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TOWNLEY FOURTH IN FRUITLESS CZECH GP FOR KTM
07 August 2005 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG
Ben Townley was able to take fourth position overall this afternoon at a temperate and rainy Loket circuit for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic; the thirteenth round of seventeen in the 2005 FIM Motocross World Championship.
In front of 19,000 fans and frequent inclement conditions for mid-August the New Zealander fell in the first moto while chasing the breakaway top four of Brian Jorgensen, Stefan Everts, Mickael Pichon and Josh Coppins. The reigning MX2 World Champion fought back to fifth spot. The steep undulating nature of the track combined with the loose and soggy dirt meant that the terrain was a slippery and difficult prospect. The mud was slow to formulate berms and ruts and overtaking was again a measured skill with little traction affordable. Townley fought back to third in the second moto after getting caught in the first corner-pile-up that also claimed Everts, Pichon, Jonathan Barragan, Pascal Leuret, Luigi Seguy and his KTM team-mate Steve Ramon. The 20 year old ended up six points away from Josh Coppins in third place. Steve Ramon endured a horrible weekend. The Belgian crashed in the first corner of both races and finished fifteenth overall with two 16th positions. MX3 World Champion Yves Demaria, using the hefty summer break in his respective calendar to make his first MX1 outing for more than a year, had to retire from fourth position in moto1 after a run-in with Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos left the Frenchman with a painful ankle. Demaria tried to compete in the second outing but was uncomfortable on the 450 in wretched conditions. With a mind towards the upcoming Swiss round of the MX3 campaign he pulled out after four laps. KTM have four moto wins and three Grand Prix victories in the MX1 class thanks to Townley’s efforts. The New Zealander is currently third in the World Championship and extended his margin over Joel Smets to 41 points. In MX2 Marc de Reuver scored his first top three finish since the 2004 Grand Prix of Ireland with a solid second position in the opening moto behind Antonio Cairoli and in front of Red Bull Champ team-mate Carl Nunn.
The trio broke away from the pack on the first lap and the only manoeuvre of significance was de Reuver’s slide through to second from Nunn midway through the race. The Dutchman could not take a dream overall podium due to a shaky start later in the afternoon, finishing13th, while Nunn found the damper conditions slightly more tricky and dropped to 7th place in the latter stages of the moto. David Philippaerts made the most of his poor position in the gate after yesterday’s heavy crash while holding the runner-up spot in the second MX2 Qualification heat and blasted out from 26th place to grab 3rd in moto2. The Italian had earlier crashed on the first circulation of race one and only managed to take 14th spot after restarting. Despite injuries to De Reuver and Tyla Rattray, KTM have accumulated five moto wins from twenty six thanks to Nunn (British Grand Prix) and Philippaerts (France and South Africa). The duo have notched six podiums between them and both lie in the top nine in the World Championship standings. The World Championships now enjoy a rare weekend break before the first of the four final rounds (set to take place in the space of just over a month) will occur at Gaildorf on August 20th/21st for the Grand Prix of Germany. Ben Townley, 4th overall
“This is not what I wanted but at least I finished both races. I am more consistent this time but I want to work back up to winning again. There was another stupid error in the first race when I could have been in the top three. When I got up I could not find my rhythm and finished fifth. In the second moto I wanted a good start but ended up going down with Stefan and Barragan.” Steve Ramon, 15th overall
“I don’t think it can get worse than two crashes at the start of each moto. The first race was a little bit easier to come back because the drier conditions made passing more possible but the starts were so important today on a track like this. My riding was not great but it so difficult to take other lines. When I had to throw my goggles away in the second moto it was over. A really bad day.” Yves Demaria, 28th overall
“In the first heat I collided with Kevin Strijbos and I twisted my ankle, the same one I hurt earlier in the year. I had a lot of pain and that was the reason why I retired. I took some painkillers in between the motos but it was not enough and I did not feel confident on the bike to finish the second race.” Marc de Reuver, 6th overall
“I am really happy if you see what happened last week compared to now; it has improved a lot! The first moto was brilliant. In the second heat my start from the gate was not so good but in the first corner Pourcel hit me pretty hard and I had no balance and people went around me. It is still difficult to come back through the pack in a strong way. I am too smooth in the corners and not aggressive enough yet. It has been more than one year since I finished two motos so I am unbelievably happy. I want to thank KTM, my parents and Johan Boonen who have been very patient with me over the last year but now things are coming back for us.” Carl Nunn, 4th overall
“It was a pretty good day but I wish I could have done better in that second race; I messed the start up a bit. I got a good drop and rounded the first turn OK but got slightly blocked on the first straight. I made it hard for myself because I needed to pass a few guys and around here everyone is pretty much at the same speed, except for Cairoli! It took me a while to pass Chiodi and then coming up to Caps really spoilt my rhythm. Mackenzie and Melotte came by which was a shame. I am happy to get two good finishes and start to kill this ‘bug from abroad’ that I have. I did not seem to travel very well at the start of the season but things are getting better.” David Philippaerts, 8th overall
“I had a bad start and crashed on the first lap and this was not what I needed because my back was still hurting from yesterday. I tried hard after that but the result was not good. In the second moto my start was better and I was right with Cairoli. The track was very stony and it felt easy to crash or make a mistake. The race was not that exciting for me but the surface was very difficult with hardly any traction.”
