‘Retirement’ 101: Ben Townley Speaks

World and AMA champion, Ben Townley, may have retired from full-time Pro racing, but he still plays a key role in Honda’s motocross program – both in Oz and NZ. We caught up with the 29-year-old to talk about his ‘retirement’, his gig with Honda, his standout cameos at this year’s MX Nats and his take on the psychological side of motocross.

Ben Townley headed to Europe at age 16 to pursue a dream of becoming a World Motocross Champion, and just four years later this fiercely determined Kiwi had realised that dream. Then, after narrowly missing out on the premier MX1-class title, BT was poached by America’s powerhouse Pro Circuit Kawasaki team, and within a year of moving Stateside, he’d claimed an AMA SX title and given teammate Ryan Villopoto the battle of his life in the Outdoor series.

But that 2007 season in the USA spelled the end to Townley’s golden run. Plagued by injuries, he struggled to find that all-important momentum over the next few years – despite flashes of brilliance that saw him comfortably dicing with AMA heavy-hitters, Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey, Malcolm Stewart, Brett Metcalfe and his old sparring partner, Ryan Villopoto.

A salvation of sorts then came in the form of an offer from Honda Australia for season 2012. At the opening rounds, a reinvigorated CRF450R-mounted Townley left his premier-class MX Nats rivals wondering which way he went. But then injury struck again. And this time, not only did it sideline the Kiwi from the MX Nats; it also put paid to the plumb ride Chad Reed had just offered him on the then Honda-backed TwoTwo Motorsports team in America. And the failure to finish his fourth season on the trot had clearly taken a physical and emotional toll on BT.

Undeterred, Townley called on his huge reserves of grit and put himself through yet another torturous round of rehab in preparation for the 2013 season in Australia. But after a series of pre-season head knocks, the MX vet called it quits from full-time racing; a pursuit that had been his life and passion for 22 incredible years.

Of course, we all knew that the MX-obsessed BT was never going to disappear from racing circles altogether. In fact, the PR about his retirement also spelled out his plans to work with Honda’s race teams in NZ and Oz in a mentoring, ambassadorial capacity.

Shortly after BT’s stellar 4-1-12 scorecard at the final round of the 2014 MX Nats at Coolum, we caught up with the down-to-earth Kiwi to chat about life, love, the gig with Honda and the birth of his third child.

Transmoto: First up, BT, congrats on the birth of your third child? What’s her name?

Ben: Yeah, thanks. We actually haven’t decided on a name yet. My wife and I always like to leave the baby’s sex a surprise, so we plan to sit down tonight and brainstorm a few names.

The retirement didn’t last long. You announced it in March last year, and by July you were back in Australia to put yourself through the torture of the Hattah Desert Race. WTF?

Yeah, I’m not sure why either. That is such a tough race. The speed you travel, the rough terrain, and the length of time you’re on it – the combination of those three things makes it the most physically demanding race that I’ve ever endured. It’s mentally draining at those speeds too. Plus I wasn’t in the best shape of my life. I’ve got a lot of respect for all those guys – all 14 of them – who finished in front of me at Hattah.

And then this year, you were back in Australia by May to race the Manjimup 15,000 and a few of the MX Nats rounds.

The organiser, Willie Thomson, had asked me to come over to race Manjimup. It’s a historic, iconic track that’s known all over the world, so I jumped at the opportunity. I’d actually never been to WA before that, and it turned out to be a really cool event and a great experience – similar to a few of the two-day events run in New Zealand.

Running second to Kirk Gibbs at Manji was a pretty damn solid effort.

I really enjoyed racing there. The motos were only 10 minutes long, so it suited my fitness levels right down to the ground (laughs). The elimination race format was interesting, too.

Plus you got some sand practice in at WA’s Wanneroo track the weekend beforehand at the MX Nats, right?

Exactly. I was scheduled to be at Wanneroo, but not to race. So when the Honda team lost Cody (Cooper) through an ACL injury – which left them in a bit of a pinch – it made sense for me to gear up and race. My 3-9-15 finishes in the three motos tells the story of where my fitness was at. I was trying to come up with any and every excuse not to race the third moto (laughs), but I had a great time. I always feel comfortable in the sand, but the anchor kept falling out the back of the bike late in the final two motos. Which was to be expected really. It was a decent weekend, all the same.

You did better than ‘decent’ at Conondale and then the MX Nats’ season finale at Coolum, though. Without the crash in the final moto, your 4-1-12 scorecard at Coolum would have looked even more impressive.

