Bye-bye Ben!
By TMX Archives on 12th Oct 05
Ben Townley flew into Europe on a cold, damp day in the early spring of 2001 with a bag of clothes and a big heart. Ben Townley flew into Europe on a cold, damp day in the early spring of 2001 with a bag of clothes and a big heart. The 20-year-old Kiwi flew out of Europe three days after the 2005 Nations with a world title, 14 GP wins and the respect of the entire motocross GP world on the next stage of his adventure - to conquer America!"It's pretty tough to be leaving after five years. It's just like when I left home to come in 2001 - this has been my home for five years, people have been good to me, I've built up relationships which are going to last forever and I've had a great time. But I have to move on and it was always my dream to go to the USA."I have the opportunity to go there with a great team and I can't turn it down. I made a decision that they were the best team to go with - I'll stick by that and I think it's going to be a good choice."It's this refreshing openness, honesty and friendliness which have endeared BT to the motocross scene all over Europe and which will surely make him a firm favourite in the States too.And if anyone needed proof of the impact "the little fat kid on the Suzuki who nobody knew but pulled good starts and went backwards down the pack" has made in his five seasons racing in Europe, then it was in the tribute that record champ Stefan Everts and Ben's other friends paid to him as they met him at the line of his final GP in Desertmartin to bid him farewell. It was a unique tribute in the history of the sport!I never met Ben at his first GP. When he wasn't on track himself he was wandering the spectator banks of Bellpuig, awe-inspired at the world of GP motocross. But Justin Morris - his team-mate on the short-lived Phase team - and team manager Jochen Jasinski enthused over Ben. Neither had ever seen a kid with so much talent and commitment.I finally tracked Ben down a couple of weeks later at Genk where he registered his first GP score with a 10th on race day and by late summer Tinus Nel had integrated him into the Vangani team alongside his protege Tyla Rattray.World 80cc champ Tanel Leok completed the Brat Pack in 2002 but Ben was the unchallenged star in the ascendancy. For half the year he was a genuine title candidate before inexperience cost him. "Those races with Maschio were something special, like when I led a GP for the first time at Teutschenthal but I cocked it up. I was even in the championship race, just three points off the lead at one stage. The Vangani team must be one of the most amazing teams I will ever ride for."Podiums in Holland, Italy and Bulgaria had already given Ben the taste for success and a maiden GP win came in Sweden as he hauled in and passed factory leader Steve Ramon - but it's not the race which lives in Ben's memory."I don't think it really sinks in until you're on the podium and there is complete silence except for your national anthem. You get to look out across the track and think how good the day was, everything that has gone into it to get there. You can just stand there for those few moments taking it all in and nobody can take it away from you."As official KTM junior team, Vangani was the creche for the Champ team and BT moved to the factory squad next year. But a badly set wrist from a US training crash saw Ben withdraw temporarily from the series after Valkenswaard. Even then his self-belief was overwhelming. "If I can't beat them, I'm wasting my time. I've got to get my wrist reset." He had just finished fourth to Ramon, Eggens and De Reuver in sand!By late summer Ben was back and within weeks was the only man to push the unbeatable Everts (don't forget, Stefan raced MX2 that year as well) and in 2004 came the victory roll which should have happened a year earlier. "The whole year was just great - winning the world title and 21 races - but I've had some great moments this year too."The victories this year have been even more exhilarating. In MX2 if you made the pass and were strong in the head, then you could do them over and I felt really confident every week. I still feel confident in MX1 but the rivals are just as confident as I am - you can't kill Stefan or Josh."When you make the pass, it's not that easy to run and hide. But that has been good for me. That was the challenge I wanted, to step up and race those guys and help me prepare for America."For full story don't miss the November issue of dbr - on sale now!Words and photos by Alex Hodgkinson