MX2 Moto1
1. Cairoli, Antonio Yamaha 40:21.047
2. de Reuver, Marc KTM 40:29.952
3. Nunn, Carl KTM 40:35.716
4. McFarlane, Andrew Yamaha 40:38.364
5. Pourcel, Christophe Kawasaki 40:38.901
6. Melotte, Cedric Yamaha 40:50.410
7. Pourcel, Sebastien Kawasaki 40:51.816
8. Mackenzie, Billy Yamaha 40:52.626
9. Chiodi, Alessio Yamaha 41:03.488
14. Philippaerts, David KTM 41:27.315
MX2 Moto2
1. Pourcel, Christophe Kawasaki 40:54.679
2. Cairoli, Antonio Yamaha 41:05.585
3. Philippaerts, David KTM 41:09.132
4. McFarlane, Andrew Yamaha 41:18.791
5. Melotte, Cedric Yamaha 41:23.015
6. Mackenzie, Billy Yamaha 41:24.689
7. Nunn, Carl KTM 41:36.902
8. Sword, Stephen Kawasaki 41:48.622
9. Chiodi, Alessio Yamaha 41:51.059
10. Leok, Aigar KTM 41:53.438
13. de Reuver, Marc KTM 42:01.534 MX2 Overall result 1. Cairoli, Antonio 47
2. Pourcel, Christophe 41
3. McFarlane, Andrew 36
4. Nunn, Carl 34
5. Melotte, Cedric 31
6. de Reuver, Marc 30
7. Mackenzie, Billy 28
8. Philippaerts, David 27
9. Chiodi, Alessio 24
10. Sword, Stephen 23
MX2 World Championship standings after 13 rounds
1. McFarlane, A. 452
2. Cairoli, A. 451
3. Chiodi, Alessio 402
4. Philippaerts, D. 368
5. Melotte, Cedric 352
6. Sword, Stephen 285
7. Pourcel, C. 270
8. Mackenzie, B. 256
9. Nunn, Carl 251
10. Goncalves, Rui 231
22. Rattray, Tyla 90
29. de Reuver, Marc 30
MX1 Moto1
1. Everts, Stefan Yamaha 39:07.404
2. Pichon, Mickael Honda 39:08.506
3. Coppins, Joshua Honda 39:15.728
4. Strijbos, Kevin Suzuki 39:29.757
5. Townley, Ben KTM 39:37.707
6. de Dijcker, Ken Honda 39:44.690
7. Leuret, Pascal Honda 39:48.352
8. Leok, Tanel Kawasaki 39:56.065
9. Jorgensen, Brian Yamaha 40:02.135
10. Hucklebridge, M Honda 40:02.392
16. Ramon, Steve KTM 40:32.818
MX1 Moto2
1. Strijbos, Kevin Suzuki 39:27.132
2. Coppins, Joshua Honda 39:31.918
3. Townley, Ben KTM 39:36.520
4. Everts, Stefan Yamaha 40:00.962
5. de Dijcker, Ken Honda 40:05.679
6. Seguy, Luigi Yamaha 40:12.958
7. Leok, Tanel Kawasaki 40:13.832
8. Hucklebridge, Mark Honda 40:32.281
9. Noble, James Honda 40:37.174
10. Theybers, Danny Suzuki 40:48.254
16. Ramon, Steve KTM 41:16.010 MX1 Overall result 1. Strijbos, Kevin 43
2. Everts, Stefan 43
3. Coppins, Joshua 42
4. Townley, Ben 36
5. de Dijcker, Ken 31
6. Leok, Tanel 27
7. Seguy, Luigi 24
8. Hucklebridge, Mark 24
9. Leuret, Pascal 24
10. Pichon, Mickael 22
15. Ramon, Steve 10 MX1 World Championship standings after 13 rounds 1. Everts, Stefan 539
2. Coppins, Joshua 500
3. Townley, Ben 426
4. Smets, Joel 385
5. Pichon, Mickael 368
6. Ramon, Steve 342
7. Leuret, Pascal 267
8. de Dijcker, Ken 245
9. Noble, James 230
13. Barragan, J. 203
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