    |
 |
|
|
|
The motocross world championship fraternity had a serious trip on their hands to get to the seventh GP of the 2002 season. The event was hosted in Sevlievo, in far-flung Bulgaria. Getting to the event with the race trucks required military-style planning, as it involved a long road trip to Italy, an overnight ferry trip, chugging through unforgiving narrow mountain roads (the wrecks at the bottom of the moutain attested to this), troublesome border formalities on the Greek/Bulgarian border, navigating through pothole-infested roads in Bulgaria, and so forth.
Once the track was in view, however, it almost seemed worthwhile, since the track and facilities were almost without parallel in all of motocrossdom. The beautiful hillside track offered 100% viewing for the spectators, and the immaculate paddock, brand new press centre and excellent facilities all paid testament to the organisers’ commitment to the event.
The “GP veterans” of the team, Ben Townley and Tyla Rattray were there to make their mark, and in the absence of the injured Tanel Leok, sixteen year old Richard van der Westhuizen flew in from South Africa to get his first taste of GP racing. The oppressive heat (35 degrees early in the morning!) was always going to turn this event into a battle of endurance, and it was wait and see how the young knights of the Vangani order would cope with the conditions.
As the elder statesman of the team, Kiwi Ben Townley, [Drop Bear] came into the meeting with mixed memories. His last GP outing in Austria was disastrous, netting him a solitary point. His last race meeting, though, was in the United States, where he astounded friend and foe with two strong top 10 rides. His confidence was riding high, as he proved by setting the fifth fastest time in the first free practice session. Despite occupying a leading position in his qualifying group for most of the final qualifying session, a number of the experienced warhorses in this elite group posted faster times towards the end of the session, relegating him to the 10th starting gate.
As the bracing music blared and the gate dropped, Ben produced one of his usual good launches. From fifth position, he quickly made some passes, and pretty soon he was in third position. During the second lap, he made quick work of getting past Jeff Dement, and then made a beautiful passing maneuvre to slip past Alex Puzar for the lead. After some initital swapping of positions with Puzar, the young New Zealander certainly looked like he meant business this time, and quickly built a 2 second cushion over the former world champion.
Ben lead the race unchallenged for the next 10 laps, but in lap 11 his exertions in the stifling heat were beginning to take their toll. He had to yield to Puzar, who was in top form on the day, and two laps later Philippe Dupasquier also found a way past after a scorching ride. Ben had a safe cushion in third, and concentrated on bringing the bike home for his third podium finish this season.
The heat had taken its toll on all the riders, and a number of riders had to receive attention after the race. Ben was also a victim to this, and he had to be escorted back to his camper after the podium ceremony. The Drop Bear has now had a close look at every step of the podium except the top one, and that experience is sure to come. He has solidified his hold on sixth position in the championship, and edged somewhat closer to the leading group ahead of him.
