Levi Townley has endured more than his fair share of setbacks since making the move from New Zealand to Europe, but the talented youngster reminded everyone exactly why he’s regarded as one of the brightest prospects in the sport with an outstanding performance at Foxhill.
The young Kiwi was right in the thick of a thrilling EMX125 battle in the second moto, overcoming severe arm pump to fight for victory and leave the British Grand Prix with renewed confidence. Despite a frustrating first moto, where a tear-off issue ruined his chances of an overall win, Townley believes he has the speed to beat anyone in the class as he continues to rebuild after two leg injuries.
We caught up with Townley to reflect on his Foxhill performance, explains how close he feels to his best, discusses the mental challenge of returning from injury, opens up about life in Europe, his friendship with Kay de Wolf, and reveals why racing in America remains his ultimate dream.
GateDrop: Levi, two very different races for you actually, but you ended the weekend on a high in the second moto, I mean wow, between the three of you it was a ding-donger really. What was it like to be part of such intense racing like that?
Townley: Yeah it was a pretty cool race, obviously it’s always better if you win but it’s cool to be in the battle. It’s been a little bit since I’ve been in a hardcore battle for a win like that. The track was pretty sick, big ups to the crew here, obviously it’s pretty clear that it’s not the best dirt on the calendar but it was probably one of the best tracks you’ll see all year. I mean what the track crew did was pretty phenomenal to be honest. I really enjoyed riding it and it was a proper race track. It was technical, it wasn’t like the last two GPs where there hasn’t been many ruts or anything, there was so many ruts you can’t count how many there is, so it was a proper race track and I made for good racing.
GateDrop: Just on the first moto, you sort of positioned yourself quite well, you and Sleny had a good battle and then towards the end maybe you didn’t ride like yourself, was there any reason for that or anything or just not feeling your best?
Townley: I mean yesterday I was P2 in qualifying, I think I was maybe two tenths off pole. For me qualifying isn’t a strength of mine, the Euros are amazing at that, in New Zealand we don’t do that, so growing up we don’t have qualifying, we have a three lap practise and then you go straight to your race, no free practise, no qualifying. For me it’s always been a challenge but I’m getting better at it, so when I’m P2 in qualifying I know that I can race at that speed, whereas a lot of people drop off.
In the first race, I had a decent start, I think I was maybe around 10th and I ripped all my tear-offs on the first lap accidentally obviously. That made it pretty tough, especially on this dirt, it’s so sticky, I tried grabbing it but it just wasn’t working and I couldn’t see. Literally third, second or first was right there and it was such a hardcore battle between five of us, I was running the speed quite easily, if I just passed them I can have a comfortable race and then it got to the point where I was looking out just the right eye of my goggles and down those hills it was getting pretty loose so I pulled in for goggles. After that I reeled Utech back in but couldn’t quite make the pass but I finished in eighth. Moto two was a bit better but the arms were so tight I was death gripping it.
GateDrop: I was going to ask you about that because I heard you talking to the team manager, you actually had arm pump until like three laps to go, I mean you were riding amazing, you wouldn’t have thought you were riding with arm pump but what was that like to ride with, pretty uncomfortable I’d imagine?
Townley: Yeah I don’t know, I don’t ever get arm pump to be honest and I didn’t do obviously a good enough warm-up. I was running around looking at the track and ran up a couple of hills but obviously my arms weren’t warm enough and the two arms got rock solid and then on those hills I was just death gripping it. I got to third, Oppliger and Bauer were having a pretty good battle and then I looked at the time and it was maybe 10 minutes to go and I was pretty comfortable with the pace. I was just going to sit there, let my body relax, get the arms pumped out and then go in the last five. The arm pump never went away so the last few laps I hung it out a little bit with the arm pump but it was a bit of a bugger because I definitely had more on the tank.
