Motocross: Townley takes on world again

BACK IN ACTION: Ben Townley will return to world championship action next year. PHOTO/ SUZUKI RACING

Tauranga's former world motocross champion Ben Townley is ready to twist the throttle again with a full-time return to world championship action in 2016.

Earlier this week Townley, 30, called time on the retirement he announced in early 2013 and confirmed he will chase Grand Prix success again next year as a factory Suzuki rider.

It's a return to the elite level of the sport in which Townley clinched the 2004 MX2 World Championship. Other career highlights saw him finish third in the MX1 World Championship the following year and the switch his attention to the US scene with a 250cc supercross title in 2007 and a runner-up finish in the 250cc US motocross championship the same year.

Retirement in 2013 was prompted by a series of injuries but was a step away from professional racing rather than a complete halt to his racing activities. Townley has continued to enjoy success racing for fun in local events and occasional Australian outings.

The motivation to restart a professional career came from Townley's spectacular foray back at the top level of the sport in September.

Putting in several months of fitness work including build-up races in Australia and USA, Townley delivered a storming ride at Ernee in France at the annual Motocross of Nations team's event.

Second and sixth placings in his two rides showed he could match the best riders in the world and spearheaded an eighth-place finish for the New Zealand team.

"The Motocross of Nations was a personal test and I proved a lot to myself. It gave me clarity and if I didn't race again at that level I would have been happy," said Townley. "But this opportunity has come along to finish some unfinished business."

It will mean once again returning to a European base, this time not as a single teenager but with his wife Lucy and their three children aged five, three and one.

"The first time I went to race to Europe there was just me. Now there's five of us so a lot of the discussions have been about how the team can accommodate us," said Townley. "The world championship is a lot different to the last time I raced in it, but I'm a different person now as well.

"There more races outside of Europe including Qatar, two in Asia and two in South America, so I'm looking forward to going places I haven't been before and experiencing different cultures."

Townley said the training regime for the 19-round world championships had flowed on from the effort he put into returning to race fitness for the Motocross of Nations.

"I started training again after racing at the Rotorua round of the NZ Champs in March.

"I've carried on my training since the Motocross of Nations and I've added a big core strength component that will help the condition of my body and the injuries I've had in the past. And I've also been getting a lot of time on the bike."

While Townley has raced Honda machines in recent years, the new contract is a return to the Suzuki marque.

"I actually began my professional career riding for a German team in 2001 on a Suzuki 125 two-stroke."

His 2016 ride is with the works Suzuki MXGP team as teammate to Belgian Kevin Strijbos, a two-time runner-up in the premier 450cc class. He'll race the latest RM-Z450 machine in the 19-round MX GP world championship which starts in Qatar on February 27 and runs till the US round at Glen Helen Raceway near San Bernadino, California on September 11.

Townley has yet to decide on a base for his family in Europe but expected to join the team - based in Belgium - from mid-January.