BT wins again

[denill]

Date: 23 July 2007.



Press release:

Ben Townley wins Lakewood motocross scorcher.

Moving to the high altitude ‘Thunder Valley’ circuit in Lakewood Colorado, the 7th round of the AMA Toyota Motocross Lites championships has seen New Zealander, Ben Townley, take his fourth overall victory of the season.

Sweltering weather conditions would play an important part as the Motocross Lites riders rolled onto the starting line to battle for moto 1. Townley grabbed a reasonable start and was immediately hounded by fellow Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki team-mate, Ryan Villopoto, before making an early mistake on lap two. BT went down at the back section of the circuit and had to rejoin the race out of the top ten as he fought his way back into a podium spot by closing down a 20 second gap to 11 seconds on Villopoto.

Certain not to make the same mistake again, Townley chased Villopoto right from the word go with Villopoto succumbing to the pressure on lap two. Townley took the opportunity handed to him by clocking the fastest time of the race as he controlled the lead with an astounding pace. While riders were dropping off the pace in the scorching heat, the Kiwi’s superior fitness carried him to a 17 second victory over Villopoto as he cruised to the finish line.

“I went off the track on the second lap of the first moto and hit a “Monster” hay bale. I didn’t get the start I wanted to and had to make sure that I was up front in the second moto racing with Ryan. I got out the gate better in the second moto and was right on Ryan and it was all set up for a thrilling race - I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately he went down and I was able to take the win. It’s really close out there and when we make little mistakes it costs us big time so I am happy to get the overall and leave here tied on points - it’s going to be fight all the way to the end. Ryan is a great competitor, we race hard but we race fair. The whole Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki team treats us as equal and it’s just great to be a part of such an awesome team and championship fight. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. I also want to say a big thanks to my whole family who are here this weekend. My mum and dad along with my grand parents and aunty. This is the first time they have seen me win an outdoor which was pretty cool.” smiled the Townley.

The points chase is still even with seven races of the twelve round series gone. BT will head to Washougal, WA next weekend where a battle with team Villopoto will be imminent.

Race results:

Motocross Lites

Pos. Pts. Moto 1 Moto 2 No. Rider name Bike

1 47 22 (2) 25 (1) 101 B. Townley Kawasaki KX250F

2 47 25 (1) 22 (2) 1 R. Villopoto Kawasaki KX250F

3 38 20 (3) 18 (4) 24 J. Grant Honda CRF250R

4 34 14 (7) 20 (3) 338 J. Lawrence Yamaha YZ250F

5 32 16 (5) 16 (5) 123 B. Metcalfe Kawasaki KX250F

6 30 15 (6) 15 (6) 577 M. Davalos KTM 250SXF

7 25 11 (10) 14 (7) 102 C. Gosselaar Kawasaki KX250F

8 25 12 (9) 13 (8) 30 A. Mcfarlane Suzuki RM-Z250

9 25 13 (8) 12 (9) 52 T. Hahn Honda CRF250R

10 19 10 (11) 9 (12) 60 B. Hepler Yamaha YZ250F

11 18 18 (4) 0 (33) 62 R. Dungey Suzuki RM-Z250

12 17 9 (12) 8 (13) 48 K. Chisholm Kawasaki KX250F

13 11 0 (38) 11 (10) 33 M. Goerke Yamaha YZ250F

14 10 0 (37) 10 (11) 73 J. Weimer Honda CRF250R

15 10 5 (16) 5 (16) 54 R. Kiniry Kawasaki KX250F


Motocross Lites championship standings:

1 310 B. Townley

2 310 R. Villopoto

3 253 J. Grant

4 246 J. Lawrence

5 212 R. Dungey

6 141 J. Weimer

7 129 T. Hahn

8 128 A. Mcfarlane

9 121 J. Hill

10 111 K. Chisholm

11 105 M. Goerke

12 104 B. Tickle

13 100 R. Kiniry

14 78 C. Gosselaar

15 66 S. Boniface

[paturoa]

Just caught the last couple of minutes of what looked like round 2 and there is a replay at 7pm on Sky Sport 2

and....

on sky sport 1 at 7 is the Czech round of Moto GP


WHY oh WHY next to each other - the planet (Sky) is full of morons!!!

Well at least they are showing both.

[Danger]

Nothing seems to faze Ben Townley and this is why I think he will win the Championship. I reckon the pressure is going to get to RV.

From Racer X.