GateDrop: I was really excited to see you make the move to Europe last year to race EMX125, things obviously haven’t gone according to plan, you broke your leg in Arco last year and then you came back on the bike pretty early but then you broke your leg again, I don’t even think you crashed for the second one so you haven’t really got to show what you could do and you’ve moved to the other side of the world. How frustrating has that been for you?
Townley: I think it’s definitely mentally been really tough especially last year. This year has been better but it’s been a tough run so far, I am starting to get back on track. The toughest thing last year is not much of it was my fault. Obviously the rock got stuck in the chain on a big jump in Arco, there’s not much you can do about that and then and my chain in the bike locked up. The second one we waited three or four months which is about the time you wait and the doctor told me it’s all healed so I was all ready to go. The first corner I was doing my lock lap and I dabbed my leg a tiny bit and I was going so slow so there’s not much we could have really done. We listened to the doctors, we did what we could and I guess it just wasn’t meant to be last year but it’s starting to get better now. I’m all healthy again and mentally it’s starting to come back.
GateDrop: I mean you’ve got a podium quite quickly in EMX125 after coming, did you expect that? It’s not easy to come in when you’ve missed so much racing and already be on the pace but obviously you are so did you expect being the podium so quickly?
Townley: I think my potential is high, I think it’s one of the highest in the class if not the highest so I feel like if I rode like myself then I can win. I think with this weekend how it went and with the arm pump and still nearly winning, I think it’s pretty clear that I have it. It all just needs to fall in place and I think two tenth place starts when the other guys are in the top two or top three, then it is difficult. If I can just get a little bit better starts and then I can be there.
GateDrop: How far off do you think you are off the best version of yourself because like I said you haven’t actually raced that much last year and you’re still really coming back this year. You’ve only done three or four races so do you feel like you’re near your best or is there still lots of areas to improve?
Townley: There’s lots of areas to improve. I think my strengths that I always used to have, I lost them a little bit when I first came back riding but they’re starting to come back. I’m not all the way there yet so I think just getting back to my old self again like I was on the 85cc but bring it to the 125cc. I think I’ll just be a little bit better and at that top level – that’s what makes the difference.
GateDrop: I think you’re based in Lommel, isn’t that right that you live there? How do you find coming over from the other side of the world and living in Lommel? There’s probably not much to do there apart from do laps at Lommel, do you enjoy that?
Townley: We’ve done a lot of laps at Lommel this year but I mean when you’ve had this opportunity to come all the way across the world then you take it with both hands. Coming from New Zealand it’s a two or three day trip on a plane, it’s not like you’re coming from Italy or France and it’s a couple hours away from your back door. You put everything into it and that’s just where I come from and I wear my heart on my sleeve when I race. I’ll do the best I can.
GateDrop: You’ve obviously got very close with Kay de Wolf, you’ve got a good relationship with him… I mean what’s it like to have him and put in the moto’s in with him? He’s a good guy to listen to him I’m sure and he can give you plenty of tips?
Townley: He’s really cool to be around. I really enjoy hanging out with him on the track and off the track. He’s a cool person and he’s just a good guy so we really like hanging out with him. We all enjoy our family to hang out together and go around for dinner and have a good time.
GateDrop: And I was talking to somebody a few weeks ago actually and they reminded me that you actually age out of this class at the end of this year so you have to go 250 next year I believe. Have you had any laps on a 250 yet or is the full focus on the 125cc?
Townley: I think I can do one or two more years but the plan is to go to the 250cc anyway.
GateDrop: Have you done any motos on a 250 or anything?
Townley: I’ve been riding a 250cc the last couple of weeks actually. It’s good.
GateDrop: Are you hoping to stay in Europe?
Townley: It’s not sure yet. I’d always like to stay here to keep improving and keep going. My dream is also to go race in America. You talk to a lot of people here like the Coenen’s, De Wolf… They always say their dream is to go and race Supercross in the 450 class and win a 450cc championship. My dream is to go to America but whether it’s next year or the year after we’ll see. We’re just going to select what the best option is.
