Townley airlifted to hospital after Coonabarabran crash

Carton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Ben Townley was airlifted to hospital after crashing heavily in Saturday’s practice at Round 2 of the MX Nationals at Coonabarabran.

Townley suffered a hip injury and was stabilised at the track by Suzuki Racesafe. He’s expected to undergo surgery in Brisbane tomorrow.

As yet, there’s no word about how long Townley will be off the bike, but the injury would have shattered his plans to fly over to the US to race for Chad Reed and TwoTwo Motorsports in the AMA Motocross.

As for Reed’s plans, he’s tweeted, “Everyone asking about Ben Townley, I know as much as you guys. Getting no replies and no answers.”

It must be heartbreaking for Townley as 2012 was his return to racing after taking a break from the World Motocross Championship early last year due to a string of injuries that left him both mentally and physically weakened. Now, he’s again sidelined; adding to his injury-plagued racing career. Only time will tell if we’ll see Townley racing again in 2012.