Tuesday Conversation: Ben Townley July 24, 2007
Story and photos by Steve Bruhn
Printer Friendly

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit teammates Ben Townley and Ryan Villopoto are locked in a dead heat for control of AMA Toyota Motocross Lites. The two seem to have no trouble checking out, and the motos become a contest of who will make the least mistakes. Townley fell once at Lakewood, and Villopoto fell twice, and that gave Townley the second moto win.
It was a hot and brutal day at high elevation, and the Pro Circuit bikes were eating the others up. Each of the four Pro Circuit bikes had the lead at least once in one of the motos! Ben took a few minutes after the press conference to go back over the day.

Racer X: Ben, how did you deal with this heat and elevation today?
Ben Townley: It was good. It’s like I said before, everyone is in the same boat. I didn’t think that I was going to struggle. I knew that it would be tough, but I knew it would be tough for everyone. I didn’t approach it any differently than any other race.

After two days worth of practice here, when you went for your motos, did you feel you were ready going in?
I didn’t think about that. I know what I did think about—and it would have been a screw-up if I hadn’t thought about it on the gate—was that you have to start in first gear this weekend. I actually thought everyone was joking with me. Saturday morning Ivan came into the truck and said “You know you have to start in first gear here?” and I was like “No way!” I went out there in practice and made sure I got that sorted. When the 30-second board comes up, you have to be really focused on that because you can’t kick up instead of down when it goes sideways. That was the only thing I was thinking about on the starting line – Don’t put it in second gear!

What happened to you and Ryan on the start in moto one?
I had terrible jumps today for some reason. My bike pulled really well up the hill. I managed to put my elbows down and squeeze in between people. I came out like 5th in the first one. I guess Ryan was behind me—I thought he was ahead of me. Then all of a sudden, we came up on something and I went wide and he went across. He came up the inside of me. I railed a berm and he took it, then two turns later I got him back. He came down the outside on the hill after the Red Bull there. We were going at it.

Did you think, Hey we are teammates, cool it!?
No. (It’s okay ) as long as neither one of us goes down.

Do you remember any of your pit boards?
Just my lap times. I always like to have my lap times on there, and the distance from the next guy. I just focused on doing my own race, especially when coming from behind. The same thing in the second moto: After Ryan had gone down I focused on that. I just did my own deal.
It is different when you are battling with someone that close. Then you are thinking where do you make you moves, where are you weak and where you're strong…

Do you feel that your best advantage is your second motos and can you plan for that?
I don’t know. There was a lot of water down in the first moto when we first came out, so I was really cautious in the beginning to not over ride it. Ryan was trying to pass me so I was thinking, Should I push or not? and then I made that mistake. So I don’t know. Second motos are a definitely strength of mine, yeah. But I think if I can get out cleaner in the beginning of the first race it will be a different story.

Did you see what happened to Ryan, the turn he fell twice on?
Yeah, I was right on his back wheel. When we came down that long downhill, I was on the outside of him. We were still really close together at that stage and he went down on the inside. I took a peek and he was still in second. Then next lap he was in third and I couldn’t work that out – so yeah, I just rode my own race after that.

At the podium you had mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, and your aunt, and your girlfriend. Does it change much when so many are here with you?
Not at all. It’s great to have them here, no doubt about it. That is the hardest thing for me, is living away from home, without family. It seems to get harder as we go on. When I was 16, I couldn’t wait to get out. That was seven years ago.

After seven nationals, supercross and all, you have been here a while, do you feel like an American now?
No, not at all. I’m just trying to be Ben Townley!

[paturoa]

Racing again this weekend.

[FlangMasterJ]

Is their a 450 class this yeah?

[paturoa]

BT 3rd fastest in Sat practice and RV 1st.

[Danger]

First race at Washougal Ryan Villopoto is leading Ben Townley by 8 seconds on lap 8. This is RV's home track and he is motivated!

[Danger]

Lap 9 the lead is nine seconds.

[Danger]

Lap 10 identical times last 3 laps, RV by 9 seconds.

Listen here http://wmgllc.edgeboss.net/wmedia-li...907_070727.asx

Watch the lap progress here. javascript:syst_popup('http://www.amaproracing.com/live/atthewire.html', 825, 615, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1)

Not sure if that will work, go to the AMA website and pick race results, then at the wire live at the top.

[Danger]

3 laps to go,same, Dungey is 3rd.
Lap 12 and the gap is almost 12 seconds to RV.

[Danger]

Two laps to go, 12 seconds gap. Doubt RV will make a mistake from here.

[Danger]

RV is a second a lap quicker on lap 14 its almost a 14 second gap to BT.

[Danger]

RV has won and I heard the comentators lighting up a doobie.

[Danger]

18 seconds and RV whoops ass!

[Danger]

Bummer for you dudes traveling to work and missing the first race eh?

I gotta go have breakfast during the MX class first race.

Be back for the 2nd lites race.