Having a former MX2 Motocross World Champion in his corner proved beneficial for Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Ford Dale at round five of the Monster Energy MX Nationals in Murray Bridge over the weekend, taking home a third place finish overall.

Kiwi Ben Townley was on hand in South Australia to help Dale throughout the event. Townley has been working behind the scenes with the MX2 star since the pair trained together in New Zealand earlier this season.

“The bike was awesome and I felt really good today,” Dale explained. “It was also great having Ben here. He helped me a lot and gave me some great advice.”

Dale laid down a fast lap to qualify in first position and won the opening MX2 moto. But a crash in the second moto which resulted in a 13th place finish dashed his chances of taking the overall win on the day.

“In the first race I led from the opening lap and managed to pull out to a good lead,” he added. “In the second moto I took a different line into Turn 2 and ended up coming together with a few riders. I was pretty much dead last but came through to 13th.

“I didn’t get the best start in the final race but I managed to work my way into third and onto the back of Cheyne [Boyd] quite quickly. I made a mistake mid-race and went down but I retained third and caught back up to the front-runners by the end of the race.”

Dale plans to use the mid-season break wisely and return rejuvenated.

“With six weeks until the next event I am going to have a week off and then use the time to work on some of my problem areas,” Dale added.

Dale currently sits 32-points behind MX2 series leader Luke Styke of the Serco Yamaha Metal Mulisha Racing team.