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Provided by: Vangani Racing
The Longest Weekend - Townley rides through pain barrier to another GP podium finish .
New Zealand teenager Ben Townley once again stunned the motocross world with another sensational second place finish under the scorching sun at Castiglione Del Lago, Italy.
Although the performance was a significant achievement in itself, it masked a tale of heroism that the large crowd perhaps did not fully appreciate. The easy grace with which the rising superstar floated around the tough, rock-hard circuit, belied the fact that he had to force through the pain barrier, in the tradition of champions throughout history.
After his disastrous outing at the previous GP in France, the Drop Bear was keen to get right amongst the front runners again. A big crash at the very early stages of qualifying put an early damper on the weekend’s proceedings, however. The rear wheel of Ben’s KTM kicked viciously on one of the fast downhill sections, and he was unceremoniously spat in the direction of the surrounding scenery, leaving him quite bruised and battered. After receiving some attention, he managed a few tentative laps of qualifying, still good enough for a ninth spot on the gate.
As if the crash during qualifying wasn’t enough, the Taupo Tornado crashed again during the morning warm-up session on race day, and by now the mood in the camp was decidedly grim. It was clear that the youngster was in tremendous pain, and for him to even line up for the race under these conditions displayed great determination.
All the events preceding the race were forgotten when the gate dropped, however. Ben launched his KTM off the line for a near perfect start, and stormed into the first corner in the leading group, just behind teammate Tyla Rattray. He quickly moved around Rattray and local man Felice Copmagnone ahead of him, and for the second time this season, a GP crowd were treated to the sight of one young Ben Townley leading a motocross GP. Despite the impediment of his injuries, he rode smoothly, and worked himself into a comfortable cushion in front.
A few laps into the race, it was clear that Frenchman Michael Maschio was in unstoppable form, as he relentlessly closed down on our young hero. This time round Ben did not have the energy to provide more than token resistance, and he had to let Maschio go to yet another victory. Focusing on his own race, Ben just kept on clicking off the laps in a manner that left no doubt that he was on course for yet another podium finish. The youngster was ecstatic with his result, especially in view of the fact that two visitors from far away were present to witness proceedings. Ben’s father, Grant, was on visit from New Zealand, and was justifiably proud of his son, as was Glenn Crick, managing director of team sponsor Big Five Devco, who had just arrived from South Africa.
Ben’s sterling performance has moved him up the world standings again, and he now occupies fifth position, a mere three points off third spot.
For South Africa’s Tyla Rattray, the main business for the weekend would be to see if he could maintain his unbroken record of finishing in the top 10 at every GP. He held down the 3rd qualifying spot for most of the qualifying session on Saturday, but a late charge by some of the veteran campaigners during the last few minutes of qualifying demoted the 16 year old to seventh spot.
