NZ Insider No.1: Townley’s Return

Welcome to our brand new weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto‘s NZ Insider. Penned each week by Kiwi, Chris Ritchie, the NZ Insider will present the story-behind-the-stories on NZ-related dirt bike happenings across the globe. 

Welcome, to the first edition of the NZ Insider, bringing you the latest from the moto scene in New Zealand. We start by checking in on the Kiwis currently in action, contesting the Australian MX Nationals.

The surprise late addition of former World MX2 champ, Ben Townley, to the Penrite Oil Honda Racing Team at Round 5 of the MX Nats, held at Wanneroo, Western Australia, over this past weekend shocked many. He replaced fellow Kiwi, Cody Cooper, as the current NZ MX1 Champ is sidelined due to a knee injury sustained at the previous round, held in Murray Bridge. Townley began the day with a strong third in the opening moto, before rounding out the day with ninth and 15^th placings to finish seventh Overall for the day.

Townley used the event as a build-up to prepare for his upcoming appearance in the Manjimup 15,000, to be held this coming weekend at the famous Western Australian circuit.

In the Pro Lites class, current NZ MX2 champ, Kayne Lamont, had a disastrous day at Wanneroo, losing valuable points in the tightly contested title fight, scoring an uncharacteristic 19^th Overall result, and dropping to fifth Overall in the standings. The boy from Mangakino will surely bounce back at Round 6 in Swan Hill, after the series takes a one-month break. KTM’s Hamish Harwood continued his consistent run, finishing fifth Overall in Pro Lites, gaining nine points on series leader, Serco Yamaha’s Luke Clout. He now sits in second, 10 points behind at the halfway point in the series.

In other Kiwi news, newly crowned 2014 NZ National 125cc class champion, Josiah Natzke, has announced he will be competing at the World Junior Championship to be held at Belgium in August, as well as a selection of European 125cc EMX events, which run alongside the World GPs. Natzke is no stranger to international competition, having competed at large events in Europe and America before, with the hope of turning some heads with a strong performance, and looking to secure an overseas ride for the future.

The next major event on the NZ motocross calendar will be the annual Michael Godfrey Memorial event, to be held near Christchurch over this coming Queen’s Birthday weekend. For many riders, this will be their first race meeting since the final round of the NZ Nationals in Taupo at Easter – a chance to get back into race mode, and dust off any cobwebs.