Luke Styke's hard work mid-week is evident in his rise to the top of the MX1 ladder: Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Great starts and setting a fast pace early paid off Serco Yamaha Metal Mulisha Racing’s Luke Styke, sweeping all-three MX2 motos at round two of the Monster Energy MX Nationals round at Coonabarabran.

Styke, who walked away from round one with a second place finish, said he needed to work on his starts and first lap speed, which is exactly what he did.

“Wow, what a day!” he beamed. “I always come to a race trying to win every race but it rarely happens, so I’m pretty pumped about today.

“The most pleasing thing was that after round one I said I needed to work on starts and my first lap and I did that then came back two weeks later and that work showed up instantly as my starts were good and my first lap exactly what I wanted.

“My bike was perfect today and the fact that Kirk [Gibbs] and I were up the front and finished 1-2 shows how good our YZ250Fs are.”

After sweeping the Coonabarabran round, Styke overtook teammate Gibbs for the championship lead.

Styke sits 13-points ahead coming into round three at Wonthaggi in Victoria on 28-29 April.