Townley challenges for podium in Wuustwezel.
Tuesday 10 May: BT101 had his first race appearance on Belgian soil since 2005 and it was a return to third place on the podium but it was almost higher up.
In his first race appearance on Belgian soil
since 2005, CLS Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki racer, Ben Townley, has
taken on the sand specialists of Steve Ramon and Ken De Dycker at the
‘Molenbergen’ held in Wuustwezel this weekend.
Soaring temperatures challenged a strong
field of riders who turned out for the international event, and it was
Townley who had the partisan crowd cheering as he challenged Ramon for a
well deserved second place finish in Moto 1 - behind Ramon.
A hole-shot in Moto 2 saw Townley take an
early lead which he held for ten minutes. He chased De Dycker and
closed the Belgian giant down on the final laps as the two crossed the line
a second apart.
The third and final Moto almost saw
another Townley hole-shot however he battled to keep the front end low and
lost the advantage going into the first turn. A small mistake on lap
3 forced Townley to have to restart his bike losing valuable
positions. Taking longer than normal to get going he rejoined and
fought back to 6th position to claim 3rd overall for
the day.
Ben Towley: "Overall, it was a really good
day. I’ve felt some good
improvements since Valkenswaard which was only a few weeks ago. I
feel much better on the bike although there is still a long way to go with
my condition but I can see big improvements and that’s what the team
and I are working towards. I had two decent motos that I was really
happy with.”
Photo courtesy of Ben Townley. Image: CDS (aka Christophe Desmet)
Overall results:
1st Steve Ramon 70
2nd Ken De Dycker 63
3rd Ben Townley 60
4th Anthony Boissiere 56
5th Marvin Van Daele 49