Townley Closes in on Championship Lead after Indy Supercross

The RCA Dome in Indianapolis set the stage for the fifth round of the AMA Amp’d Mobile Supercross Lites, East coast series. In front of a crowd of over 54.000 spectators, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki racer, Ben Townley, closed to within ten points of the championship lead after finishing second in the 15 lap final.

Townley’s evening was not without incidents however when he collided with Branden Jesseman’s rear wheel in his qualifying heat, hitting the stadium floor quite hard. The resilient Kiwi managed to rejoin the race with a mangled motorcycle, still earning himself a spot in the final.

From a wide starting position BT grabbed a good jump and with late breaking into the first turn he emerged second behind Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey. Both Townley and Dungey matched each other lap for lap with back markers splitting the two around lap 10. Townley tried a last minute effort to close the gap but had to settle for second place.

“I felt way more comfortable on the track tonight and had better qualifying times which is one the biggest things I wanted to work on from last weekend. I found my groove much quicker. I knew I had to get the jump for the main and I did. I stayed right on Dungey for about ten laps and felt comfortable at that point. I was trying to find bit more of a second wind going into the last five laps but I got caught up with a couple of lapped riders and lost my rhythm. I’m a little disappointed, we were obviously really close on lap times all day – I just didn’t have that little bit extra,” explained Townley.

Townley has moved to second in the championship standings and with the penultimate round of the Supercross Lites, East coast series moving to Dallas Texas next week, the New Zealander’s title hopes are still more than alive.



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Race results:

Indy SX – Supercross Lites East Coast

1 Ryan M Dungey Belle Plaine, MN Suzuki RM-Z250
2 Ben Townley Tallahassee, FL Kawasaki KX250F
3 Branden L Jesseman New Brighton, PA Yamaha YZ250F
4 Ryan Morais Temecula, CA Yamaha YZ250F
5 Justin D Brayton Fort Dodge, IA Yamaha YZ250F
6 Mike A Alessi Victorville, CA KTM 250SXF
7 Matthew C Goerke Lake Helen, FL Yamaha YZ250F
8 Thomas K Hahn Decatur, TX Honda CRF250R
9 Darcy G Lange Hemet, CA Kawasaki KX250F
10 Broc Oneal Tickle Cary, NC Yamaha YZ250F

SX Lites East Coast championship standings:

1 96 R. Morais
2 86 B. Townley
3 84 D. Lange
4 74 B. Jesseman
5 71 M. Alessi
6 68 M. Goerke
7 68 J. Brayton
8 59 B. Laninovich
9 53 R. Dungey
10 48 T. Hahn