Ben Townley Injured in Valence [Update]

According to a team press release, Ben Townley sustained a knee injury yesterday at the Valence International in France. Per the team, the New Zealand native was injured during the Superfinal race (MX1 vs. MX2) when Jeffrey Herlings made a block pass on Townley.

“The pass on BT by Herlings was unnecessarily aggressive. It’s a pity to see that things like that happen as BT hurt his knee,” said team manager Stefan Everts. “There are already so many injured riders and the season hasn’t even started yet. A little respect between riders is not misplaced. At the moment, we do not know how serious it is for Ben, but we will wait and hope for the best.”

Priro to the Superfinal, Townley had finished 4-4 in the first two MX1 motos behind winner Clement Desalle, who was also reportedly injured at the event.

“Coming back to Europe is not easy and the conditions are tough. It has been quite a challenge each weekend but I’m improving every race. I started quite slow, I couldn’t follow the fast guys in Moto 1, but I got more used to the track in Moto 2 and could stay with them for some laps,” Townley said.

This off-season, Townley, 30, came out of retirement and signed with Suzuki World MXGP to contest the 2016 FIM World Motocross Championship. “Joining Suzuki is about many factors—the personnel, the team, the professionalism and of course the RM-Z450,” he said at the time. “It is everything that I need to be competitive. Being with Suzuki ticks every box in my opinion and leaves no question marks. In my mind it is the right choice.”

We will update Townley’s status for the opening round of the FIM World Motocross Championship in Qatar on February 27 as more is known.

[Update: Tuesday, February 16]
Below is video of the crash via Motocrossplanet.com.