Bt101

[FlangMasterJ]

Look at the eyes!

I'm predicting a few wins by seasons end.

[krad_nz]

Just watched rd1. Pretty good racing. Reminded me of the Reed/Stewart 09 SX season. Exciting!

Go BT!

[FlangMasterJ]

BT and a few other pros practicing at Pala raceway. I love the gear Metcalfe's wearing.

http://www.racerxonline.com/video/pa...-07-11-10.aspx

[RJM]

Just watched the Red Bud footage - wow what a ride, so so close!

[denill]

Great ride Ben.

Leading race 2 then dropped it, back running in 14th and drew up to a gutsy 5th.

[takitimu]

Great ride by BT, he's got to be a serious contender for 2nd overall in the series now, with Andrew Short in front of him by only 6 points. Given the disrupted start to the racing that is a damn impressive.

450 Class Championship Standings
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 318
2. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 229
3. Ben Townley, New Zealand, Honda, 223
4. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 221
5. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 215
6. Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 204
7. Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM, 196
8. Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Honda, 157
9. Ryan Sipes, Flaherty, Texas, Yamaha, 140
10. Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha, 134

[denill]

Date: 17 July 2010.

Townley moves to 3rd in standings after Spring Creek National.

The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship has now entered the second half of the season after round 7 took place in Millville at the Spring Creek Motocross Park this weekend. Although Ben Townley expected more than his 4-5 result, the Luca Oil – Troy Lee Designs – Honda racer has now shot to 3rd in the points standings and is only 6 points adrift of second.

Another weekend of perfect weather and track conditions welcomed racers to the start line for moto 1 and it was veteran Kevin Windham who grabbed the hole-shot leading a chasing pack of young guns. Townley quickly passed Reed for fourth but then came under pressure from a charging Josh Grant. BT and Grant closed down Andrew Short with Grant eventually finding his way around the Kiwi. With 12 minutes to go, Townley pushed a tiring Windham aside to move into 4th place as he set his sights on Andrew Short but ran out of time to pose a threat to the Factory Honda rider.

An exciting start to moto 2 saw Townley steel the lead from Short after three corners but he lost the front end a moments later and had to remount and give chase to the leaders. A determined ‘BT’ clawed his way through the pack and salvaged 5th spot by the end of the 30 min + 2 laps moto.

“Although I have climbed to third in the championship, I am actually disappointed with my result today” explained Townley. “After Red Bud, I thought I knew what it would take to run up front and stay there but it just never seemed to work today. We made some improvements on the bike and still have some more to come so I’m look forward to piecing it all together.”

The series heads to Washougal Washington next weekend for round 8 of 12.


Round 7 of 12

450 Class (Moto Finish)

Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (1-1)
Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda (3-3)
Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Honda (8-2)
Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda (5-4)
Ben Townley, New Zealand, Honda (4-5)
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (2-10)
Ryan Sipes, Flaherty, Texas, Yamaha (9-7)
Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha (7-9)
Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (16-6)
Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Kawasaki (11-11)

450 Class Championship Standings

Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 318
Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 229
Ben Townley, New Zealand, Honda, 223
Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 221
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 215
Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 204
Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM, 196
Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Honda, 157
Ryan Sipes, Flaherty, Texas, Yamaha, 140
Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha, 134

[Reckless]

Bloody good progress!! Go BT!!

I've noticed his problem over the last few races seems to be loosing the front??
I wonder if its him or the bike? Or maybe a combo of the two??
If he can get this sussed and keep it upright there will be no stopping him!
Bloody good to see a Kiwi in front of all those big names! You go boy!!

[denill]

Bloody good to see a Kiwi in front of all those big names! You go boy!!

Yep, it sure is. Between Whibs and Ben they are doing Kiwis proud in the US.

The US media give him a good rap too. His honest, no bullshit, humble but tell it like it is, is refreshing for them.

[scott411]

Yep, it sure is. Between Whibs and Ben they are doing Kiwis proud in the US.

The US media give him a good rap too. His honest, no bullshit, humble but tell it like it is, is refreshing for them.

teh US media love him, for those reason, he is easy to interview and has a brain, when we did the road trip last year we got asked alot when BT was coming back,

i know all his previous team manager love him as well due to the fact he is so hard working and they make his job easier

[denill]

Yeah, a great role model eh Scott.

Specially for the prima donna MXers that abound and think that the sun shines out of their rectum.................

They could learn a lot from BT and EARN their sponsorship.

[Danger]

Bloody good progress!! Go BT!!

I've noticed his problem over the last few races seems to be loosing the front??
I wonder if its him or the bike? Or maybe a combo of the two??
If he can get this sussed and keep it upright there will be no stopping him!

I believe its the bike. I don't think Ben will win any championships at the top level until he changes brands or the Honda geometry is changed. Remember they have to race on stock frames in the AMA. He still has incredible speed, its the bike setup letting him down as I see it and he even says above “After Red Bud, I thought I knew what it would take to run up front and stay there but it just never seemed to work today. We made some improvements on the bike and still have some more to come so I’m look forward to piecing it all together.”
Not the first time hes said this.
Not saying hes not going to win races, he will, but you can only improve things so far within the limits and when other teams have a better package its going to make things very tough to win consistently as you need to at the very top level.

[scott411]

I believe its the bike. I don't think Ben will win any championships at the top level until he changes brands or the Honda geometry is changed. Remember they have to race on stock frames in the AMA. He still has incredible speed, its the bike setup letting him down as I see it and he even says above “After Red Bud, I thought I knew what it would take to run up front and stay there but it just never seemed to work today. We made some improvements on the bike and still have some more to come so I’m look forward to piecing it all together.”
Not the first time hes said this.
Not saying hes not going to win races, he will, but you can only improve things so far within the limits and when other teams have a better package its going to make things very tough to win consistently as you need to at the very top level.

as its well known i am not much of a honda fan , but i think its more than the bike,

he is on a priviteer team with out a specliast engine guy and a suspension guy, he is running stuff you can buy against the factory teams that have 3 times the personal at the track, he is doing awesome

[denill]

he is on a priviteer team with out a specliast engine guy and a suspension guy, he is running stuff you can buy against the factory teams that have 3 times the personal at the track, he is doing awesome

So would you agree Scott - that no matter how BT goes from here on, he will more than likely slot into a 2011 factory team?

[raglanash]

I believe its the bike. I don't think Ben will win any championships at the top level until he changes brands or the Honda geometry is changed. Remember they have to race on stock frames in the AMA. He still has incredible speed, its the bike setup letting him down as I see it and he even says above “After Red Bud, I thought I knew what it would take to run up front and stay there but it just never seemed to work today. We made some improvements on the bike and still have some more to come so I’m look forward to piecing it all together.”
Not the first time hes said this.
Not saying hes not going to win races, he will, but you can only improve things so far within the limits and when other teams have a better package its going to make things very tough to win consistently as you need to at the very top level.

As much I like Honda I hope BT gets picked up by DeCoster. They have that bike dialled in.
But hey 4 out of 5 aint bad last weekend!
Ryan Dungey,Suzuki
Andrew Short, Honda
Kyle Regal, Honda
Kevin Windham, Honda
Ben Townley, Honda

Loving the suspension by the way Danger!