KTM Australia press release:

KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Kirk Gibbs earned his sixth podium finish from seven MX National rounds so far, in wild and woolly conditions at the seventh round of Australia’s premier motocross series at Conondale in Queensland.

Despite a lack of recent training time following a knee injury sustained at the last round a fortnight ago, Gibbs was still able to make the best of severely muddy conditions which placed a premium on good starts, and finished the day with 4-2 results.

The result means the defending MX National Champion will retain the coveted red plate, and take a six-point championship lead into round eight in a fortnight’s time.
Returned GP racers Dean Ferris and Todd Waters were first and second on the day.

Gibbs KTM team mate Jesse Dobson remained out as he waits for the broken hand he suffered during training to heal.

Kyle Blunden, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “Jesse was out again with his hand injury, but for the other boys the weekend was extremely tough. We had some ups and downs, and overall to be leaving with two boys that are healthy and still in the hunt for two championships, is great. Both boys rode extremely well, our starts probably let us down more than anything today, and the one-line nature of the track made very important to get starts. Caleb threw his goggles super early in that opener so we brought him in, did a quick change and he was able to get back out and come back to third which was awesome. Kirk was brilliant. He was Mister Consistent as always but the lappers frustrated him in the first. His battle with Dean in the second was fantastic to watch, he had some really good speed today.”

Kirk Gibbs (KTM 450 SX-F) – “It was up and down today. Third in SuperPole was okay, then in the first moto I didn’t get the greatest start. I got into fourth, and kept trying to make passes on Mosig but every time we got into lappers the lapper would let him through and not me. I caught right back up and the same thing happened again, this lapper didn’t see me and turned into me and took me down. It was really frustrating. The second race went a lot better, I was feeling good in second behind Ferris, and was just about to make a push when I had a little off. He got away by 10 seconds, and I chipped that back to four by the end but it was too late. I’ve lost a lot of points over the last two rounds, but all in all with the knee injury and not getting to ride much in the last two weeks, it’s not a bad result, but I need to get back into those race wins.”

MX1 Championship Positions after round 7: 1. Kirk Gibbs 470, 2. Dean Ferris 464, 3. Todd Waters 455, 4. Kade Mosig 381, 5. Matt Moss 381, 6. Dylan Long 359, 7. Jay Wilson 296, 8. Jacob Wright 291, 9. Michael Menchi 265, 10. Daniel Banks 253

In MX2 racing, exciting MX2 rookie and Davey Motorsports rider Jayden Rykers has stretched his mid-season purple patch across the Conondale quagmire, powering his two-stroke KTM 250 SX to its second overall podium finish in three rounds, as he shared the podium with round winner Jed Beaton and championship leader Nathan Crawford.

Rykers’ 6-2 results shored up his fourth position in the category, while bad starts for KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Caleb Ward prevented the winner of four rounds so far from punching closer to the championship lead.

KTM Raceline Pirelli rider Dylan Wills was the next best of the KTM men, his 9-6 finishes, earning sixth on the day, just two points ahead of Dean Porter in seventh.

Jayden Rykers (KTM 250 SX) – “We had a fair bit of rain the day before and the track was fairly sloppy, so whatever lines formed up in qualifying and practice became the main line for the whole day. The day came down to getting really good starts, then basically maintaining that position for the race because there weren’t really too many passing opportunities unless the guy in front of you made a mistake and ran off the track. My first start was probably outside the top 10, and I picked a few off to finish sixth. I was in the top three off the line in the second, got up into second on the first lap and that’s where I stayed. Championship-wise I lost points on the front to guys, but gained one point on third and probably 35-40 points on fifth. So, we haven’t moved anywhere, just firmed up our position a little bit.”

Caleb Ward (KTM 250 SX-F) – “I had a rough one. I had a bad start in the first moto, came through, and got filled in real bad on the first lap. I was trying to wipe my goggles to get a bit of vision but it didn’t work so I ended up having to throw them. I got roosted pretty bad for a couple of laps so I ended up coming in for some freshies, and after my pitstop, went back out there and made a few passes, and got up to third. I was really surprised about that, I thought I was a lot further back than that. In the second I got another terrible start and probably should have been a bit meaner; I was getting held up so much by the riders in front of me but with only one dry line, the only way I was going to move forward quickly was to smash into guys. I didn’t want to put myself on the ground either, so it was frustrating. Fourth overall normally wouldn’t have been too bad, but with how close the championship is, I want to win.”

MX2 Championship Points after round 7: 1. Nathan Crawford 447, 2. Jed Beaton 440, 3. Caleb Ward 431, 4. Jayden Rykers 393, 5. Wilson Todd 354, 6. Dylan Wills 334, 7. Hamish Harwood 309, 8. Joel Wightman 299, 9. Kyle Webster 296, 10. Dean Porter 291

In the MXD class, seventeen-year-old KTM Newcastle rider Cooper Pozniak further improved his recent form with second on the day behind Mitch Evans. Pozniak’s lightning fast clutch finger and snappy KTM 250 SX-F helped him towards 2-2 race results on the day.

Raceline Pirelli KTM Motocross Racing Team development rider Wade Kirkland’s promising run of podiums ended with sixth place at Conondale after 5-7 finishes, however the KTM 250 SX-F rider still managed to move a point closer to the championship lead.

Cooper Pozniak (KTM 250 SX-F) – “It (2-2) was a good day. It was raining all day yesterday so the ruts were unbelievably deep, I’ve never seen anything so did before. But the track turned out not too bad, there were a few good lines forming up. It was pretty rough, but it was good, and I didn’t mind it. I had good starts in both races, but even though I dropped it momentarily in the first one I still got two second places, so it was good. It was good to get a good result again, the first and second guys didn’t have a good day, so it was good to make up some points on those guys.

Wade Kirkland (KTM 250 SX-F) – “It (5-7) was still an all right day overall; sixth overall tied with fifth and I still made a point on Connor. I had a little bit of arm pump in the first moto and a tyre problem in the second. The mud didn’t worry me too much, I still go all right in it. Anything can happen and everyone’s got to ride it. Every condition suits me. The starts were real critical though, it’s hard to pass in the mud. Mine were okay, top five-star in the first moto and second off the start in moto two. The starts today were totally different, deep ruts everywhere. I had a different strategy, to go up the inside where the ruts weren’t as deep.”

MXD Championship Points after round 7: 1. Connor Tierney 359, 2. Mitchell Evans 346, 3. Wade Kirkland 342, 4. Cooper Pozniak 338, 5. Jordan Hill 322, 6. Kaleb Barham 300, 7. Zak Small 294, 8. Lochie Latimer 285, 9. Hugh McKay 228, 10. Levi McManus 198

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