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Ben Townley`s VANGANI RACING team mate, Tyla Rattray at sixteen years of age is one of the youngest riders ever to stand on the podium after a world championship motocross race after the young South African took 2nd place at Genk.
Ben, was keen to produce a repeat performance of his maiden GP victory and he certainly looked on track for it.
In Saturday’s qualifying he posted the fourth fastest time, one of his best qualifying performances yet this season. Ben converted his good gate position into a good start, and for the other riders, this was an ominous sign.
Luca Cherubini and Mickael Macshio were disposed of with consummate ease during the first lap, and Ben was now in third spot, riding high. On lap four Trampas Parker had to let the relentless teenager through, and now the hunt was on for leading man Patrick Caps. Ben probed left and right, and it seemed as if Caps was going to have a hard time containing the Drop Bear.
As the riders disappeared from view, the crowd fully expected Ben to re-emerge in the lead. When a rider did appear form amongst the trees, it was Caps alone. Ben had crashed heavily, and was back down to 15th position. He came back strongly, and three laps later he was heading for a top 10 position again. This was not his day, however, and he again crashed hard over the tricky step-down jump. The crash would have knocked the stuffing out of many a rider, but Ben soldiered on, again working his way back up the field. A third crash near the end of the race all but broke his spirit for the day, and it was a bitterly diappointed rider that crossed the line in 18th position, for a meagre haul of world championship points.
Richard van Der Westhuizen had an even shorter weekend at the racing. The young South African set off during free practice getting to know the challenging Genk circuit. After a few exploratory laps, he set off on his first fast lap. Things went awry almost immediately as the bike kicked on the take-off to a jump, and he got spat over the bars unceremoniously. Stony surfaces are not renowned for being kind to human flesh, and Wichie discovered this the hard way. He carved his elbow open to the bone, and a trip to the local hospital was called for to remove the ore samples form his flesh. Thus Wichie’s weekend came to a premature end, but he was back in time to witness countryman Rattray defend South African honour.
