KTM Australia press release:

The old saying suggests that championships aren’t won on the easiest days, but on the hardest days, and defending MX Nationals Champion Kirk Gibbs made the best of a hard day when he left Nowra with yet another podium finish, and still in possession of the coveted red plate.

Gibbs suffered a knee injury on the very first lap of qualifying for the sixth round of the MX Nationals series at Nowra, hammering the back of his knee with the handlebar as he corrected a lurid front-end slide in the slippery, early morning conditions.

After a disconcerting ‘pop’ and initial agony, Gibbs immediately consulted RaceSafe, who deemed that the incident had caused trauma to a nerve, and strapped the Queensland-based South Australian in preparation for the day ahead.

Given the last pick of the start gate, Gibbs somehow fired his factory KTM 450 SX-F to the holeshot, but with no practice session as warmup, battled to find the last percentage of pace. He tucked the front end battling with Waters and Mosig before riding to fourth place.

With team mate Jesse Dobson out with a broken hand suffered during training, the KTM Motocross Racing Team’s only premier class entry gritted his teeth one more time and took third in the second moto – enough to give him third on the day and preserve a 15-point lead in the championship.

MX1 Championship Points after round 6:
1. Kirk Gibbs 409, 2. Dean Ferris 394, 3. Todd Waters 388, 4. Matt Moss 381, 5. Kade Mosig 323, 6. Dylan Long 309, 7. Jay Wilson 246, 8. Jacob Wright 241, 9. Brett Metcalfe 225, 10. Michael Menchi 223

Kyle Blunden, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “At the start of the day we had already qualified well with Caleb and the track was forming up quite well. Kirk was setting his first qualifying lap, but he just tucked the front in a turn and squashed the outside of his lower knee really hard with the handlebar, and went straight off the side of the track in a lot of pain. At that stage we weren’t exactly sure how the day was going to pan out, but once it settled a little bit, Kirk was very determined to ride. Considering the way the day started, he did a brilliant job – he definitely minimised the damage today.Caleb was brilliant. Some people still think of him as a sand guy, but Nowra couldn’t be any further from that and he rode unreal today. He’s been working hard on this break.”

Kirk Gibbs (KTM 450 SX-F) – “I still got on the podium but I’m not happy. In qualifying I had a slide and the handlebar came through in the back of the knee. There was a ‘pop’ and full agony for about a minute – I thought that was it, but after a few minutes it started to calm down. It was still weak all day so I had to keep going to RaceSafe to strap it and come up with the best options. Obviously the two moto scores were consistent, but I was still disappointed – I had a great start, but I pumped up pretty quickly because of the lack of riding in the morning. In the second I rode a lot better, but I just wasn’t good enough to battle with the guys today. I had the leg in the back of my mind all day, and just didn’t want to do any more damage, so I just tried to ride smart. I’ll go get it checked out now and make sure there’s no big damage, and we’ll build towards Conondale.”

In MX2 racing, KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Caleb Ward was in devastating form, winning both motos and moving one place closer to the lead of the MX2 championship. The KTM 250 SX-F rider led home Jed Beaton and Nathan Crawford to leave Nowra just nine points behind championship leader Crawford.

MX2 rookie and Davey Motorsports rider Jayden Rykers was also an absolute standout on the day, recovering from a disastrous start in the first moto, and one that was just average in the second, to fire his KTM 250 SX into two fourth places on the day, maintaining fourth place in his first ever MX2 championship.KTM Raceline Pirelli rider Dylan Wills was the next best of the KTM men, with 5-9 results for the day.

MX2 Championship Points after round 6:
1. Nathan Crawford 384, 2. Caleb Ward 375, 3. Jed Beaton 373, 4. Jayden Rykers 336, 5. Wilson Todd 324, 6. Kyle Webster 296, 7. Dylan Wills 287, 8. Jake Moss 278, 9. Hamish Harwood 266, 10. Joel Wightman 258

Caleb Ward (KTM 250 SX-F) – “Last year here was a really bad round for me, but this year I turned it around. I got a little bit tangled up in the first turn pileup but I didn’t go down, luckily. I was 11th or 12th on the first lap, but just worked my way through the field pretty quickly, on a track that is renowned for being pretty hard to pass on, so I’m happy with how I went. I ended up with a 10-second lead and just holding that pretty much. In the second moto I started in second behind Willsy, and after three or four laps managed to make the pass. Then I sort of got set into the wrong pace and Wilson Todd passed me, and I thought ‘this is my shot to make up a few points in the championship, if he gets between me and the other guys’. I managed to pass him back and get the win, so I made up some pretty big points in the championship. All in all it was a day that couldn’t have gone much better.”

Jayden Rykers (KTM 250 SX) – “It was another good solid day points-wise, especially considering the way it started out. In the first moto I got stuck in a first turn pileup, and was dead last. I fought back all the way up to fourth in that one, and in the second one I nearly came down in the first corner as well and had to come from just inside the top 15. To come back to top-five in both motos I’m very happy with. Especially on one of the tighter, more one-lined tracks where it’s a bit more difficult to pass. The goals that I set out at the start of the year – which is consistent top five results – I’m achieving, so I’m pretty happy for my first year in the class, particularly since I’m on the only 2-stroke in the top 10, and on the hard-packed tracks you give away a little bit of traction in the second moto when it gets slick. I’m knocking on the door of the top guys in the championship as well, which is great.”

In the MXD class, Raceline Pirelli KTM Motocross Racing Team development rider Wade Kirkland broke through for his first ever win in the Under 19’s championship with 3-1 scores aboard his KTM 250 SX-F. He led home Mitch Evans and championship leader Tierney to move within 18 points of the title lead. Seventeen-year-old KTM 250 SX-F rider Cooper Pozniak (KTM Newcastle) continued his sparkling recent form with fourth overall from 5, 4 on the day.

Wade Kirkland (KTM 250 SX-F) – “It was a good day. Two top-three starts, good solid motos, it couldn’t really get any better. In the first moto I went for the lead, and I did a block pass and my hand slipped off when I passed him! I went back to fourth, but then I made another pass and got into third, which is where I finished. In the second I got into second place real quick, passed Mitchell, and just maintained the lead. That was my first MXD win and I just caught up on the points to Connor a little bit. Dad and Mum and the whole team is pretty happy!”