Kiwi Ben Townley broke his jaw in New Zealand last Sunday. Image: Sport The Library.

Team CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit MX1 World Championship contender Ben Townley was injured last Sunday while practicing at a private training facility in his native New Zealand.

The 2004 MX2 World Champion suffered a broken his jaw in this crash and underwent surgery yesterday, forcing him to the sidelines for a number of weeks.

“I was completing my last 30 minutes moto for the day when I got cross rutted on one of the jumps and went down hard, hitting my jaw on the crossbar of the handlebars,” Townley said.

“On the positive side it was a clean break and doctors have gone in through the inside of my cheek and put a plate in. It’s going to be a bit awkward for the next few days but I’ve been through so much in the last few years I’m sure I’ll get over this one pretty quickly.”

Townley will be back in Europe a few weeks before the opening round of the FIM MX1 World championship in Sevlievo, Bulgaria, on 10 April.