KTM's Gibbs clinches MX Nationals MX1 crown
Part-timer Townley takes convincing Coolum round victory.
Image: Simon Makker (Makkreative).
Kirk Gibbs clinched the 2015 MX Nationals MX1 championship for the KTM Motocross Racing Team in moto one this afternoon at Coolum, his third place sealing the number one plate with a moto to spare.
It was an entertaining battle for victory throughout the moto; much of it led by Gibbs’ teammate Luke Styke (KTM Motocross Racing Team) before former world champion Ben Townley (Penrite Honda Racing) clawed his way to the front in the latter stages.
Once Townley hit the front he wasn’t headed, winning by 2.5s over the KTM combination of Styke and Gibbs. Fourth was a quiet ride from pole-setter Kade Mosig (CDR Yamaha), pressuring the podium finishers but unable to make up an early deficit.
Adam Monea (NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki) was forced to climb through the pack for fifth, beating home Daniel Reardon (CDR Yamaha), Lawson Bopping (Peter Stevens DPH Yamaha), Dylan Long (NPS Monster Energy Kawasaki), Ross Beaton (Peter Stevens DPH Yamaha) and Hamish Harwood (KTM).
Notable non-finishers were Egan Mastin (Team Motul Suzuki) after he ran inside the top five early on and Cody Cooper (Penrite Honda Racing).
Image: Simon Makker (Makkreative).
The final moto of the season belonged to Monea in a ride that moved him up to third in the standings, crossing the line three seconds ahead of Townley, who got his first overall of the year on a part-time schedule.
In third – and helping teammate Monea’s cause in the process – was Long, leading home Bopping, who was actually third on track prior to a 10-second penalty for course-cutting, and Styke.
Sixth was good enough for Mosig to seal the runner-up in the standings, from newly-crowned champion Gibbs, Mastin, Harwood and Reardon.
The overall results saw Townley on top over Monea and Styke, while in championship terms it was Gibbs 61 points ahead of Mosig and Monea, who got the final rostrum position on countback over Styke.
2015 MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship
Round 10 – Coolum, QLD
MX1 overall results:
1. Ben Townley 67
2. Adam Monea 61
3. Luke Styke 58
4. Kirk Gibbs 54
5. Dylan Long 53
6. Kade Mosig 53
7. Lawson Bopping 52
8. Daniel Reardon 46
9. Hamish Harwood 44
10. Ross Beaton 39
11. Kale Makeham 37
12. Daniel Banks 36
13. Aaron Tanti 35
14. Daniel McEntee 32
15. Scott Green 28
16. Egan Mastin 23
17. Cody Cooper 20
18. Reece Hoffman 17
19. Mathew McEntee 15
MX1 championship standings:
1. Kirk Gibbs 647
2. Kade Mosig 586
3. Adam Monea 577
4. Luke Styke 577
5. Lawson Bopping 523
6. Daniel Reardon 510
7. Dylan Long 497
8. Cody Cooper 425
9. Kale Makeham 384
10. Jesse Dobson 382
11. Aaron Tanti 324
12. Daniel Banks 300
13. Daniel McEntee 281
14. Ford Dale 214
15. Ben Townley 191
16. Ross Beaton 188
17. Izak Maule 188
18. Scott Green 182
19. Darcy Jones 182
20. John Phillips 168
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