Townley wins again and then heads to Anaheim

Ben Townley fans must be over the moon at the moment as the Kiwi star extended his winning streak last weekend at a wet Tokoroa track in New Zealand.

The 25-year-old former world motocross champion and American supercross champion crashed heavily while leading the night’s first of three open class races.

He picked himself up to limp home in ninth place and then, with a rapid-fire format in place for the Tokoroa event, he had no time to rest as he was obliged to head straight back to the starting grid for race two.

Despite showing signs of wear from the crash, Townley took his Penny Homes Kawasaki KX450F to the lead from the start and never looked back, clocking up an impressive win.

He repeated the dose for the third and final race that followed immediately after that.

Townley’s 9-1-1 results meant the former world and United States champion extended his lead in the championship chase to 26 points over his nearest threat, Christchurch’s Justin McDonald.

“I was feeling awesome on the bike. It just gets better and better every time I ride,” said Townley.

“Considering the circumstances (with the crash happening), I am happy to still finish the night on the podium. In damp and slippery conditions like this, you just have to take what you can.”

Townley now heads to the USA for this weekends Anaheim 2 Supercross to sign autographs alongside his Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/ Honda teammates on Saturday afternoon from 2:50 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and be available for media interviews and photo opportunities from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Ben’s whirlwind trip will have him stateside for four days to do some pre-season testing for the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship series. He will be racing the final round of the New Zealand Supercross Championships in Auckland on Saturday night in which he currently leads the points, and then catching a flight to Los Angeles, arriving in California at around noon on Saturday.

Words and photo by Andy McGechan

Tags: anaheim 2, ben townley, honda, kawasaki, motocross, supercross, troy lee designs