha’s Grant Langston, of Clermont, Fla., clinched his first-
ever AMA Motocross class championship today before a crowd of
26,205 at Glen Helen Raceway’s Giant RV Motocross National
Presented by Yamaha, final round of the 12-race AMA Toyota
Motocross Championship Presented by FMF. Kawasaki’s Ryan
Villopoto, of Poulsbo, Wash., secured his second-consecutive AMA
Motocross Lites title.
Langston, who entered the season finale needing a top finish to
hold off his three nearest competitors, turned in a championship-
winning performance with a 1-3 moto finish en route to his third-
straight overall win to close out the season.
“It’s definitely a great feeling to win this championship,” said
Langston, 25, who also won the 2003 AMA 125cc Motocross
championship and 2005 and 2006 AMA 125cc Supercross titles. “I
think it was just five or six races ago that I thought I didn’t have
a snowballs chance (at winning the title). Every week I kept
chipping away. The championship was a like a carrot being
dangled in front of me. Once I could see the carrot I got on a
roll.”
KTM’s Mike Alessi, of Victorville, Calif., finished 2-2 for second
overall, while Honda’s Kevin Windham, of Centreville, Miss., was
third (5-1).
In the Lites class, Ben Townley, of Tallahassee, Fla., who entered
the race trialing by 19 points, picked up his sixth overall win of
the season with a 1-2 moto finish, but it wasn’t enough to keep
Villopoto (1-2) from walking away with the championship.
Kawasaki’s Bret Metcalfe, of Murrieta, Calif., was third overall
after a 3-3 finish in the motos.
“I always heard that it was harder to back it up,” said the 19-year
old Villopoto, referring to repeating as champion. “Mitch (Payton,
team manager) said he hasn’t seen two guys go at this hard. Ben
and I went at it every weekend. It was definitely harder than last
year." AMAMotocross.com - photos from Racerxill.com &
Motocross.com
Glen Helen Motocross Lites
Glen Helen Raceway Park - San Bernardino, CA, 09-9-2007
Glen Helen Motocross Lites
1. Ben Townley (Kawasaki) 2-1
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 1-2
3. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki) 3-3
4. Broc Hepler (Yamaha) 5-5
5. Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki) 10-4
6. Martin Davalos (KTM) 7-6
7. Jake Weimer (Honda) 6-7
8. Trey Canard (Honda) 4-12
9. Nico izzy (Suzuki) 8-11
10. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 14-8
11. Tommy Hahn (Honda) 11-13
12. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha) 9-17
13. Steve Boniface (Kawasaki) 13-15
14. Broc Tickle Yamaha (Yamaha) 31-9
15. Jake Moss (Yamaha) 35-10
16. Zach Osborne (KTM) 17-14
17. Andrew Mcfarlane (Suzuki) 12-35
18. Michael Willard (KTM) 19-16
19. Adam Miller (KTM) 18-18
20. Kelly Smith (Suzuki) 15-28
AMA Motocross Lites Final Standings after Round 12
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 544pts/14 wins/22 top-3
2. Ben Townley (Kawasaki) 525pts/8 wins/20 top-3
3. Josh Grant (Honda) 346pts/1 win/4 top-3
4. Jason Lawrence (Yamaha) 277pts/5 top-3
5. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) 267pts/8 top-3
6. Jake Weimer (Honda) 255pts
7. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki) 242pts, 5 top-3
8. Tommy Hahn (Honda) 220pts
9. Martin Davalos (KTM) 203pts
10. Broc Tickle (Yamaha) 201pts
11. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 196pts
12. Broc Hepler (Yamaha) 190pts, 1 win, 3 top-3
13. Andrew McFarlane (Suzuki) 157pts
14. Matt Goerke (Yamaha) 153pts
15. Josh Hill (Yamaha) 135pts
16. Robert Kiniry (Kawasaki) 110pts
17. Joaquim Rodrigues (KTM) 108pts
18. Trey Canard (Honda) 98pts
19. Steve Boniface (Kawasaki) 96pts
20. Chris Gosselaar (Kawasaki) 93pts
21. Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki) 82pts/2 top-3
22. Matt Lemoine (Yamaha) 82pts
23. Nico Izzy (Suzuki) 76pts
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)