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New Zealand’s motocross talent, Ben Townley, has won the 12th and final round of the AMA Toyota Nationals held in front of 26.000 spectators at a jaw-dropping Glen Helen circuit in San Bernardino, California. The overall victory was the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki rider’s 6th of the season and 12th straight podium however it was not enough to clinch the title from fellow Kawasaki teammate and rival, Ryan Villopoto.
Coming into the final round Townley held a 19 point deficit knowing that he had to take the challenge to Villopoto and as the gate dropped for moto 1, the former MX2 world champ did exactly that. He lead Villopoto, with Kiwi supporters waving BT101 banners and New Zealand flags to cheer on their protagonist. With five laps gone, the crowd were on their feet as Villopoto made a move on Townley for the lead. ‘BT’ kept the pressure on right ‘till the end of the 30 minute + 2 lap moto but could not find that extra speed needed to re-challenge, and followed home closely for second spot.
With the championship going down to the last moto, Townley grabbed an awesome hole-shot and left the rest of the pack trailing in his dust. Villopoto took a lap to get into second but was no match for Townley’s blistering pace as the Kiwi set the fastest race lap time on his way to the victory. Villopoto’s second place finish was enough to clinch the 2007 AMA Motocross Lites with Townley flanking the American as vice-champ after a long 12 round epic battle.
“Winning the overall today was good and the whole year was a bit of a consolation on last year.” explained Townley in the post race press conference. “ I won a Supercross championship this year and raced Ryan all the way to the finish in the outdoor championship. That’s what I said I would do right from the get go, and that was to fight for this championship. Apart from a few mistakes it’s been a great year and a huge improvement for me on last year. It was great to have a bunch of New Zealand supporters here this weekend and to win in front of them was amazing!”
With the outdoor season wrapped up Townley will captain Team New Zealand on the 22-23 September at the 61st edition of the Motocross of Nations to be held in Budds Creek, Maryland.
