Motorsport: Time to claim the elusive win

Ben Townley has missed many Woodville seasons because of injury or racing commitments. Photo / Paul Estcourt

It is a trivia question that may stump a few motocross aficionados: in what year did Kiwi Ben Townley win the big annual Woodville Motocross?

The answer is never, and it's an answer that the former world and American champion intends to change at the 51st running of the event this weekend.

It surprises many people when they learn that the Honda ace - world MX2 champion in 2004 and United States East Coast Lites Supercross Champion and US 250cc class runner-up in 2007 - has not yet collected the Woodville silverware.

But there are a couple of good reasons for this, and the fact that the 27-year-old is regarded as New Zealand's leading motocross international offers the first big hint.

For many seasons he has been racing overseas when Woodville has been run; either that or he's been injured, as he's had more than his fair share of debilitating accidents.

He missed the Honda New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix in Woodville last year because he had just suffered an injury, and the main Woodville title was won instead by fellow Kiwi international Josh Coppins (Yamaha), of Motueka.

Townley will be up against Coppins this weekend, as well as a flock of other Kiwi internationals such as New Zealand MX1 champion Cody Cooper (Suzuki), of Mount Maunganui, 2009 MX1 champion and 2010 Woodville winner Justin McDonald (Honda), of Christchurch, and regular Canadian championships campaigner Mason Phillips (Kawasaki), of Papamoa.

"I've only raced at Woodville once over the past 10 years, and that was not a happy day for me, battling in the mud, so I'm really looking forward to being there this weekend," said Townley. "It will be an ideal build-up for me ahead of the nationals, and then my Australian campaign that follows."

Townley arrives at Woodville with a major domestic win under his belt already, having dominated at the annual Whakatane Summercross just after Christmas, and that hot form easily makes him the favourite to win at Woodville.

"I am taking nothing for granted," said Townley. "I expect to see Josh and Cody and Justin all pushing hard at the front.

"Woodville is very much a level playing field because it's a venue that's used only once a year and nobody gets to ride on it at any other time. That fact alone means it's hard to predict who will win the day. I'm just hoping it's my turn."

British world championship rider Jake Nicholls (KTM) will also add to the international flavour of the event, riding in the senior MX2 (250cc) class, where the 21-year-old will face strong challenges from the likes of Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Bel Ray Honda), Queenstown's Scotty Columb (Murray Thorn Suzuki), Mangakino's Kayne Lamont (BikesportNZ.com Suzuki) and Kiwi former GP rider and current national MX2 champion Darryll King (MXDK Rockstar Yamaha).

Since the stand-alone event was first staged in 1961, the Woodville Motocross has become the jewel in New Zealand's motocross crown.

The long and illustrious list of previous winners includes Kiwi former world champion Shayne King, Britain's Greg Hanson and Sweden's Gunnar Lindstrom, to name a few.

Woodville was founded by Palmerston North's Tim Gibbes, a former Grand Prix motocross racer and one of the stuntmen in the Hollywood blockbuster The Great Escape.

Gibbes will likely be among the thousands of spectators on the hillside at Woodville on Saturday and Sunday.