Tough Time for Townley at Orlando Supercross

The fourth round of the AMA Superscross Lites East coast championship has been tough on Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki’s Ben Townley. The Citrus Bowl in Orlando Florida saw the 22-year-old New Zealander gunning for his third straight SX Lites victory when a controversial maneuver by Californian, Billy Laninovich, put Townley out of the running on lap 9 of the main event.

After the tangle, Townley managed to pick himself up and got back into the race in 10th spot. ‘BT’ used the remaining laps on the board to salvage as many positions and championship points, crossing the finish line in 7th place.

“I had a rough night” admitted Townley “ In the first practice I was a bit off the pace but I managed to improve in the second one - I still wasn’t running the lap times I wanted. I personally think the track got better as the night went on however there were still some parts of the circuit I needed to dial in. I didn’t get a good start in the heat race but managed to come through the pack pretty well and I ran some fast lap times which put me in a positive frame of mind for the final. After the re-start, I had a reasonable jump and moved up to third. I found my rhythm and closed down Laninovich and Jesseman up front. I got past Laninovich for second but then he took me down in turn two which I didn’t expect.”

With 3 rounds still remaining Townley still occupies 3rd in the points standings with a 14 point deficit over championship leader Ryan Morais. The following round of the championship moves to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis next weekend.

www.bentownleymx.com

Race results:

Orlando SX – Supercross Lites East Coast
1 Branden L Jesseman New Brighton, PA Yamaha YZ250F 15 ---
2 Ryan Morais Temecula, CA Yamaha YZ250F 15 2.509
3 Darcy G Lange Hemet, CA Kawasaki KX250F 15 3.276
4 Mike A Alessi Victorville, CA KTM 250SXF 15 3.814
5 Billy R Laninovich Lake Elsinore, CA Honda CRF250R 15 7.87
6 Justin D Brayton Fort Dodge, IA Yamaha YZ250F 15 16.884
7 Ben Townley Tallahassee, FL Kawasaki KX250F 15 20.58
8 Robert S Kiniry La Fayette, NY Kawasaki KX250F 15 21.182
9 Jeff Alessi Victorville, CA KTM 250SXF 15 21.663
10 Tucker J Hibbert Centreville, MS Yamaha YZ250F 15 22.38

SX Lites East Coast championship standings:
1 78 R. Morais
2 72 D. Lange
3 64 B. Townley
4 56 M. Alessi
5 54 B. Jesseman
6 54 M. Goerke
7 52 J. Brayton
8 50 B. Laninovich
9 48 J. Alessi
10 37 R. Sipes