Interview: Levi Townley – Junior World Champion!

Images: Niek Kamper | Interview: Andy McKinstry

What a weekend it was for Levi Townley racing the Junior World Championship. You’d have never been able to tell with how well he was riding but a week prior to the event he wasn’t even sure if he was going to be able to race after he thought he broke his wrist but thankfully he didn’t!

1-3 on the day was enough to clinch the 85cc Junior world title and he looks like he could have a promising future. We caught up with him after the event which you can listen, watch or read below…

GateDrop: An amazing, amazing weekend for you. How does it feel to be junior world champion?

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Townley: Yeah, it’s amazing. I didn’t think I was going to be racing. About a week ago I thought I’d broken my wrist because it was really bad, a bruise in my bone. I couldn’t move it and then yeah now I’m here a junior Champ, so it feels so cool. The travel was 30 hours of travel, the furthest country away so yeah it was definitely worth it.

GateDrop: I had no idea about the wrist… It certainly did not look like it in your riding. How did it feel with the wrist? I mean where you in any pain? Was it uncomfortable or did it feel alright?

Townley: I think the adrenaline took over and it was just so exciting in the moment. There was so much going on that I forgot about it so that was good.

GateDrop: How did you find the track? Deep sand and yesterday was very deep but today was still pretty rough though…

Townley: Yeah, I liked yesterday quite a lot but I love the track. It was a very good track and a shout out to the whole team that did all the track work. They did an amazing job and it was an awesome event.

GateDrop: Have you raced tracks like this before? Have you got stuff like that at home or not and do you like challenging bumpy tracks like that?

Townley: Yeah, I love it so much. When I walked the track this morning, I was like oh they’ve prepped the whole thing but then it ended up getting rough so I was happy about that but back home we don’t have much. We have one sand track and it’s quite far away so just adapted when we came over and rode three times before this and yeah it looked like it worked.

GateDrop: When did you get over to Europe?

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Townley: I got over here about two weeks ago but then I got injured so I only rode two times or three times.

GateDrop: How have you found being in the Netherlands, how do you find it? It’s probably quite a bit different from home but obviously your Dad’s experienced so he can obviously help you…

Townley: Yeah, my dad helps me understand some stuff, but I love it over here so maybe I could see myself here next year in EMX if there’s an option.

GateDrop: Obviously your two motos were quite different… The first one you were behind Ernecker before his crash and then you controlled it at the front. The second one was very different in a few battles there… How were your motos from your perspective?

Townley: Yeah, the first one was some of the best. There wasn’t much that I could have done better. Just an amazing start, I did it to perfection then some guy came around the outside and then he crashed trying to push. The track was very hard where he crashed. Then I was just riding my own race. I was pushing pretty hard but the French rider behind me was keeping me honest about five seconds behind, but I held it there and rode a good race. Then race two was a bit different. I let the clutch go a bit too fast, attacked it and it bogged. Then I was like outside the top 10 and just battled my way through the pack. I crashed on the last lap trying to pass for second, but it was the fastest get up I’ve ever had in my life. I was just straight on my bike and going again but it looked like it worked.

Image: Niek Kamper

GateDrop: On the first lap of the second moto, I could see Leok was leading. When did you realize that you needed to get into third to be world champion? I’m sure your dad was on the pit boards doing a good job…

Townley: Well, I didn’t even know. My dad said need P3 but I thought I was in fifth but I was actually in fourth and so I didn’t think I’d won. I came across the line a little bit angry that I’d crashed and lost the world title. I then seen world champ, and everyone was cheering and I was like ‘no way?’, amazing.

GateDrop: In terms of for the rest of the season what are your plans now? Do you stay in Europe much longer or do you head straight home?

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Townley: Well, I just got word after I won the world championship that I’m racing the Czech Republic round for the EMX85 so that’ll be pretty wicked in one week. Then head home have a bit of a break from riding and recover. We then go to Australia for Supercross and that’s a great series. I’ve also been invited to go race at the Motocross des Nations for the Blu Cru 85cc class. That is an option to go do that which would be pretty awesome.

GateDrop: Watching you race, you don’t actually look that fast but you’re very smooth and precise. Is that something your dad’s drilled into you since you’ve been very young? It’s almost like watching your dad 20 years ago…

Townley: Oh, well most people wouldn’t even think I’d probably qualify when you watch me because there’s just no movement, no revs, no action. It’s just to hit my marks and good technique and that’s why it looks slow but on the stopwatch it works out pretty good.

GateDrop: Exactly… and your Dad what’s he like on you? I mean he’s been in your shoes trying to make a name for himself but at the minute it should probably just be more about having fun, you are still so young… Is he hard on you or is it up to you if you want to go and ride?

Townley: Yeah, well he just tells me his honest opinion. He’s the best dad I could think of and helps me a lot with all my racing technique and everything apart. The same with my Mum and my family back home… They were up watching and it’s the opposite time zone so my whole cousins, Mum and Dad, they were watching at 2am in the morning. We were on the phone to her and she was just next level happy so my family’s a big part of my success.

GateDrop: Obviously at the minute there’s loads of brothers succeeding you’ve got the Lawrence brothers, the Coenen brothers, you’ve got the Latvian Reisulis brothers… You’ve got your brother as well, what’s it like doing this with him and experiencing it all with him and the Townley’s are going to be on the blocks soon I think.

Townley: Yeah, they’re coming, they’re coming to get you guys (laughs). No, my brother is awesome. he’ll win the world title in a couple years I think. He has only just turned the age to race and he was running 12th today so that’s pretty amazing for him and he learned a lot today with a couple of things so it’s an awesome experience for him to come and learn and hopefully win the world title in a couple years.

GateDrop: For next year, you’ll probably be on a 125cc?

Townley: Yeah, that’s the plan. We’ll just see how my growth goes and it’s not a rush to get up the bikes, we’ll just take it off my growth and if I do grow, we’ll probably come race EMX when I’m on a 125cc and that’ll probably be the plan if it’s available.

GateDrop: So, you definitely want to come and do EMX then, yeah?

Townley: Yeah, I think the EMX is a great program and I think I could get a lot out of it if I came and raced.