I really enjoyed racing at both rounds; just racing what was in front of me and not being worried about the championship. The setting of that Conondale track is spectacular. I’ve become really good mates with Ford Dale and spend quite a bit of time on the Sunshine Coast. So seeing as I’d never raced at Coolum, it was a good opportunity to race that final round there. It’s a brutal track, and with the rain in the lead-up to that event, the conditions became very technical. And in the end, that kind of worked out in my favour as it slowed the pace of the race down a fair bit. It was nice to get that moto win.

“I have a role as an ambassador for the brand over here in NZ, and in Australia, I have a deal that involves helping the team riders in a mentoring and development capacity.”

Did you expect to be doing this much racing in your ‘retirement’?

After announcing my retirement, I’d always said that I wanted to continue racing, but not be committed year-round in a formal contractual obligation. The plan was never, ever to walk away from the sport. My plans were to do more racing in New Zealand, as opposed to racing in Australia – which came through Cody’s injury more than anything else this year. I have done a lot of club racing in NZ, but because I got so involved in running Honda’s racing program over here, I really didn’t end up racing any of the major events. I raced at club events every Sunday through the winter months, which is the only time I get on the bike during any given week. Mixing it up with your mates is a really enjoyable way for me to go racing these days. There’s no pressure or expectation. When the gate drops, whatever happens … happens. I don’t go back to the truck and get disappointed if things haven’t gone right. I have a very different outlook now.

Tell us about your involvement with Honda’s racing program – both in Australia and New Zealand.

Honda Australia and Honda New Zealand are two separate entities. In fact, Honda NZ is one of only two Honda distributors in the world that’s privately owned. So, in New Zealand for the past 15 months, I’ve been running Honda’s motocross program. I also have a role as an ambassador for the brand over here. In Australia, I’ve had a deal with Penrite Honda Team Principal, Yarrive Konsky, for the past two years. That involves helping with the team riders in a mentoring and development capacity. And given my long-standing relationship with Honda, I’d like to think this is just the start of that involvement. It’s just been unfortunate that the team’s had a string of injuries for two seasons now. The New Zealand role tends to take precedence during the summer months – from October through March, when our high-level events are run here – but I enjoy doing what I can in Australia for Honda outside that window.

“Honda as a brand has an incredible heritage and history, and I think they’ve cleverly incorporated those elements into the clothing.”

And that’s not to mention your pin-up boy role for a recent Honda merchandise catalogue photo shoot, eh?

Hah (laughs)! I wouldn’t call myself model material, but those shoots are usually a bit of fun. At one of the photo shoots at Broadford, we did a bunch of lifestyle shots away from the track and I absolutely froze my bum off. That’s the funny thing about photos; people never get an insight into the circumstances behind the images. It looked like we were in the tropics, but it was frigid!

Are you a fan of Honda’s line of merchandise?

Y’know what? I am. Aside from the fact there’s a huge range now on offer, Honda as a brand has an incredible heritage and history, and I think they’ve cleverly incorporated those elements into the clothing. In fact, I virtually live in a couple of my favourite Honda hoodies.

“All those GP riders need to take a long, hard look at themselves during the off-season and lift their game, or Cairoli will collect what will be his ninth world title.”

It might not have been a memorable season for Honda in Australia, but guys like Trey Canard and Max Nagl have been putting Honda on top of the box in both America and Europe toward the end of the season.

Absolutely. Both those guys have been on fire. HRC has put a lot of extra effort into their program in Europe in the past two years, so it’s good to see the results are now starting to come. But I’m a little disappointed that it’s taken Max so long to achieve what he did at the final few rounds. Antonio Cairoli seems to have a mental stranglehold over the entire MX1 field in Europe. I mean, I look at the resources all the factory teams in Europe have at their disposal, and yet the fact Cairoli keeps winning suggests to me that it comes down to the mental game. I’ve raced against Cairoli, and he’s definitely a tough competitor. But in my opinion, everyone’s fighting for second place at the moment. All those riders need to take a long, hard look at themselves during the off-season and lift their game, or Cairoli will do it all over again next year and collect what will be his ninth world title. Actions speak a lot louder than words in professional athlete circles, and it’s time a lot of those guys in the MX GP paddock lift their act.

Thanks for your time, BT. And good luck with the naming ceremony tonight. Have you considered ‘Hondetta’ as a name?

No. But I’ll add that one to the wife’s list (laughs). Thanks, mate.