TOWNLEY & SUZUKI 12TH AT BRITISH MXGP

2016-06-20 09:12
The Grand Prix of Great Britain was staged at the impressive Matterley Basin circuit near Winchester for the sixth year in a row, and at the 11th round of 18 in the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Ben Townley rode to a second moto position of 12th on his factory RM-Z450.

Dry conditions greeted race day in the UK and with an appreciative 37,000 crowd glad that the weather forecast for the weekend of thundery showers did not come to pass. By the afternoon some typical English ‘drizzle’ made sure the second MXGP moto had a damp sheen but the event was lucky to escape the worst of the climate. The quick and flowing course featured some spectacular jumps and was again acclaimed by most of the paddock as one of the best racing tracks on the calendar.

On Saturday Townley rode to ninth position in the qualification heat and was part of a multi-rider scrap going for the top five. Adjusting his suspension set-up on Sunday morning the New Zealander took his place in the gate hopeful of a top-10 finish.

The opening 30-minute and two lap chase saw ‘#8’ luckless on the first lap. Townley fell and lost a lot of time to restart and re-join the fray. With an empty track ahead he tried to catch the stragglers of the MXGP pack but went down again and was too far adrift so elected to gather energy and resources for the second moto. He made a better second start and was vying for seventh place until a slip on the penultimate lap proved costly.

Townley picked-up nine points for his disrupted world championship tally and with a total of 128 now sits 15th in the standings.

Kevin Strijbos was still not fit to compete after suffering a fracture in his left wrist at the Grand Prix of Spain. The Belgian will miss the following round of the series to focus on a return for the 13th fixture in the Czech Republic. MXGP continues now onto the shallow sand of Mantova with the Grand Prix of Lombardia next weekend.

Ben Townley:

“Tough weekend but it doesn't sound like much different to what I have been saying all year. I put it down twice early in the first one so I decided to save my energy for the second. I wanted a decent and consistent moto but fell with a lap to go. It’s been a hard old season. I expected a much better weekend. We just need to keep working. We made some positive changes overnight. The team had some ideas and we made a fork and a shock change to make the bike softer and that made it turn better and gain more traction.”

MXGP Moto1: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:27.708; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:05.864; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:09.678; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:15.214; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:17.550; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:20.714; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:24.515; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:34.354; 9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.237; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:52.873. 35. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki World MXGP), -12 lap(s).

MXGP Moto2: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:12.109; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:09.095; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:18.031; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:25.931; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:42.948; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:00.390; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +1:02.316; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +1:15.080; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:24.099; 10. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +1:32.758; 11. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), +1:33.952; 12. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki World MXGP), +1:36.404.

MXGP Overall result: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 36 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 36 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 34 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 9. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 22 p.; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 20 p. 16. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki World MXGP), 9 p.

MXGP World Championship Standings (after 11 of 18 rounds): 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 482 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 408 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 405 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 378 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 367 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 321 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 242 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 212 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki World MXGP), 204 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 201 p.; 11. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 182 p.; 12. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 170 p.; 13. Christophe Charlier (FRA, HUS), 168 p.; 14. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 150 p.; 15. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki World MXGP), 128 p.

Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

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