KTM Australia press release:

KTM Motocross Racing Team rider and defending MX Nationals Champion Kirk Gibbs will carry the red plate into next Sunday’s series decider at Coolum following another consistent performance at the penultimate round of the series at Toowoomba’s Echo Valley.

Gibbs has held the championship leader’s plate since the fourth round of the series and maintained his custody of it after finishing with 3-2 moto scores earned third on the day behind Dean Ferris and Kyle Peters.

The KTM450SXF rider took second place points in the GoPro Super Pole behind American rider Kyle Peters, then looked set to challenge Peters for the lead in the first moto until a fall relegated him to third place behind Peters and Ferris.

In the second a perfectly-timed move and subsequent last lap pass over Peters provided Gibbs with an important second place behind Ferris – enough for him to take a six-point lead into the final.

Things strayed a long way from plan for Gibbs’ KTM team mate Jesse Dobson, who was knocked out in an awkward first moto fall and took no further part in proceedings.

Dobson will undergo consultation this week for injuries which include an injured wrist, but is hopeful of a full recovery and an appearance at his home round of Coolum next weekend.

Kyle Blunden, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “Today we lost three points and Kirk’s done an amazing job in that when there’s been losses, he’s minimised them. I think that if he can continue this into the final round we will be fine. He is in a strong position and he definitely showed today that he’s got plenty of speed. We go there to win, and he puts down all he’s got, and that’s all you can ask. Unfortunately he and Caleb both had tip-overs in the first moto which definitely cost them, but in both cases their second motos were better. Jesse had to sit out the second moto because he took a knock to the head in the first one. He is going to go to see some people tomorrow regarding his wrist, and then we’ll make a bit more of an educated decision as to whether he races the final round or not.”

Kirk Gibbs (KTM 450 SX-F) – “I felt like I rode pretty good all day, just having that lay down in that first moto just put a big dampener on things. Dean made three points on us today, and without that crash it could have been a two or three point swing my way there instead. I definitely knew I had to make that pass on Kyle on the last lap, and it just worked out perfectly, I made that right-hander and then the left at the top of the track really well and just drove down the hill really hard and threw it up the inside. So we take the points lead into Coolum and we’ll put 120% in, and hopefully it’s good enough, and if not, it’s been an amazing championship, and I’ll still look forward to heading over to the Des Nations.”

Jesse Dobson (KTM 450 SX-F) – “I don’t remember much about today so this will be a short report. It’s a bit fuzzy but I remember being tight and struggling in qualifying, then in moto one I was riding good at the start, but I pumped up so bad and went backwards. I got passed by three guys and then saw the guy in front slow a little bit, so I decided to have another dig and then the show was over. Apparently when they stood me up I threw the crowd the horns and got a cheer, so that was good… but I don’t even remember walking into the Race Safe truck, so it must have been a decent hit.”

MX1 Championship Positions after round 9: 1. Kirk Gibbs 602, 2. Dean Ferris 596, 3. Todd Waters 578, 4. Kade Mosig 486, 5. Dylan Long 411, 6. Jacob Wright 388, 7. Matt Moss 381, 8. Jay Wilson 368, 9. Michael Menchi 338, 10. Daniel Banks 335

In MX2 racing, KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Caleb Ward experienced wavering fortunes to claim 4-1 finishes for second overall behind Nathan Crawford and ahead of Jed Beaton, and will enter the finale 19 points away from the championship lead.

In the first moto, Ward recovered from an average start to elevate himself to second place in the first half of the race, but clipped an unexpected edge at the top of the circuit and was flicked off his motorcycle in an instant, remounting to finish fourth.

With a decent start in the second he positioned himself well early on, before shifting up a gear and easing away from championship leader Nathan Crawford to win the moto.

Davey Motorsports rider Jayden Rykers looked set to continue his spectacular rookie season in the category when he finished third in the opening moto, however the young Western Australian was centre-punched by a following rider and knocked out in the second moto, registering a non-finish for 14th on the day. KTM Raceline Pirelli rider Dylan Wills was fifth in Toowoomba, after posting 6-8 results.

Caleb Ward (KTM 250 SX-F) – “Bit of a would’ve, could’ve, should’ve kind of a day. In the first I worked my way from the seventh or eighth, through to second and just had a random crash coming into a corner. I hit a little edge or something and the bars just tucked. I got up as quick as I could, but I rode a little bit tight after that and only managed to get back to fourth. But I felt like I should have won that moto, it was a 30 and I had plenty of time left. In the second moto I had better start and managed to get into the top three not far in. Wilson and Nathan had a good pace going, but I found a bit of a flow and put it on a charge. I caught Nathan and managed to put on a bit of a pass, and we came around the corner and Wilson had had bike trouble so that gave me the win. You never want to win that way, but I’ve had bad luck before. I lost a few points to Nathan, but we’ll just move on to Coolum and keep trying our hardest. It’s never over until it’s over, so hopefully I can just keep going and get another couple of moto wins.”

Jayden Rykers (KTM 250 SX) – “We got off to a really good start, I got the holeshot, got passed once, then about the 10 minute mark went back to third, and just wasn’t finding the fastest lines. In the last 10 I started picking up again, and in the last 5 was fastest on track. I found a flow, but a little bit too late. Still, I’m pretty happy with a third place. I was sitting in fifth in the second moto and got hit in the side coming down a ramp, went completely sideways and smashed my head into the next up ramp and got knocked out. I was dead last by the time I got going again so I spoke to dad at the end of that lap and we decided that it wasn’t worth continuing on a hilly, high-speed track like this. I wouldn’t even get one point and I probably just end up cart-wheeling. Wilson’s bike stopped in the second one anyway so I didn’t lose anything position-wise. It would have lined me up for another podium if I hadn’t been hit from the side. But it is what it is, and I’m not broken, so I will be back at Coolum.”

MX2 Championship Points after round 9: 1. Nathan Crawford 574, 2. Jed Beaton 563, 3. Caleb Ward 555, 4. Jayden Rykers 479, 5. Wilson Todd 444, 6. Dylan Wills 429, 7. Hamish Harwood 398, 8. Joel Wightman 383, 9. Kyle Webster 324, 10. Wade Hunter 324

In the MXD class, orange up-and-comers – KTM Newcastle’s Cooper Pozniak and Raceline Pirelli KTM’s Wade Kirkland ended the day with a mixed bag and swapped championship positions as a result, Pozniak claiming 3-6 for fourth on the day while Kirkland suffered a mechanical problem in the first before rebounding to power his KTM 250 SX-F into an impressive second in the final moto. Pozniak now holds third in the championship with Kirkland just three points behind.

Wade Kirkland (KTM 250 SX-F) – “I had a bit of bad luck in that first moto and in the second I came second so that was good. There’s still one more to go though, and anything can happen, so we’ll see. Toowoomba is a really good track, I really like it; it was extra tacky this morning but then kind of hard packed this afternoon just like the track at home gets in summer time so I was comfortable with it. Mitch has stepped it up obviously but I think I’m getting better as I’m going, my arm pump has been a lot less of a problem. I rode Coolum last year and it was good, I like the sand, so I’m looking forward to it.”

MXD Championship Points after round 8: 1. Mitchell Evans 486, 2. Connor Tierney 471, 3. Cooper Pozniak 449, 4. Wade Kirkland 446, 5. Kaleb Barham 394, 6. Jordan Hill 382, 7. Zak Small 376, 8. Hugh McKay 314, 9. Lochie Latimer 303, 10. Levi McManus 273

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