Ben Townley defies illness to finish on podium at Red Bud

It was unsure if Ben Townley would make the starting line for
round 5 of the AMA Toyota Motocross championship in Buchanen,
Michigan this weekend.

The 22-year-old New Zealander was hospitalized after
complaining of nausea and further stomach cramps which may
have been an allergic reaction to the anti-nausea medication
administered by medical staff at the Red Bud circuit. ‘BT’ was
later released from hospital around midnight on Saturday and
given the green light to race after thorough medical examinations
had ruled out suspected appendicitis or any other medical illness.

Townley put a sleepless night behind him and focused on putting
together two strong and consistent results in front of over 29.000
enthusiastic spectators that had turned out under magnificent
weather and track conditions..

Townley trailed fellow Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki
team-mate, Ryan Villopoto, in the first MX Lites moto but tried to
turn the tables in the second moto. ‘BT’ grabbed the RACER-X
hole-shot award and lead for the first half of the 30 minute race
with Villopoto right on his back wheel. The crowd loved every
moment of the duel between the two Kawasaki’s. Villopoto finally
found his was past and managed to pull a small gap over
Townley to take the win, with BT settling for second.

“Saturday was a tough ordeal but I don’t really think it had any
effect on today’s racing” commented Townley. “I got two good
starts and was second behind Ryan in the first moto but he
managed to gap me again. I tried to close him down towards
the end but it was too little too late. I was happier with moto 2.
We had an awesome race and I felt really good on the Red Bud
track - it was so much fun and I haven’t raced on circuit like that
in a long time. I even started doing “Larocco’s Leap” in the
second moto which is just wide open on a 250F.”

Townley holds a 20 point deficit over team-mate Villopoto but
will be looking to bridge that gap in two weeks time when riders
and race teams will head to the infamous Unadilla circuit in New
Berlin, NY for round 6 of the 12 round. Fullnoise.com.au