Ben Townley
“ As a
parent , I ’ m now learning how many hours my Dad spent in the shed at night
Deep down , did you have any reservations about the return to MXGP ?
Never . Every decision I ’ ve made through my career I never questioned and I was fully committed to them all . I felt the Suzuki team was a great environment for me and I knew everyone really well . I had no reservations whatsoever .
How was it returning to the MXGP after 10 years away ?
It was definitely different ; I had a family for one , and when I left in 2005 I was on top of the world .
The formats are the biggest change – when I left there was just MX1 and MX2 racing . These days you turn up and there ’ re five different classes and bikes on track from sun-up to sundown . It ’ s a whole different kettle of fish now . You could argue it ’ s overcooked , but the standard of the teams , brands and sponsors have all stepped up in a big way .
Do you feel like there ’ s still unfinished business , or have you made peace with the decision ?
It actually really guts me . It churns me up , but at the end of the day all the decisions were in my hands . Being from New Zealand we ’ re quite removed from the sport . My parents did all they physically could to help me on my career path , but they had to let me go on my own and at that point , I really could ’ ve benefitted from having someone mentoring and guiding me through all the decisions I faced . I think that cost me a lot , as I had to make a lot of those choices myself with no guidance .
You had Josh Coppins mentoring you though , didn ’ t you ? You were living with him when you moved to Europe .
Yeah , at the time I thought that . He did do a lot , but it wasn ’ t mentoring . The role I played with Kiwi racer
Josiah Natzke , and now James Scott , is what I think mentoring is about . I talk to James ’ dad at least once a day , giving them advice and what to do with different forks in the road . I didn ’ t have that guidance : my dad ’ s a builder and my mum ’ s a nurse , and realistically there was only so far they could take me .
I ’ ve known you and your family for a while , and man , your parents invested a shedload of time , money and energy into your career .
Oh , massively . I have a massive debt to them . They really paved the path for me ; all I knew was that I wanted to be a racer , and obviously they helped position me well , and at 16 they couldn ’ t take me any further . It was a big call for them to send me overseas at such a young age .
Yeah , can you imagine when your kids turn 16 just sending them to the other side of the world ?
[ Laughs ] Yeah , I ’ ve had that conversation with Lucy , actually . It ’ s a bloody big call . I always appreciated and respected all the things my parents did for me , but I don ’ t think you completely understand it until you have your own kids . As a parent , I ’ m learning how many hours my Dad spent in the shed at night after he got home from work . And in comparison , I ’ m only involved in a small way .
Do any of your kids want to follow in your footsteps ? And would you encourage them to ?
They love racing , but I ’ m not sure if they want to be professional racers . In New Zealand , it ’ s not a massive career path , so if they decided they wanted to be a professional racer , they ’ d have to be bloody serious about it , and they ’ d have to be willing to move internationally at a young age to make it work . Time will tell , but whatever they do I ’ ll support them . u
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