The Australian Motocross Championships will welcome back an old favourite this weekend, and say farewell to another, as the championship continues at Conondale on the Sunshine Coast.

Earlier in the year, former world champion Ben Townley took a guest ride for Penrite Honda at the Manjimup 15,000, and made a great impression.

New Zealand’s Townley said then that it might not be the last we would see of him, and, true to his word, he’s back this weekend at Conondale.

BikesportNZ.com will be on hand to see how he performs on his comeback to the series this weekend, confident that he has the fitness to battle among the leaders after he won the gruelling Tarawera 100 cross-country marathon a week ago.

Townley has had a huge amount of success at Conondale. In 2012 he won every moto.

His return this weekend will add yet another aspect to the already action-packed event and is the perfect opportunity for fans to see the former star come out of retirement and stick it to the young guns as he rides MX1 for the Penrite Factory Honda Team.

The other surprise this weekend is the confirmation that, after only welcoming KTM Racing’s Ford Dale back at round six, the MX1 rider has now been ruled out of this weekend after a training accident.

Dale, who has been plagued by injury this year, suffered a crash during practice at Coolum earlier this week, which has seen him fracture T4, T5, T6 and T7 in his back which will see him sit out of the remainder of the season.

After a long wait to see Dale get back on the bike at round six, the withdrawal of the champ from this weekend is a huge blow to not only KTM but also the MX Nationals.

With a long road ahead to recovery, the team from the MX Nationals has sent their well wishes to Dale, and is looking forward to seeing him back on the bike soon.

KTM has confirmed that at this stage, they will continue the 2014 series with solo MX1 pilot Kirk Gibbs.

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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