Gibbs wasn't able to close the points gap the way he had hoped at Echo Valley

Round five of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals provided Serco Yoshimura Yamaha’s Kirk Gibbs with a golden oppurtunity to close the points deficit in his quest for the Pro Lites championship.

Coming into the round sitting second in the series and fresh off a dominating performance at Murray Bridge, Gibbs was ready to take charge as current points leader and major rival, JDR Motorex KTM’s Matt Moss attempted to race with a broken shoulder blade sustained in practice a week earlier.

Moss managed to soldier through to a solid fourth place finish in the first race, however could not complete the second and third motos.

In conditions that played havoc with many riders throughout the weekend, Gibbs had his own issues to contend with, only managing twelfth overall after a DNF in the first race, followed by ninth and fifth in the following two motos.

Despite gaining ten points on Moss in the series points, Gibbs was understandably disappointed with the result.

“I might have got some points back in the championship, but I’m not happy with the way I raced today,” commented Gibbs.

“The first moto I crashed and I just couldn’t get the bike started as mud had clogged everything up. Moto two wasn’t much better and at least I pulled a top five to finish the day.”

With the series taking a four week break before round six at Coonabarabran, Gibbs now trails Moss by 27 points in the Pro Lites championship.