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TOWNLEY TAMES TAUPO

Bikesportnz Posted on by

Tauranga’s Ben Townley reckons he is still a long way short of being at his best.

But don’t tell his rivals that, because they won’t believe you.

The New Zealand MX1 motocross champion was in scintillating form as he romped to victory at the big annual Huka Honda Motocross Extravaganza in his old home town, Taupo, over the Labour Weekend.

The Honda ace convincingly won the national MX1 title back in March and had been looking forward to an exciting series of races in Australia and the United States when he crashed to the sideline with serious injury while competing at round two of the Australian Motocross Championships in New South Wales in April.

But six months later and the 27-year-old seems to have put those injuries well behind him.

He dominated the main class at Taupo on Sunday, easily winning both his MX1 races and then putting icing on the cake with a start-to-finish win in the champion-of-champions Nicky Smith Memorial feature race as well.

“I was a bit nervous starting out today,” said the Bay of Plenty racer. “It’s been a long time since I raced motocross. I knew that (2011 national MX1 champion) Cody Cooper would be fast. He’s just back from representing New Zealand at the Motocross of Nations and he was fast in Australia this year too, so I knew he’d be a threat.”

But Townley (Honda CRF450) was a step ahead of Cooper (Suzuki RM-Z450) all day at Taupo, winning the first MX1 race by a staggering 16 seconds from Cooper, with Paraparaumu’s Jesse Donnelly (Suzuki RM-Z450) a distant third. The next race was a little closer at the finish, but again Townley won, this time by nearly five seconds, with Cooper second and a lot of daylight before Taupo’s Brad Groombridge (Honda CRF450) crossed the finish line in third position.

Townley led the eight-lap feature final from start to finish, with Cooper again the runner-up, this time 22 seconds adrift of the Honda star, with national MX2 champion Darryll King (Yamaha YZ250), of Hamilton, finishing third overall in this star-studded all-capacities race.

“In race one I had to fight back from a horrible start and I simply wanted to gauge myself against Cody, learn about what parts of the track I was quicker than him,” said Townley afterwards.

“It was good to win in the end by such a clear margin.

“In the second race I hit the wall a little bit in regards my fitness. I was struggling with that. The last race was muddy and I love racing in mud. It was a good thing I got the holeshot and had clear air in front of me.

“The biggest thing I need now is race time on the bike. It’s all very well to practice, but there’s nothing like racing to sharpen you up,” said Townley.

© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

Full story and more photos in your next issue of KIWI RIDER magazine.

Leading results from the Labour Weekend MX Extravaganza:

 

SENIORS:

MX1

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Ben Townley 75 25 25 25
2 Cody Cooper 66 22 22 22
3 Brad Groombridge 51 18 20 13
4 Jesse Donnelly 50 20 18 12
5 Mitch Rees 41 16 16 9
6 Nick Saunders 38 14 14 10
7 Campbell Bailey 30 15 13 2
8 Bjarne Frederiksen 28 13 15 0
9 Roydon White 25 11 11 3
10 Richard Horne 24.055 12 12 0.055


MX2

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Darryll King 67 22 25 20
2 Rhys Carter 59 25 20 14
3 Kayne Lamont 57 20 22 15
4 Scott Columb 52 18 16 18
5 Ethan Martens 45 16 18 11
6 Shaun Fogarty 45 14 15 16
7 Campbell King 36 15 14 7
8 Joshua Jack 33 12 13 8
9 Callum Moore 28 11 12 5
10 Jonathan Martelli 24 13 11 0

MX3

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Aidan McBrydie 72 25 25 22
2 Vinnie Bol 60 22 20 18
3 Jamie Bull 51 20 18 13
4 Jamie Lamont 49 16 13 20
5 Craig Dally 47.049 0.049 22 25
6 Ted McDonald 44 18 12 14
7 Arthur Horne 37 9 16 12
8 Daniel Barrow 32 13 11 8
9 Joe Daniels 31 15 15 1
10 Ben Lightfoot 31 7 9 15

NATIONAL 125

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Hadleigh Knight 50 22 22 6
2 Courtney Duncan 49 20 25 4
3 Aaron Wiltshier 46 25 20 1
4 Dan Bell 31.054 13 18 0.054
5 Nathan Henderson 31.053 15 16 0.053
6 Kurtis Lilly 31 16 15 0
7 Matt Kenyon 27.052 14 13 0.052
8 Daniel Stoddart 23.051 11 12 0.051
9 Sean O’Connor 23 9 14 —


Nicky Smith Memorial Invitation

1. Ben Townley

2. Cody Cooper

3. Darryll King

4. Scott Columb

5. Shaun Fogarty

6. Kayne Lamont

7. Rhys Carter

8. Brad Groombridge

9. Jesse Donnelly

10. Ethan Martens

 

Vets 35-44yrs

 

