Townley sustains broken nose at Steel City.

05 Sep: The penultimate round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross series has dealt a painful blow to New Zealander Ben Townley. The Lucas Oil – Troy Lee – Honda racer received a rock to the face in the opening 450 moto while chasing eventual overall winner and fellow Honda rider, Kevin Windham.

Edited copy courtesy of Glen Dempsey at Synergy-Sport.

The painful incident did not keep the gutsy Kiwi from soldiering on to secure a well deserved podium finish as he had to fight back to third while keeping a charging Andrew Short at bay.

‘Lady Luck' also deserted Townley in the second moto when he tangled and crashed with Australian Michael Byrne in the first turn. BT could not continue the race due to a damaged motorcycle and had to return to the pits disappointed.

"I was right on Kevin when we hit the wall jump on the first lap and his back wheel spat out a rock that connected me right on the nose.

At first I thought of pulling out as the pain was that bad but the adrenalin must of taken over and I had to work my way back from around 6th spot to 3rd. It was really close racing with Short towards the end of the moto but I managed to hold on. We patched up the nose for Moto 2 but my race didn't last very long with the first turn crash so it was a day to forget. I'm looking forward to racing Pala next weekend.” commented Townley.

Steel City Results: Ben Townley, 3rd and 37th. 10th overall

450 Class Championship Standings

Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 493
Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 356
Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda, 351
Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., KTM, 301
Ben Townley, New Zealand, Honda, 291
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 260
Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha, 238
Ryan Sipes, Vine Grove, Ky., Yamaha, 211
Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 204
Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Kawasaki, 201
Kyle Regal, Kemp, Texas, Honda, 201

BT101. Photo courtesy of Glen Dempsey at Synergy-Sport.