Ben Townley scores podium in Thunder Valley.

Lucas Oil – Troy Lee Designs
– Honda racer, Ben Townley has successfully scored his first overall
podium of the season at round 5 of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross
championship held in Denver Colorado.  The gutsy New Zealander posted
a  6-2 score for second overall and now has his sights set on his
first AMA Motocross victory.

Townley had one of his best
starts
of the season in moto 1 and was positioned in 2nd behind fellow Honda
rider
Andrew Short.  BT hit a wet patch of circuit going into a turn and
lost his front, sending him to the ground.  He quickly remounted
around 10^th and gave chase and quickly moved up the ladder
again.  After securing 4^th position  BT hunted down
Brett Metcalf in 3^rd spot and was about to make his move on
the
Australian when he went down again.  Remounting for the second
time,  he salvaged 6^th position but  ran out of time
to make a move on Kyle Cunningham and Metcalf as he closed them down on
the
final lap.

Determined not to make the same
mistakes again, Townley was motivated going into moto 2 and once again
grabbed a good start.  He quickly moved from 4^th to
3^rd and then set up Andrew Short to move into second behind
series leader Ryan Dungey.   From there he rode a strong, steady
race which earned him a well deserved podium and second overall for the
day.

“I felt really good in the
first moto but then washed out on the first lap.  I came back really
strong and was looking for a podium spot when I went down again behind
Brett and that pretty much took the wind out my sails.  I’m over
these small crashes and mistakes but guess when you are pushing that
hard
these things can happen, but in the second moto I sort of backed it down
a
little and it paid off with a podium which is great for my confidence
and
for the team.” explained Townley.

Townley still occupies
7^th spot in the overall standings however the Kiwi is only a
mere 16 points  off second place Brett Metcalfe with Ryan Dungey
sporting a 51 point over the Australian as the series hits the halfway
mark
next weekend in Red Bud – Buchanan, Michigan.

www.bentownleymx.com

Race results:

Round 5 of 12

450 Class (Moto
Finish)
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (2-1)
2.
Ben Townley, New Zealand, Honda (6-2)
3. Brett
Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (4-4)
4. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif.,
Yamaha (1-10)
5. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda (8-3)
6.
Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Honda (9-6)
7. Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla.,
Yamaha (7-8)
8. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM (12-5)
9.
Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki (10-7)
10. Justin Brayton, Fort Dodge,
Iowa, Yamaha (13-9)

450 Class
Championship Standings
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn.,
Suzuki, 218
2. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 167
3. Chad
Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 160
4. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif.,
KTM, 154
5. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 153
6. Josh
Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 152
7. Ben Townley, New
Zealand,
Honda, 151
8. Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha, 108
9.
Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Suzuki, 101
10. Kyle Regal, Kemp,
Texas, Honda, 94