Serco Yoshimura Yamaha's Kirk Gibbs made the most of muddy conditions in Melbourne. Image: Rice Photography.

Serco Yoshimura Yamaha’s Kirk Gibbs was able to salvage a top 10 finish in the opening round of the Monster Energy Super X series despite still recovering from a recently broken collarbone.

Gibbs broke his collarbone just one month out from Melbourne’s first round, not requiring surgery, but still forced to deal with the pain in a bid for points last Saturday night.

With rain storming round one, Gibbs says that the rain somewhat helped him on his way to eighth position for the weekend. He says he’ll be fitter and in a stronger position to battle in Wollongong this weekend.

“The mud was both good and bad,” Gibbs said. “The wet track took all the speed out of the race and meant doing the bigger jumps was impossible so that saved some impacts on my shoulder but as the track dried, it required plenty of strength just to steer the bike around the track.

“But I will be better for the ride and can look at doing a little more this week and hopefully a better result in Wollongong next week.”

Gibbs was forced to pass a fitness test on the Thursday before being confirmed fit to compete at Melbourne last weekend.