BAD LUCK DENIES TOWNLEY IN JAPAN
29 May 2005 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

Factory Red Bull KTM rider Ben Townley was minutes away from another MX1 podium result at the Grand Prix of Japan this afternoon, round six of the FIM Motocross World Championship, but was frustrated by an engine problem that curtailed his involvement in the second moto whilst fighting Stefan Everts for the lead.

The Sugo circuit (a very short distance from the Motorsport complex and thirty kilometres from the north eastern city of Sendai) was packed with 25,000 fans (weekend figure) and won praise for its grippy and well prepared terrain. The layout was quick but testing and long enough to force almost two minute laps.

Townley started the first moto brightly and nudged his way into third on the first lap. Running behind leader Mickael Pichon and Stefan Everts the reigning MX2 World Champion matched his rivals for speed but was unable to reduce the distance and circulated the entire race in a fairly lonely third. Steve Ramon suffered another lacklustre start but produced a very impressive performance cutting past five riders and rising to fifth.

The second moto was GP motocross at its best and easily constituted the most thrilling race of the year so far. Townley was a very pro-active member of a five rider throng that circulated closely and continually swapped podium positions as Pichon failed to make the break he established in moto1. After resisting a very physical tussle with Joel Smets Townley passed Pichon and gave chase to Everts, sizing up his opponent, using different lines and seemingly able to place the 450 where he desired. On lap 16 of 20 he was poised to overtake but a failed engine forced an instant retirement. Ramon had made some alterations to his suspension for the second race and the gamble on the handling backfired as he again started outside of the leading group and could not make any headway, eventually finishing eighth.

The MX2 class motos were not positive for the depleted Champ squad with both Carl Nunn and new 250F recruit David Philippaerts suffering crashes. Carl Nunn lost the front end of the 250SXF rounding the tricky downhill right-hander entering the rhythm section in the first moto. The British Championship leader remained at the rear of the pack and couldn’t break into the points. His misery was compounded in race two when an ignition problem meant that he couldn’t even complete a lap. Italian Philippaerts took a decent eighth in the first moto but a fall on the opening lap of the second meant that, like Nunn earlier, he was unable to dent the leaderboard.

Townley’s misfortune means that he has lost ground on the top four in the World Championship standings and his advantage over his team-mate in sixth stands at nineteen points.

The seventh round of the series takes place in just seven days when the Red Bull squad roll into Matchams Park on the English south coast for the British Grand Prix.

Ben Townley:
“I was pretty much in control of the race in the second moto as Stefan was feeling the pressure. I had a good start but got bumped in the first turn and had to take a few positions going up the hill. I tangled with Joel a few times and he was riding on the edge in that race, every time I tried to pass him I could have gone down. I was racing clean but he would move across and cut off my lines. I used a lot of energy messing around with him but once I got past I found my rhythm and moved forward. I got by Mickael and was with Stefan biding my time. I was much faster in one section where I had been overtaking some others and probably could have got him if I had been more aggressive. I was waiting and if I had not got him by the time we reached the whoops on the last lap then I was going to triple-triple and try to go inside. I didn’t get that far. The bike cut out on the jump face and I was lucky not to go over the bars. The first moto is not really a consolation at all; I lost so many points today.”

Steve Ramon:
“My start was not good but my riding was fast in the first heat. I had some nice lines and could pass some people to finish fifth. I did not feel that comfortable on the bike so in the break we changed the suspension and I think we went in the wrong direction. I was struggling and could not find a good rhythm. I rode the best I could. My start was OK and I passed some riders in the second corner but I made a mistake over the back section and could not get the speed to come through like I had done in the first race.”

Carl Nunn:
“There is not a lot I can say about today. I got good start in the first race and passed McFarlane but then I crashed after a small mistake. I was last and facing a big uphill task. I was trying to come through and tightened up. I was surprised by that because I rode tense yesterday and did not expect it to happen again. We had ignition trouble in the second race and I couldn’t ride.”

