Tauranga teenager and Yamaha ambassador Levi Townley (14) has etched his name in the history books, becoming the first Kiwi rider to claim a world junior motocross title after winning the 2024 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship 85cc class in The Netherlands over the weekend.
Townley’s incredible achievement was made on his debut attempt riding in the deep Dutch sand of the Circuit Kamperweg Heerde, with the decision to compete only made eight short weeks ago.
As he drove back to his accommodation last night after the race – with his father Ben Townley (former supercross and motorcross star) and his younger brother Jaggar, who also raced in the 85cc class – the magnitude of his victory was still sinking in.
“It was an amazing weekend for me. I wasn’t expecting it. I was expecting to go and learn as much as I could,” he said.
In moto one, Austrian Moritz Ernecker took the holeshot and held the early lead from the Kiwi and French rider Sleny Goyer, before Finland’s Viktor Leppälä moved into contention. On Lap 5, Ernecker lost the frontrunner position, giving Townley a lead that he would not relinquish.
“I got a really good start in the first race and came around second and ended up leading by halfway and won that moto. So that set the day up and the weekend really well to win,” he says.
Race 2 saw a clean holeshot for Estonian Lucas Leok, who could not be caught as he created an early gap and claimed a solid 12-second victory by the flag. The battle raged behind him as the Dane Casey Karstrom put his Yamaha into second initially before local ace Dex van den Broek completed his charge from outside the top five to claim second in the race, but Levi battled past Brit Finley Pickering, Austrian Ricardo Bauer, and finally, Karstrom to take third place.
It was enough to keep Leok back in the points and for Levi to lay claim to the first-ever World Junior Motocross Championship for New Zealand.
“I didn’t get the best start in the second moto, then I rode pretty good and came from outside the top ten to third, and that was enough to win the world championship. That was pretty cool when I crossed the line!” Townley says.
His father Ben, who won the World MX2 Championship title 20 years ago in 2004, says they decided for Levi to race in the World Champs two months earlier and started preparing in New Zealand for the vastly different racing conditions in Holland.
“The track that Levi raced on is a deep sand track, and we don’t have anything like that in New Zealand. We spent a few days down in the Manawatu at PWR Yamaha Team Manager Paul Whibley’s track,” Ben says.
“Levi had support from Tauranga Boys College for some extra time off and ramped up his physical training. The world champ motos are more than twice the distance of New Zealand motos.”
His Yamaha YZ85’s engine was fine-tuned in Europe to cope with the intense heat generated by the strenuous riding conditions.
“In a nutshell, to come and compete from New Zealand and to go and have a crack at the biggest junior competition in the world, especially in Holland, in the sand, is no easy feat whatsoever. It’s very unusual for Kiwis to come over and compete well in those conditions, and especially to be competitive for a one-off event,” Ben explains.
Ben, Levi and his brother Jaggar (12), who also decided to come over to compete in the 85cc class to get some top-level experience, arrived in Europe three weeks ago but the build-up did not go to plan.
“Levi got injured a few days after we arrived and didn’t ride for a whole week. We thought he broke his wrist, but although it turned out to be bone bruising, he didn’t get anywhere near the preparation we anticipated he would get,” Ben says.
Thankfully, all the training in New Zealand in the weeks preceding the world championships and, indeed, the years spent making his way through Yamaha’s bLUcRU programme paid off.
“The major component was the programme we’ve been involved with Josh Coppins and Yamaha in New Zealand. We’ve been chipping away for a number of years now and Levi and Jaggar have benefited from this programme an immense amount. It has allowed them to progress to the riders they are now,” Ben says.
After qualifying 11th on Saturday, Jaggar finished 22nd & 23rd out of 40 starters in his two 25-minute motos.
Ben says the whole experience of racing on the world stage was a “huge testament to the boys.”
“To rise up and up and up and soak in the experience and progress, it feels a little bit surreal. I always felt that the boys’ level of rising is at the pinnacle but until you get into the environment where they able to test themselves and go up against the world’s best, you don’t know. It was very satisfying to see them in that position and for Levi to achieve being the world champion.”
Coppins says the result is “huge” for the Townley family, Yamaha and Josh Coppins Racing “because Levi is the first rider to come all the way through the bLUcRU programme.”
“He started with us around 2018 when Yamaha bought out the YZ65. He did all the YZ65 Cup races, which was an initiative of Yamaha to help develop international pathways for the young riders. Levi came through that, winning multiple New Zealand championships along the way.”
“We had a vision under Taka-san, who was the GM of Yamaha Australia, and he wanted to create a pathway for world champions. He has since moved back to Yamaha Japan, but this was his vision, and to see it finally happen under Yamaha New Zealand’s current GM, Alan Petrie, is pretty cool.”
Petrie says the whole Yamaha New Zealand team is “very proud” of Levi’s victory, which he credits to his talent, the brand’s input, and his family’s unwavering support.
“It’s incredibly special and a wonderful achievement for this young man and his mum and dad. He has shown that it is possible to live in rural New Zealand and via the pathway of Yamaha’s bLUcRU programme, to become number one in the world.”
Coppins promises this is only the start of what the Townley brothers have in store.
“I could see that Levi was going to be successful early on. His younger brother Jaggar was amazing as well, especially being super young. He has a minimum of two more years in that 85cc class.”
Coppins thanked everyone involved with supporting the Townley boys’ campaign.
“There’s been a lot of people helping from the Yamaha side of it and others from the Townley side as well. Motorsport Manager Scott Bishop from Yamaha Australia was involved, along with Thorsten Lentink from Yamaha Europe and Belgium’s Kemea Factory MX1 motocross team were very helpful, plus a whole lot of connections from Ben and myself,” Coppins says.
“I’m super happy for Levi and Ben and to see it come full circle in such a short time from father to son winning a world championship. We appreciate the effort and Yamaha brand representation from the Townley family, and we look forward to being part of the next chapter of their journey. Things will start to speed up from here for Levi and Jaggar!” Coppins predicts.
The Townleys will move their focus closer to home for the Australian Supercross CR22 85 Cup, before heading further afield again to compete in the Motocross of Nations’ YZ85 Cup class at Matterley Basin in England in September.