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Darryll King 50 25 25 0
2 Darren Capill 44 22 22 0
3 Aaron Workman 40 20 20 0
4 Daniel Scrimgeour 36 18 18 0
5 Scott Robinson 31 16 15 0
6 Geoffrey Hall 29 13 16 0
7 Neil Thompson 29 15 14 0
8 Scott Wilkins 27 14 13 0
9 Bruce Bowsher 23 12 11 0
10 Clinton Rae 21 11 10 0

Vets 45+ yrs

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Ray Drake 50 25 25 0
2 Darrin Hall 44 22 22 0
3 Jason Bull 40 20 20 0
4 Darryl August 36 18 18 0
5 Mark Henderson 31 15 16 0
6 Steve Holmes 31 16 15 0
7 Stu Morley 27 13 14 0
8 Winston Bylow 14 14 — —

 

JUNIORS:

8-11 years 85cc

Pos . Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Chris Merriman 69 22 25 22
2 Jesse Te Kani 67 20 22 25
3 Hayze Shuttleworth 65 25 20 20
4 Kayden Bourke 54 18 18 18
5 James Scott 48 16 16 16

 

12-13 years 85cc/150cc

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Wyatt Chase 72 25 22 25
2 Maximus Purvis 63 16 25 22
3 Claude Griffith 62 22 20 20
4 Tony Cvitanovich 54 18 18 18
5 Trent Liddle Collins 52 20 16 16

12-14 years 125cc

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Cohen Chase 75 25 25 25
2 Dylan Walsh 62 18 22 22
3 Lachlan Sidwell 62 22 20 20
4 Benjamin Broad 56 20 18 18
5 Camden Bulter 46 16 16 14

14-16 years 250F

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 James Anderson 72 25 22 25
2 Brandon Tipene 69 22 25 22
3 Hayden Kanters 60 20 20 20
4 Benedict Hahn 51 15 18 18
5 Jack Jensen 48 18 16 14

14-16 years 85cc/150cc

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Sam Cuthbertson 75 25 25 25
2 Cole Blake 60 22 22 16
3 Jacob Steel 58 18 18 22
4 Sean Kelly 54 20 16 18
5 Aaron King 51 16 20 15

14-16 years 85cc/150cc Women

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Courtney Duncan 75 25 25 25
2 Taylar Rampton 64 22 22 20
3 Rebecca Clark 62 20 20 22
4 Emily Toohey 50 16 18 16
5 Bayleigh Ward 46 15 16 15

15-16 years 125cc

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Courtney Duncan 75 25 25 25
2 Hadleigh Knight 62 18 22 22
3 James Anderson 58 20 18 20
4 Aaron Wiltshier 53 22 16 15
5 Sean O’Connor 43 12 13 18


JUNIOR BRAGGING RIGHTS:

Pos Name Best Time
1 Aaron Wiltshier 1:55.204
2 Courtney Duncan 1:55.757
3 James Anderson 1:55.916
4 Brandon Tipene 1:56.133
5 James Anderson 1:56.286
6 Hadleigh Knight 1:56.773
7 Courtney Duncan 1:56.829
8 Aiden Kiff 1:57.048
9 Hayden Kanters 1:58.568
10 Cohen Chase 1:58.730

 

 

MINIS:

4-7 yrs Intro 50cc MX – KTM

 

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Tyler Wiremu 72 22 25 25
2 Jordon Davi 69 25 22 22
3 Cole Davies 60 20 20 20
4 Ashton Dodunski 54 18 18 18
5 Brooke Dalley 46 15 15 16


4-8 yrs 50cc Intro – Japanese

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Nikita Goodwin 75 25 25 25
2 Kristian Crane 66 22 22 22
3 Jordan Davies 56 20 20 16
4 Tyler Smith 50 12 18 20
5 Cooper Gordon 49 18 13 18

 

6-8 yrs MX 50cc

 

Pos . Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Carl Woodman-Smith 65 20 20 25
2 Sam Meredith 63 25 25 13
3 Jean-Luc Brown 62 18 22 22
4 Logan Kerrisk 60 22 18 20
5 Hadley Dodunski 50 16 16 18

 

7-11 yrs Trail

 

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Shannon Blake 70 25 25 20
2 Caleb Baron 67 20 22 25
3 Shelby Catley 60 18 20 22
4 Brylee Gordon 51 15 18 18
5 Michaelee Head 48 16 16 16

 

7-8 yrs 65cc

 

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Cobie Bourke 75 25 25 25
2 Kase Pullen-Burry 66 22 22 22
3 Brooklyn Holding 53 13 20 20
4 Angus Ross 52 20 16 16
5 Ethan Bruce 48 15 15 18

 

9-11 yrs 65cc A Grade

 

Pos Name Total points R1 R2 R3
1 Hayden Smith 75 25 25 25
2 Zac Jillings 66 22 22 22
3 Mitchell Baucke 54 20 14 20
4 Carlin Hedley 53 18 20 15
5 Vincent Andersson 47 14 15 18

 

 

 

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