Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Round 15 MOTOCROSS 36 August 28, 2005 SEPTEMBER 7,2005 • CYCLE NEWS FIM World MXI/MX2 Motocross Championship KTM'. Ben Townley recorded hi. fourth win of the yeor at the Grand Prix of England. ood friends Ben Townley and Tyla Rattray had a lot to celebrate, as they dominated the Grand Prix of England. Townley, making one of his last appearances in Europe before moving to America, wanted so much to score another Grand Prix victory before his departure, and his spectacular race win in the second moto was a memorable one. Townley would lead home fellow KTM rider Steve Ramon and Martin Honda's Mickael Pichon. As for Rattray, his win was a stunner. Having missed most of the season due to a knee injury, the South African fought back to go 2-3. He was never the quickest rider on the track, but to take a GP victory in his comeback race was not something anyone expected. Rattray finished out the day ahead of young French rider Christophe Pourcel and England's Carl Nunn. This Grand Prix of England will go down in history as one of the better ones. While the racing was not as exciting as in some other Grands Prix this season, the complete package showed that the sport in Europe is doing very well. A huge crowd of nearly 30,000 enjoyed magnificent racing in ideal racing conditions. "It's been a goal of mine to go after the last three Grands Prix," Townley said. "I have won one, and I now look forward to the last two." Despite not getting the best of starts, Townley found himself near the front early in both motos. "I don't know about my starts; I have to keep working on that," Townley said. "The first race, I battled with Stefan [Everts] early and then Josh [Coppins] and settled for third. The second race, I got the lead on the first lap and put some laps down. Istarted making mistakes in the middle of the race, but settled down. It was good. I want to go out with some style, and I want to go to America knowing I can run with these guys." As for the track, Townley was pleased. "They did a good job," he said. "Yesterday, the track was amazing - one of the best I've ridden. I enjoyed riding so much, but when we turned up this morning. it was a mess. There was a lot of water on it, and it was really muddy. I was disgusted and I complained. They made a good circuit for the races, though, so after their mistake, they corrected it. They fixed it really fast." Belgian Steve Ramon won the opening moto and then finished fourth in the second, proving he is on the same speed as the likes of Everts, Coppins, Townley and Pichon. The former World 125cc Champion has struggled this season, although having signed a contract with the Suzuki team for the 2006 season, the Belgian seems to have a new motivation as the '05 season closes. "The last two GPs have been good for me," Ramon said. "Timed practice was good for today, and I knew the speed was there and 1could get good starts, and today that happened. The first moto, I had the holeshot. I had really good lines, but at the end, I had some problems with lapped riders, and Mickael was coming close." Still, Ramon was able to hold on to get the moto win. "I was really happy to win the first moto; it was my first win this year," he said. "In the second moto, I got some arm pump, and Josh and Mickael were riding well and passed me. I am happy with second today." Former World 250cc Champion Pichon finished a strong third with 2-3 results. The Honda rider knew the Grand Prix of England would be tough, since he has not been riding much recently due to his injured knee. Despite poor starts, however, he still managed to run inside the top three most of the day. G

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