Townley shows fighting spirit in French MX GP.

Ben Townley’s delayed return to GP racing saw an impressive
turnout of over 30.000 motocross mad spectators line the St Jean
d’Angely GP hillside circuit for round 5 of the 15 round FIM
Motocross World championship in France.

The CLS Pro Circuit Kawasaki team were excited to have Townley
completing the three man team once again and the resilient Kiwi more than
delivered on their expectations at their home GP.   Townley
improved every time he went out on the KX450F and with his confidence
growing he rolled onto the line for moto 1 of the talent packed MX1
class.  Grabbing a good start he was jus outside the top 5 and running
a consistent pace, with a gaggle of riders hot his heels.  Townley
defended his position well and only lost two spots to finish
8^th,just behind Max Nagl and Russian youngster Evgeny
Bobryshev.

An even better start in Moto 2 saw Townley challenging for the hole-shot
but he was pushed wide to the steep bank exiting the first turn. 
‘BT 101’ turned in some impressive lap times and fended off
challenges from Cairoli and then in the latter stages from Max Nagl. 
Going into the final lap Townley occupied 5^th spot but then
collided with Nagl as the two riders crossed lines and went
down.   Townley retired unscathed.

“The team found better settings this weekend and my riding
improved every time I went on the track. It was a building exercise and
it’s just disappointing that I missed one vital lap, the last one of
the weekend. The result was a lot better than what you see on paper, and
I’m pretty happy with the progress. Starting the last lap of the
second race, Nagl passed me at the finish line.  I kept my line but he
crossed it and we collided which was unfortunate. I still have a long way
to go concerning my physical shape, so I was pleased to achieve what I did
this weekend and know that more is still possible.”

A heavy schedule awaits Townley as he heads to Portugal(Agueda) and
Spain (La Baneza) which will complete the 3 back to back GP’s over
the next two weeks.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1

1       Frossard, Steven   
FRA    Yamaha

2       Cairoli,
Antonio      ITA    KTM

3       Philippaerts, David ITA
   Yamaha

4       Boog, Xavier FRA   
Kawasaki

5       de Dycker,
Ken      BEL    Honda

6       Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS  
Honda

7       Nagl, Maximilian   
GER    KTM

8       Townley, Benjamin NZL   
Kawasaki

9       Strijbos,
Kevin       BEL    Suzuki

10      Leok, Tanel  EST   
TM

MX1 Race 2

1       Desalle, Clement   BEL
   Suzuki

2       Frossard, Steven   
FRA    Yamaha

3       Cairoli,
Antonio      ITA    KTM

4       Goncalves,
Rui       POR   Honda

5       Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS  
Honda

6       Barragan,
Jonathan         ESP   
Kawasaki

7       Boog, Xavier FRA   
Kawasaki

8       de Dycker,
Ken      BEL    Honda

9       Nagl, Maximilian   
GER    KTM

10      Leok, Tanel  EST   
TM

22      Townley, Ben
        NZ     
Kawasaki

MX1 GP Overall:

1       Frossard, Steven   
FRA    Yamaha       47

2       Cairoli,
Antonio      ITA    KTM  
42

3       Desalle, Clement   BEL
   Suzuki         35

4       Boog, Xavier FRA   
Kawasaki     32

5       Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS  
Honda         31

6       de Dycker,
Ken      BEL   
Honda         29

7       Nagl, Maximilian   
GER    KTM   26

8       Goncalves,
Rui       POR  
Honda         25

9       Philippaerts, David ITA
   Yamaha       23

10      Leok, Tanel  EST   
TM     22

16      Townley, Benjamin NZL   
Kawasaki     13

MX1 World championship standings:

1       Desalle, C.   BEL
   199

2       Cairoli,
A.     ITA    193

3       Frossard, S.  FRA
   179

4       Nagl,
M.       GER    179

5       Philippaerts,
D.      ITA    161

6       Bobryshev,
E.        RUS   141

7       Goncalves,
Rui       POR   133

8       Barragan, J. ESP   
115

9       Strijbos, K.   BEL
   114

10      Boog, Xavier FRA    109

11      Ramon,
Steve       BEL    103

23      Townley, B.  NZL   
15