KTM Motocross Racing Team rider and MX1 rookie, Luke Styke, registered his first Premier class podium at national level when he finished third in the second round of the New Zealand motocross championships at Timaru, in the South Island.

Unexpected overnight rain turned what was a superbly prepared track into a rutty and difficult one-liner, and KTM 450 SX-F rider Styke was the first to master the conditions, taking pole position this morning.

He finished third, fourth and fifth in the three points-paying motos, to take third on the day, behind runaway Kiwis Cody Cooper and Mark Phillips, who finished one and two in each moto. KTM racing teammate Kirk Gibbs qualified fourth on the day, before going on to finish with 7, 3, 4 finishes, despite colliding with a lapped rider in the final moto, and damaging his gear shifter.

Kiwis Cooper and Phillips lead the New Zealand championships, with KTM’s Gibbs not far behind in third. The New Zealand motocross championship is a traditional annual pilgrimage for the KTM Motocross Racing Team as it builds towards the Australian MX nationals.

Rob Twyerould, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “It was a really good day for us today; you couldn’t get those conditions in practice so it was invaluable for our preparation for the Australian series. With all the ruts it was a real challenge to ride fast on and an even bigger challenge to pass on.

For example in that first one, (Round 1 winner) Scott Columb started 12th and finished 12th. Stykesy’s qualifying was brilliant, he timed it to absolute perfection. He was the last person to hit the finish line at the end of the session! Our guys improved their starts and were challenging for the holeshot in almost every race so that was a big improvement.

We had some bad luck in the last Moto; first Gibbsy hit a lapper and bent his gearlever, then Stykesy’s rear brake faded and he rode the last 5 minutes without one.
So in the championship now Cooper has the lead over Phillips, with Kirk we suspect about 11 points behind.”

Kirk Gibbs – “It wasn’t the best day on paper, but there were definitely positives for me. The track was really well prepared, but they got some rain overnight that they didn’t expect and it made the track very one-lined.

It was incredibly hard to pass on pretty much all day, although the track did get better as it dried out. Every race over here is very valuable for us. We both made improvements here and I feel that we are going to be in the race for the championship back in Australia.”

Luke Styke – “It was great to get pole this morning, I think I can count on one hand the times I’ve had pole position in my career, so that was a good feeling, considering the conditions. I ended up third overall, I feel like my speed was pretty good, I also feel like I had something for the front two guys in the first one, but it was a bit of a mission to get by.

In the last moto we got a pretty good start, I pumped up a little bit at the start but I got my rhythm and I was charging until I had a little bit of a brake issue with two or three laps to go, but overall the weekend was really good and I’m looking forward to the next one.”