The 12th and final round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross championships has seen New Zealander Ben Townley round off the championship with a well deserved 4th overall.
After a two year layoff due to injury, the gutsy Kiwi also fought through another setback at the start of the season when he perforated his bowel while practicing at home in New Zealand but still managed to start the series, missing valuable testing and physical preparation time.
With a 28 year absence of MX in the San Diego county, fans were delighted to see Pala Raceway host its inaugural event and thousands turned out to watch the race. As moto 1 got underway, BT 101 did not get the start he needed and he quickly had to fight his way through the pack.
He managed to shut down and pass Mike Alessi and last week‰Ûªs overall winner Kevin Windham. Ryan Sipes and Kyle Regal were both running a fast pace but Townley could not find that extra speed to run them down and had to settle for 6th spot.
A similar start in moto 2 left Townley with some work to do and it took him 5 laps to settle into a rhythm before he attacked Ryan Sipes and a mistake by Brett Metcalfe handing him another position. Next on the list was Kyle Regal and then Kyle Chisholm as Townley moved into 3rd spot with just over five minutes left on the clock. A charging Metcalfe made for some exciting racing however Townley could not keep the Australian at bay as he had to relinquish 3rd with 2 laps to go.
‰ÛÏLooking back on the championship I guess I can‰Ûªt be too disappointed with 4th overall after such a long layoff but there were also some opportunities I missed this year," Townley said.
"I am really glad to be back racing and to have a season under my belt. I want to thank the Lucas Oil ‰ÛÒ Troy Lee Designs ‰ÛÒ Honda team and Redbull for giving me this opportunity and supporting me with getting my career back on track. My goal is still to win races and championships and I am really looking forward to doing everything possible to achieve that in the future.‰Û
