KTM Australia press release:

KTM Motocross Racing team manager Rob Twyerould believes his riders’ continuous improvement will make them even stronger challengers in this weekend’s third round of the New Zealand Motocross Championships.

While Australian riders have for decades gone the route of US supercross for a pre-season leg-up, KTM’s factory team prefers to bank on the New Zealand Motocross Championship to challenge its riders with top-quality competition and tracks in preparation for the MX Nationals.

Its riders Kirk Gibbs and Luke Styke have been among the front-runners at each round, with Styke finishing on the podium last time round and Gibbs currently third in the overall standings, behind Kiwis Cody Cooper and John Phillips at the halfway mark of the series.

Two rounds remain at Rotorua and Harrisville, and Twyerould believes his KTM 450 SX-F-mounted charges have their best chance yet of taking a round win.

Rob Twyerould (KTM team manager) – “Rotorua is the venue for this weekend, and we’re in with a chance with Kirk just 10 points away from the series lead. Both the boys are just getting stronger and stronger each week so I think we are knocking on the door. I believe it is going to be a hard packed track again, but it all comes down to how they prepare it, and whether we get rain overnight again. It’s funny, the New Zealanders downplay their tracks, but each round we’ve gone to, we’ve been absolutely blown away with how good it is with the undulating terrain and prevalence of natural obstacles. We’ve gone to a lot more man-made style in Australia.”

Kirk Gibbs – “I’ve never been to Rotorua before, but I’ve heard some good things about the track so I’m excited to have a look and see what it’s like. My season buildup is coming along really well; I feel like I’m training and riding well and I haven’t hit the ground too many times so the body is pretty fresh. It’s one of the best off-seasons that I’ve had so we’ll see where we go from there. I haven’t really thought about my championship position too much, for me, the focus is on trying to work on all of the one percenters that I need to, and obviously on getting those starts.”

Luke Styke – “I think the podium finish last time round was definitely a step in the right direction. I feel as though every week we hop on the bike and race, we are building momentum and getting more comfortable, so if things keep going that way I think we’ll be in a good position when our series comes around. I’m enjoying it, I think if we didn’t do it, I would have done a little bit of pre-season racing here, but the speed and the moto formats are suiting us pretty well, and this keeps it fresh and makes you want to keep coming back to ride new tracks.”

For more information on KTM Motorcycles, visit www.ktm.com.au or www.facebook.com/ktmaustralia.