New Zealand talent Levi Townley’s rise over the past 12 months has been exceptional. The young Kiwi has chalked up ProMX race wins, won an 85cc Junior Motocross World Championship, clinched a Australian Junior Motocross Championship in his 125cc debut, and finished runner-up at the Yamaha bLU cRU YZ SuperFinale during the Motocross of Nations (MXoN).

Adding an exclamation mark on his year, the son of former MX2 world champion Ben Townley has signed a two-year deal with the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team to race the European championship beginning in 2025.

“It’s been a pretty crazy year when I look back on it all,” the 14-year-old reflects. “I never would’ve predicted that 2024 would’ve been such a great year – it’s gone better than I ever would’ve imagined.”

It’s a big contrast of fortunes compared with 2023, when a trip to the US for some select amateur races was cut short due to injury, then his first-ever AUSX CR22 85cc Cup campaign came to a premature end when he broke his collarbone after an impressive P3 result at Newcastle’s second round. The Altherm JCR Yamaha rider has more than made up for it in 2024.

The season started with a bang at the opener of the three-round ProMX MX85 Cup at Horsham, when he claimed the round win on countback, courtesy of a dominant 32-second win in the second moto.

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At Gillman he was on track to repeat that performance when a bike issue forced him to DNF while holding a 36-second lead, then several crashes at the final round at Maitland saw him finish the series in P4. Despite the frustrations, Levi was stoked to pit his skills against international talent.

“It was a really cool experience,” he says. “I had to deal with a lot of racing situations, both good and bad. I had some awesome battles, there were races that I was able to pull big gaps on the rest of the field, and there were other times I had to try and come through the pack.”

The highlight of his year came a few months later in July, when he stunned the world by winning the 85cc Junior World Championship in the deep Dutch sand track of Heerde. Even more remarkably, it was a relatively impromptu decision to make the trip across.

“It was pretty late notice – one of dad’s old friends send us a video of the track and asked if we were coming over for it,” Levi adds. “We had a think about it, did some planning, then decided to give it a go for the experience and to see where I was at.”

Levi was able to capitalise on a mistake from the leader to win the opening moto, then charge from a top 10 start to finish P3 in the second race and win the championship against the world’s fastest young racers.

“I was definitely surprised to win, as it wasn’t the main goal,” he admits. “I’d never raced in Europe, so I wanted to see how I compared to the rest of the field, but I was able to execute well and win the world title.”

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In late September, Townley travelled across to Bunbury for the AJMX championships, where, on his first appearance on a YZ125, he convincingly beat some of Australia’s best with a perfect 1-1-1 result in the 13-14 Years 125cc finals.

Next, a quick trip across to Matterley Basin for the Motocross of Nations followed straight afterward, and the Tauranga-based teenager again captured people’s attention with an impressive P2 result in the 125cc class at the Yamaha bLU cRU YZ SuperFinale.

In the background, the Townleys had also been working on securing a deal for Levi to race in Europe next year, and two weeks ago it was announced that he’d join the MJC Yamaha EMX125 team for the next two seasons.

That means the five-strong Townley family is again heading back to Europe. From February they’ll be based in France as Levi races the EMX125 championship and his younger brother, Jaggar, competes at select national championship races.

“I’m so excited about it already,” Levi enthuses. “I go to bed thinking about it every night and it’s still a long way away. There’s good coverage of the MXGPs, so I’m currently watching a lot of the racing and trying to study the tracks and racing as much as I can.”

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Being able to tap into the vast knowledge and experience of his dad is also a huge advantage, but Levi maintains there isn’t any pressure to live up the Townley name.

“Dad’s done it all before, so this is going to be a second time around for him and it’s a first time around for me,” he explains. “It helps having someone close who can share their experiences, but dad’s made it clear there are no expectations or pressure for me to carry on the family name. It’s just about going out and making the most of the opportunity we’ve been given.”

As for his expectations of how what he wants to achieve next year, he’s trying to keep his feet on the ground and remain focused on the big picture.

“I’m definitely capable of good results, but the main focus is to learn as much as we can,” the teenager continues. “If I can get good starts and run up front with the top 10 or top five riders, I’ll learn a lot. There’re a lot of different types of soil in Europe too, and conditions can be tough, so it’s about trying to get used to that stuff, then executing like I know how to.”