KTM Australia press release:

With the first round of this year’s MX Nationals now in the history books, the KTM men have proved they’re firmly in the game across all classes at Wonthaggi in Victoria.

Season 2015 MX Nationals Champion Kirk Gibbs’ return to top-level competition after suffering a broken femur in September last year yielded a well-deserved podium, behind round winner Dean Ferris and Kade Mosig.

Gibbs earlier qualified second fastest and took fifth in SuperPole, the current Vice Champion then powering to 4,3 results on the day.

Team mate Luke Styke kicked off solidly with second in SuperPole, and worked his way back from a terrible Moto 1 start to be seventh there, before lodging fourth in the second Moto. The Queensland-based rider from Jervis Bay roved he’s headed back towards full speed after a 2016 season spent on the sidelines.

Kiwi Hamish Harwood finished out of the big points in the premier class, but due to the silky torque of his KTM 300 XC, he still had enough sting in him to feature prominently in the MX2 category, where he gained huge respect for his decision to pull double duty.

Davey Motorsports rider Daniel Banks qualified 12th but poor starts saw him struggle to 21-18 moto results for 21st on the day.

Jay Marmont – KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager: “We’re happy, we managed to get both riders in SuperPole, which was a personal best for Luke. We didn’t get their best starts in the first moto but we got a bit lucky with a couple of riders struggling. Our bikes performed well and both riders performed well, and to come away with third and fourth is a solid round one result and I’m really happy.”

MX1
Kirk Gibbs – KTM450SX-F: “We’re in an alright position, I was pretty happy with the day. I haven’t raced at the intensity that the front guys are running for so long, so I need to practice getting into that speed really early. The KTM 450 SX-F was handling really well today, the boys did a great job.

There are those days where you don’t quite feel 100% so you don’t quite push 100%. I got a little flustered in the first moto. I had good speed and was catching those front boys, but I just wasn’t good enough to make a pass. I’ve just got to iron out a few little problems and then I think everything will be right on track.”

Luke Styke – KTM450SX-F: “Got into SuperPole and came second which was a PB – it was good to grab two points for that. First moto I started outside the top-20 and made it hard for myself, then just got the shovel out, had a good dig and got back to seventh. I put a lot of energy into that race but the second moto I fixed the problem and got a top-three start, then clawed it back a bit and got fourth, for fourth overall on the day. It’s a good building point and I think we can offer a lot more. I’ll go back home for a couple of weeks and do the grind, and come back to Appin full swing.”

Hamish Harwood – KTM 300SX, KTM 250SX: “It was a pretty consistent day. In MX1 I was kind of saving some energy but also struggling to pass riders, so I had a tough time, and in the last one I came together with another rider on the finish line jump and had a big cartwheel. I hit my head pretty hard, but apart from that, all good. The two strokes are quite different bikes to each other, even though it’s only 50cc. The 300 is an XC because KTM wanted to show that it’s a good motocross bike as well as cross country bike. All we’ve done is put a 19-inch rear wheel on it. It has heaps of smooth torque, which is nice. I was expecting it to be a real weapon, but it’s actually got smooth power, and lots of it. I got two sixth places in MX2 which wasn’t too bad a start to the season. I let a few people by in the second MX2 moto, which I was pretty annoyed about.”

MX2
Davey Motorsport rider and 2014 MXD Champion Egan Mastin got his tenure with KTM off to a fine start with second overall, after he rebounded from a heavy crash in race one in the finest possible style, finishing 9-1 for second on the day, behind round winner Wilson Todd.

Western Australian rising star Jayden Rykers took his Raceline Development Team KTM 250 SX-F to 3-6 moto finishes for fifth overall, and lies just 2 points adrift of second-placed Mastin.

Egan Mastin – KTM 250SX: “I’m stoked. This was what I wanted coming in. First moto was a bit unfortunate, I ended up going down twice and one of them was fairly big, so I was lucky to walk away. I fought back to sixth and went down again unfortunately, so I ended finishing that race in ninth, so was a bit sore going into moto two. I got off to a good start and ended up getting the moto win pretty comfortably. I felt like I was pretty solid the whole moto and it was good. Bike was awesome here – I was really happy with my suspension setup here.”

Jayden Rykers – KTM250SX-F: “Qualifying started off a bit rough, I went down twice and came away with sixth gate pick. First moto I just didn’t get the jump so I was mid-pack around the first turn. I made some good moves to get to the top eight and sat back to watch a little bit, then fortunately everything went to plan and by the 20-minute mark I moved into third. The 20-minute format in the second moto was a bit of a sprint, but I didn’t get a good start in that one so I got 3-6 for the day and fifth overall. It was good points though and there’s only a couple of points difference to second place.”

MXD
In MXD Morgan Fogarty was the top-placed of the KTM men in seventh place, while the podium went to Cooper Pozniak from Jy Roberts and Cody Dyce.

125cc Gold Cup
KTM dominated the 125cc Gold Cup action, with Regan Duffy winning from Mason Semmens, with Bailey Malkiewicz third.