14-Year-old New Zealand motocross sensation, Levi Townley, is poised to take on the world as he embarks on the next step of his career by racing the EMX125 Championship in Europe for 2025 and beyond.
Yamaha Motor Europe has announced that the 2024 World 85cc Motocross Champion has agreed to terms with the MJC Yamaha EMX125 Team for the next two seasons, and Townley is part of a four-rider team to contest the championship that also includes Dutch sensation Dani Heitink, French rising star Mano Faure, and Belgian standout Jarne Bervoets.
The Townley family will relocate to France early in the new year to begin the next chapter of the families famous motocross history. Ben Townley, father of Levi and the former 2004 MX2 World Champion, will call on his experiences to guide Levi through the highs and lows of racing in Europe and one the family is looking forward to.
“Yamaha in Europe supported me at the world junior championships back in August and when I won the 85cc class, we started talking about racing in Europe for 2025. They were happy with my results and asked if I was interested in contesting the EMX 125 championship,” Levi explains.
“We came home from the event, and I rode a YZ125 for the first time and I loved it. So, once we were able to get a plan together and we felt I could ride the 125 at a good level, we decided to do it and it was finalised at the Motocross of Nations.”
2024 has been a wild ride for the polite and quietly spoken Kiwi who not only won a world 85cc championship, but he also claimed the Australian 13-14 years 125cc championship in his first major race on the bigger bike and then went on to finish an incredible second place at the Yamaha bLU cRU YZ Superfinale at the Motocross of Nations.
Winning a world championship:
“It has been an awesome year and at the start of the season I was just hoping to get some experience racing in Australia as well as try and win the New Zealand Championships. It’s all happened pretty fast, and I can’t believe that I’m going to be racing the EMX125 championship next year.
“Everyone at Yamaha in Europe has been so good and at the Motocross of Nations I got a chance to meet and work with the MJC Yamaha team and that went really well, so I can’t wait to get over there early next year and start racing,” he ends.
Levi will have some familiar faces around him as his younger brother Jaggar will also receive support via Yamaha Motor Europe, as will Nixon Coppins, son of former GP racer and NZ Motorsport Manager, Josh Coppins. Both will race their YZ85cc machines as their path to the MXGP circuit begins.
The Yamaha bLU cRU YZ125 Superfinale:
“It’s a very exciting time for the Townley family and an opportunity Levi and the family deserve,” Coppins said. “Levi is an incredibility talented and determined racer while Ben and wife Lucy have done a great job in keeping him grounded. I’m sure the continued guidance from Ben and the support of the MJC Yamaha team will take Levi’s riding to another level.
“We are extremely proud his achievements so far and also the pathways Yamaha have created via their bLU cRU support that shows no matter where a rider lives, they will be noticed and rewarded if they have what it takes,” Coppins signs off.
