Kirk Gibbs breaks through to take victory at Shepparton

Moto 2

After recording his worst result of the season in race one at Shepparton, when the second moto got started for the Thor MX1 class, Ferris was out for redemption.

When gates dropped it was Mosig who took his second holeshot for the day, but within only a lap, Ferris had gone from eighth to the race lead, proving to the crowd that he was determined to bounce back from his race one result.

For the Thor MX1 riders, moto two dished out some of the toughest conditions of the day, with ruts getting deeper and harder, catching out the most talented of the field, but after two laps, Ferris had pulled his classic ‰Û÷breathing‰Ûª room on the rest of the talented pack, while Mosig continued to maintain second place ahead of Waters and Metcalfe.

Unfortunately for Mosig, the Shepparton surface caught him out only four laps in, the DPH Motorsport rider going down and losing a position to Waters.

With a third of the moto completed, Ferris continued to lead by a comfortable margin from Waters and Mosig, while behind the top three Metcalfe began to close in on the Honda and Yamaha rider‰Ûªs rear wheels.

Mosig‰Ûªs day unfortunately got harder from there, dropping back to fifth after making yet another mistake, which allowed the likes of Metcalfe, and Gibbs to inherit a position each.

Nine laps in to the final 30-minute MX1 moto, Ferris looked back to his old self, ticking off the laps aboard his highly competitive CDR Yamaha, behind him Metcalfe had made his way by Waters to slot in to second, while Waters began to feel the pressure from Gibbs who had taken his time to settle in to the last race of the day.

As the MX1 class reached the closing stages of their final moto, lapped riders began to play in to the results, and for Metcalfe getting caught behind a back marker allowed Waters to capitalise on the situation, and in the blink of an eye Waters had reclaimed second position.

Then, in what we have learnt to expect from Gibbs, the Factory KTM rider found his form late in the moto, passing Metcalfe for third, where he also began to close in on Water‰Ûªs rear wheel.

With only a handful of laps remaining, Ferris was untouchable out in front, followed by Waters and Gibbs in second and third. Meanwhile Metcalfe continued to hold down fourth from Crawford, Clout, Styke and Peters.

By the time rider‰Ûªs received the last lap board, Ferris was in the box seat to take yet another race victory, and claim the win in the final moto at Shepparton is exactly what the CDR Yamaha rider did.

When the chequered flag flew, Ferris had bounced back, charging from eighth through to the top spot in race two, second went to Gibbs who managed to get by Waters in the final laps, while Honda mounted Queenslander Waters was forced to settle for third. MEGA Bulk Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki duo Metcalfe and Crawford wrapped up the final moto in fourth and fifth places respectively, followed by Clout, Styke, Peters, Mosig and CDR Yamaha‰Ûªs Dylan Long who completed the top ten.

But with a win in race one, and a second in race two it Gibbs who finally broke through to take his first round win of 2017, second overall at Shepparton went to CDR Yamaha‰Ûªs Ferris, while third on the Thor MX1 podium was claimed by MEGA Bulk Fuels Monster Energy Kawasaki‰Ûªs Metcalfe.

‰ÛÏIt feels amazing to get this win, Dean has been on a winning streak for a while now, so it‰Ûªs nice to have finally broke through and hopefully I can carry this confidence into the last few rounds,‰Û