KTM Factory Motocross Racing Team rider Kirk Gibbs has rounded out the Motul MX Nationals MX1 championship runner-up for the second year running, after a characteristically gritty ride in the final round at Coolum.
Kirk Gibbs finished the round with 3-3 scores for third on the day, behind series Champion Dean Ferris, and Todd Waters.
Gibbs began the round in perfect style, winning SuperPole with a time a full second faster than the nearest rider, however as racing got underway he lost some drive on the concrete patch under the start gate and found himself seventh exiting turn one.
He took four laps to find his groove, then dug deep into the bag and rolled past opponent after opponent, taking second from Waters with two laps to go, only to fall and hand it back to his good friend with a lap remaining.
As the second moto began he fired his powerful KTM 450 SX-F to its third holeshot in four races, but feeling the effects of a draining first moto, he was twice overtaken and finished third.
‰ÛÏI was really happy to get my first SuperPole win of the year, but I spun up a little over the concrete in the first race though and had to fight my way through. It took me a little bit to get in my grove, but once I did I pushed to the front," Gibbs explained. "I made the pass on Todd but he was all over me trying to pass me back and I made a mistake and had a little lay down, which was disappointing. I‰Ûªd put a lot of effort into pushing through and was really cooked after that, so I struggled a little in that second moto and my back was a bit sore.
"We had a few ups and downs of various types this year, but we kept working as a team, trying to make ourselves better every week and towards the end we started putting ourselves into good positions, so hats off to the team. We were the only ones to steal a win off Dean this year, so it just goes to show we were still working really hard.
"I‰Ûªm looking forward to a few days now to regroup and then I‰Ûªll get ready for the Des Nations. I‰Ûªm looking forward to riding for Australia with Dean and Hunter. Dean‰Ûªs riding at a world class level and Hunter‰Ûªs riding amazingly well too, so hopefully I can pull my weight and get a good result.‰Û
