FIM Wo ....ld Championship Motoc....oss Se....ies
Round B: Uddevalla Ci ....cult
STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF MEYER
UDDEVALLA, SWEDEN, JULY 7
s has been the case so often this
year, the World Motocross
Championships produced what could
only be called classic motocross. In
front of 24,000 spectators, it was 17year-old sensation Ben Townley who,
in the 12Scc class, clinched his first
Grand Prix victory with a sensational
performance. The New Zealander
gated poorly in around 10th place,
worked his way into sixth place on lap
one, and by midrace had moved into
second place, hounding race-leader
Steve Ramon. With three laps remaining, Townley pushed his wheel up the
inside of Ramon and was gone, leading home Ramon by four seconds with
Bulgarian Grand Prix winner Alex
Puzar in third. For the young Vangani
rider, this was a dream come true.
A
14
JULY
17, 2002'
cue
•
e
"I have waited my whole life for
this," Townley said. "This is a dream
come true. I came into this season
looking for a top-10 position in the
points, now I want to win the 'championshjp. It's a long way off with the
points due to my crashing out in
France, although I know I am strong
enough, and now that I have won this
Grand Prix I want more. I'm hungrier
for victory now. n
While Townley had arrived on the
GP scene like a breath of fresh air,
the 2S0cc and SOOcc winners were
(Top) Luigi Seguy (5) and Steve Ramon
(2) lead the pack through the first tum
at the start of the 125cc GP In
Sweden.
(Right) Seventeen-year-old Ben
Townley surprised everyone by
coming from behind to take the
125cc-class win.
n
e
"" s
