NO-GO FOR BEN | Bikesportnz

New Zealand’s Ben Townley was a non-starter at the weekend’s Portuguese Motocross Grand Prix.

The CLS Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider has been battling to find his form both physically and mentally after a series of injuries delayed his come-back to GP motocross earlier this year and missed the round six event in Agueda on Sunday.

“This is a tough decision to make but I’ve accepted that I’m not in a position to race at a competitive level, both physically and mentally.

“I’m so thankful to the team for understanding my situation and for supporting me in every way possible. Having been through the difficult times that I have been in over the last few months it is clear to me that I need to be 100% prepared both on the physical side and on the mental side. At this stage I am not, and I don’t want to put myself at risk until I can race without having any doubts,” he said.

Team manager Jean Jacques Luisetti is supportive of his MX1 representative: “I understand the position that Ben is in. We don’t want him to take any risks whatsoever and we know that he has the capacity to be a top GP rider, and I think everyone has seen in St Jean d’Angely (the French GP last weekend) what he is capable of. Next week we will discuss how we will continue the rest of the racing season.”

Townley will return to his base in Belgium where he will take time to assess his 2011 MX GP racing plans together with the team.

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