Carlton Dry Honda Racing has confirmed that Ben Townley suffered a broken collarbone in training for the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals.

Townley underwent surgery in Melbourne on Tuesday after suffering the injury in Victoria over the weekend, but remains upbeat that he will be behind the gates at the MXN series opener on 14 April.

“I crashed while testing and broke my collarbone so in order to ensure it is fully healed for the start of the MX Nationals it has been plated,” Towley explained.

“While it is not ideal, I feel that up until that point I had done a lot of riding including racing the Woodville GP and opening round of the NZ MX Nationals.

“I have been training twice as hard off the bike and look forward to concluding our testing program in the next fortnight.

“I want to say a big thank you to Simon Maas from RACESAFE for arranging everything for me yet again.”

The opening round of the MX Nationals will be held at Raymond Terrace on Sunday, 14 April.