Townley to ride ValkenswaardBack on his CLS Pro Circuit Kawasaki for some training sessions during the past two weeks, Ben
Townley entered last weekend, a round of the British series, his first
race since 2 months.
It was quite a surprise for the team who was not really expecting to see BT racing so soon, but after being so long out of racing the fast Kiwi was delighted to be back on his 450 Kawasaki. 7th in Moto 1 after a bad start, BT was fighting in the second heat with Stephen Sword when he had some troubles with his pipe and retired. (M-M was told that because he left the track to have the header pipe re-attached he was not allowed to return) Back to Belgium near the workshop, Ben is currently training and will ride the GP of Netherlands this coming Monday. BT is definitively back to the World Championship! Ben Townley: "I was so excited, but at the same time a little nervous to be racing again; I was all smiles underneath my helmet and so happy to be out there because it’s been such a long time and my return to Europe has been delayed so I was really excited to get things started. Every time I go out on the track I improve so I was fairly happy with my speed, especially in the second race I felt like my old self out there but I think that the biggest thing at the moment is still putting everything together – I’m still building up on my corner speed and attacking the track and that’s all coming back to me. I’ve only been on the bike a couple of weeks - I know it was only a British championship and I’ve got to get to the World Championship now but the speed of the top guys in the UK has always been very high. I believe they go really well on British soil and they have a lot of intensity; the British Championship is strong and it’s very professional over there. At this stage I don’t think it’s worth putting in expectations on Valkenswaard next weekend; I want to keep improving on the bike, keep on improving on my riding and then take the race as it comes. I need to get through Sunday and then survive on Monday. I can’t wait…..” Jean Jacques Luisetti: "It was my birthday this weekend and Ben offered me a great present by doing his first race that day! I’m so happy to see him back racing, all the team is behind him since he’s back in Europe and we know how important it was for him to race in England. Since he’s back on the bike he’s improving so much, even if he can’t train daily as he needs to be back to his best physical condition. He wants to go to Valkenswaard and of course we’re delighted, as the first plan for him was to try to race the US GP. For sure he will not have any pressure from us or our sponsors, the goal will be to finish both races safe and score some points. When we’ll be back in Europe (he means France) for the French GP it will be different. Concerning the MX2 class Mitch Payton send us new parts after Bulgaria, Tommy will test them this week. In Bulgaria our goal was to score a podium result. Tommy watches his race on TV and knows that he needs to be with Roczen straight after the start, that’s why we got new parts from Pro Circuit. Max also was strong in Bulgaria, he did two god races and improved his performances through the weekend so we’re confident for the rest of the season.” Copy and image courtesy of Kawasaki Racing Team. |