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Young New Zealand motocross racer Ben Townley has been told he will be out of grand prix competition for several weeks after a specialist has diagnosed a crack in his shoulder as well as his broken arm.
There is still doubt over the extent of the arm break, in the upper humerus near the site of a previous fracture, but it is clear the fast-rising 16-year-old will miss several world championship events.
His left arm in a sling, the talented Townley is flying home to Taupo in New Zealand for further medical diagnosis and treatment.
“The German specialist says it will be a few weeks before I can ride again, and more till I’m back to racing speed,” said the young man who left school and junior racing in New Zealand to taken on the world’s best at the start of this year.
“I leave tonight for New Zealand where we can compare the latest x-rays with the ones of my previous injury and perhaps get a reading on just what is needed.
“But it’s clear neither of the fractures is too serious … I’m not facing any long layoff, that’s for sure.”
Townley says he is determined to re-join the grand prix fray well before the world championship finishes in September.
“After that there are numerous other top races around Europe, motocross and stadium supercross,” Townley explained.
“We’ll see how the injury is holding up and make a decision then on what other events I can do.”
The break, which occurred in a freak fall in the pits at a minor German race last Saturday, is a tough blow for the GP rookie who is already 24th on the world championship ladder.
The next GP in 10 days’ time is the first of three on successive weekends, all of which he will miss. Meanwhile the championship season has just cruised through layoffs of four and five weeks plenty of time for injured riders to recover.
But insiders say the injury will not hinder Townley’s overall progress in the sport.
He has done plenty in his first half-season to turn heads in Europe and is already being spoken of as a young Josh Coppins, his mentor and star of the Suzuki factory team.