David Philippaerts:
“I’m happy, mainly from the first moto where I did quite well. Obviously the bike is a big change for me and eighth in my first race with the 250 is OK. Unfortunately I crashed early in the second moto and could not do any better than I did. I felt quite tired because the bike needs a different riding style and is a big change from the 125.”

MX2 Moto1

1. Cairoli, Antonio ITA 40:14.858
2. Mackenzie, Billy GBR 40:21.777
3. Melotte, Cedric BEL 40:23.070
4. McFarlane, Andrew AUS 40:28.715
5. Sword, Stephen GBR 40:36.690
6. Maschio, Mickael FRA 40:38.396
7. Chiodi, Alessio ITA 40:47.744
8. Philippaerts, David ITA 40:51.368
9. Guarneri, Davide ITA 41:03.032
10. Bonini, Matteo ITA 41:03.385
21. Nunn, Carl GBR 41:56.488

MX2 Moto2

1. Mackenzie, Billy GBR 39:35.772
2. Sword, Stephen GBR 39:46.551
3. Melotte, Cedric BEL 39:51.155
4. Cairoli, Antonio ITA 39:57.026
5. Chiodi, Alessio ITA 39:58.745
6. Goncalves, Rui POR 40:00.427
7. Eggens, Erik NED 40:04.052
8. Leok, Aigar EST 40:06.249
9. McFarlane, Andrew AUS 40:08.853
10. Caps, Patrick BEL 40:14.680
20. Philippaerts, David ITA 40:59.696

MX2 GP classification

1. Mackenzie, Billy 47
2. Cairoli, Antonio 43
3. Melotte, Cedric 40
4. Sword, Stephen 38
5. Chiodi, Alessio 30
6. McFarlane, Andrew 30
7. Goncalves, Rui 23
8. Guarneri, Davide 22
9. Caps, Patrick 21
10. Maschio, Mickael 21
13. Philippaerts, David 14
30. Nunn, Carl 0

MX2 World Championship standings

1. Cairoli, A. 217
2. Chiodi, Alessio 203
3. Sword, Stephen 190
4, McFarlane, A. 185
5. Melotte, Cedric 183
6. Mackenzie, B. 144
7. Maschio, M. 119
8. Caps, Patrick 111
9. Guarneri, D. 109
10. Goncalves, Rui 108
11. Philippaerts, D. 95
12. Rattray, Tyla 90
13. Nunn, Carl 85

MX1 Moto1

1. Pichon, Mickael FRA 40:13.957
2. Everts, Stefan BEL 40:17.330
3. Townley, Ben NZL 40:20.172
4. Coppins, Joshua NZL 40:52.240
5. Ramon, Steve BEL 40:56.760
6. Smets, Joel BEL 40:58.419
7. Jorgensen, Brian DEN 41:09.109
8. Theybers, Danny BEL 41:10.142
9. Noble, James GBR 41:11.067
10. de Dijcker, Ken BEL 41:16.425

MX1 Moto2

1. Everts, Stefan BEL 39:12.092
2. Smets, Joel BEL 39:13.713
3. Pichon, Mickael FRA 39:14.592
4. Coppins, Joshua NZL 39:36.188
5. Noble, James GBR 39:42.491
6. Leok, Tanel EST 39:54.141
7. de Dijcker, Ken BEL 40:07.079
8. Ramon, Steve BEL 40:10.937
9. Atsuta, Yoshitaka JPN 40:18.274
10. Theybers, Danny BEL 40:19.226

MX1 GP classification

1. Everts, Stefan 47
2. Pichon, Mickael 45
3. Smets, Joel 37
4. Coppins, Joshua 36
5. Ramon, Steve 29
6. Noble, James 28
7. de Dijcker, Ken 25
8. Theybers, Danny 24
9. Leok, Tanel 23
10. Townley, Ben 20

MX1 World Championship standings

1. Everts, Stefan 251
2. Pichon, Mickael 240
3. Smets, Joel 204
4. Coppins, Joshua 203
5. Townley, Ben 168
6. Ramon, Steve 149
7. Noble, James 132
8. Jorgensen, B. 121
9. de Dijcker, Ken 112
10. Cooper, Paul 98

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