06/29/2010
TLD / Lucas Oil / Honda Team On The Box in Colorado
AMA Motocross - Lakewood, CO
Round six of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Nationals marked a milestone for the TLD race team. Ben Townley finally got the monkey off his back by finishing second at the Thunder Valley facility. His result marked the first podium for the team in the premier class and Ben's first podium on a 450 as well. His teammate Cole Seely had the best finish of his young career with a ninth overall in the 250 class. Tarah Gieger struggled with bad starts and crashes and ended her podium streak with a seventh overall.
In the first 450 moto Ben nearly had the holeshot but settled into second around turn one. Ben lost his front end in a wet turn a couple laps later and would fall back to seventh. He put on a charge to get back to the front and tipped over again in a corner. This fall would really take the kiwi out of his rhythm and he could only get back to sixth at the finish. He was less than pleased with his moto one result. Moto two started with Ben in third place off the start. This time Ben was patient and took his time in the opening laps as he followed Dungey and Short around the course. Ben eventually made a move around Short and opened a comfortable cushion over the fellow Honda rider. BT rode a steady race to the checkers for second and second overall on the day.
"This feels really good to be up here," said Townley from the Thunder Valley podium. "It's been a long time since I've been up here and I feel like it has been a long time coming for me. With the injuries I've had it has certainly been a long, difficult road and this finish takes a huge weight off my shoulders. I can't thank the whole Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/ Honda team enough for their support. We've been making progress every weekend and I think things are just going to keep getting better."
Cole Seely has yet to have the results outdoors that he is capable of. Cole got off to a terrible start in moto one but quickly worked his way into the top ten. Once he got into ninth he was all alone with nobody in front or behind him and he settled into a nice pace for ninth, the best finish of his career. He followed that moto up with another terrible start in moto two. Again, Seely put his head down and started chipping away at the deficit in front of him. He made it to tenth and then tipped over in a rutted corner, losing two spots before he could remount. He charged forward again and made a pass for eleventh only to have that rider cut under him and knock him down again. He made yet another run at his assailant but ran out of time and finished in twelfth and earning ninth overall.
"I feel like I'm definitely making progress," said Seely. "My fitness hasn't been where it needs to be but it is definitely coming around. Now I just need to put all the pieces together and get a start, ride hard and hold the pace. I'm looking forward to Red Bud to see if I can continue to improve my results."
Tarah Gieger started way back in the opening moto of the WMX race. She made a good run to the front and was in third when a crash set her back. She remounted and moved up to fourth at the finish. Moto two looked good as Tarah started in second position. Before she could make a run at the lead she flew off the track at the bottom of the downhill and went down. She made a great run forward only to be knocked down by one of the more aggressive gals in the race. She would only get back to seventh and have to settle for seventh overall.
The team will now head to Red Bud, Michigan for one of the best events of the summer at the Red Bud Track and Trail Facility over the fourth of July. Come by and get a team poster and an autograph from Ben, Tarah and Cole this weekend in Michigan.
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| Ben Townley, Photo: Kardas |
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| 450 Podium, Photo: Kardas |
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