KTM Australia press release:

Image: Jeff Crow.

KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Kirk Gibbs will look to continue tightening the screws on this year’s MX1 championship as the Monster Energy MX Nationals series continues at Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast this weekend.

In some ways it’s a second consecutive home around for the Queensland-based South Australian, and Gibbs hopes to further increase the 39-point lead he currently holds, before the series takes its 5-week winter break.

The demanding black sand circuit is a stern test of fitness, creativity and line selection ability for competitors, and the KTM 450 SXF rider proved able to master the combination when he finished equal first on points at Coolum round last year.

Current number two in the championship, Gibbs’ KTM Motocross Racing Team mate Luke Styke will also relish the upcoming round, partly because he craves the softer surfaces, and partly as a chance to make good for a disappointing showing at Murray Bridge a fortnight ago.

The outstanding premier class rookie was crestfallen at failing to meet his own high expectations when he finished sixth in South Australia, and will revert to a low pressure approach this time around.

The pair will also have a fresh new look for the weekend, with factory team gear sponsor Lusty Industries having air-freighted out the first samples of the brand-new 2016 TLD gear for them to wear in Queensland.

Rob Twyerould, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “It would be great to have a successful weekend, but we will just treat it as another round as we’ve been doing for the last four rounds. The boys had a good solid couple of weeks since Murray Bridge, with a bit more testing with Luke and hopefully that will set him up better, and both boys are quite familiar with that track and will go there feeling pretty comfortable. I think it will be a great round, and hopefully it will be a successful one.”

Kirk Gibbs – “Coolum is going to be really good, it’s going to be tough like always, but I feel like I’ve done some good prep and we have a good setting for there. We did a day’s testing two weeks back and I’m just looking forward to it. Hopefully it gets rough, the rougher the better. For me I just want to keep chipping away at that championship lead, if I can take wins that’s good, but if I can beat the closest championship contenders that’s probably the biggest goal for me. Like always though I just want to ride my best and I feel like if I am I’ll be doing that anyway.”

Luke Styke – “My mind wasn’t in the right spot at Murray Bridge. At the first three rounds where the tracks didn’t suit me as well, I had no expectations and did really well. So I’m going to go back to something like that in this round, I’ll just go in completely relaxed about it and just let it come to me, hopefully pull off some good starts and get on the podium again. I haven’t raced at Coolum for two years but we’ve been up doing a bit of testing so I’m pretty familiar with the track.”

In MX2 Racing: Plenty of eyes will be on KTM Factory Support rider Caleb Ward, who dominated the field last time out at Murray Bridge, will be racing his ‘home’ track at Coolum, and is known for his sand riding prowess. Fellow KTM factory support rider Hamish Harwood is still the highest placed orange rider in the championship, despite soldiering on with a fractured heel in the last round. Though he’ll still carry the injury this weekend, Harwood used last year’s Coolum finale to leapfrog into second in the MX2 championship, and few will discount the gritty New Zealander on Sunday.

Caleb Ward – “I want to win consistently and try to prove that I’m the fastest guy out there so hopefully I can keep the wins going. Good starts are probably the key to everything, I know my speed is pretty good, and I’m working on the body being back at 100%. Coolum is pretty high on my list of favourite tracks – I’ve won an Australian junior title there and won all three MX2 races there last year, and just being up the road from where I’m living now will make things more comfortable too; I can sleep in my own bed the night before and that sort of thing. It should be good.”

Hamish Harwood – “Murray Bridge was terrible for me, I cased in those rollers in practice and fractured my heel and basically struggled with it all day. It’s only a slight fracture, and I’ve ridden the last few days so it’s not too bad, I just basically can’t put any pressure on the heel or dab it on the ground. Apart from that I’ve got a few good days riding in, so we’ll bounce back at Coolum and try to get some results.”

In MXD racing, KTM Factory Support racer Wayde Carter is hoping his recent experience testing at Alice Springs with KTM’s desert racing team will help him to take the next step into the top three of the U19 championship. Right behind Carter, in fifth place in the championship, fellow KTM rider Jayden Rykers will be keen to continue the form he showed by finishing second in South Australia.

Wayde Carter – “I’m pretty confident coming into this round. I like riding in the sand and the whoops and I was up testing at Finke a couple of weeks ago with the KTM desert racing boys, so I’ve had some good sand conditioning and I’m ready to get out and get amongst it with the boys. I’d love to break inside the top three this weekend, last round there were some boys mixing up the points at the top end so that was good, so hopefully I can make something of this weekend and get in there. That would be great.”

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