KTM Australia press release:

The KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Kirk Gibbs has extended his lead in the 2015 MX Nationals, with two masterful rides in the series second round at Appin, near Sydney. The 2014 Vice Champion finished with 3-2 moto results to end the day second behind Kade Mosig, but extended his championship lead over Mosig by virtue of the five points he accumulated by qualifying for, and winning, Super Pole.

Gibbs’ ride in the opening moto was one of the talking points of the day, as he recovered from a first turn crash by turning on one of the incessant, terminator-like charges he became famous for last year, and elevated himself from last to third.

In the second moto, a possible residual effect of his earlier crash saw him lose his rear brake in the first ten minutes of the 30-minute moto, but his courageous second place finish enabled him to leave with a 14-point lead in the championship.

Gibbs’ KTM team mate Luke Styke’s Appin ride was equally impressive, the MX1 rookie taking 2-3 results on the day, to forge the enviable statistic of three podium finishes from his first four races in the premier class. Styke’s outstanding speed and consistency now sees him clearly third after two rounds of his very first MX1 championship.

Rob Twyerould, KTM Motocross Racing Team Manager – “For Gibbsy, this was a championship ride. From going down in the first turn to third is pretty amazing. So to go away from here still making points after a fall in the first turn of the first moto, I’d call that an absolute win.

And Stykesy, I’m incredibly happy. To be on the podium two rounds in a row in his first year in MX1, he is just going from strength to strength. He rode really solid today, very smart, and very consistent, and that’s given him a solid third in the championship. I’d also like to acknowledge the effort from the team. Everyone really put in.”

Kirk Gibbs – “Qualifying went good; I qualified fastest and felt really well. I got the holeshot in the first moto, but then just pushed a little too hard around the second turn and lost the front. After that, it was pick it up and into damage control – just go as hard as I could right to the end. Although it was really disappointing to go down in the first turn it still wasn’t too bad. Let’s hope this is one of my bad days, I had my back brake fade away about 10 min into the second moto, so, trying to ride this track with just a front brake was pretty tricky, but I was still good enough to even close the gap there on Dan. I just had to ride the best I could with what I had. But hats off to the team, the boys had to work very hard between motos because I bent the bike up a little bit.”

Luke Styke – “I feel like it wasn’t my track this weekend. With my lines I felt like I couldn’t ride the bike as fast as I wanted to ride, so I guess it was a good weekend. I’m looking forward to some sand tracks coming up in the next couple of rounds. Things are going well, but it’s a long championship, and we’ve just got to keep building.” In MX2 Racing: Factory Support rider Caleb Ward withdrew from a moto one battle for the lead after sustaining a tweaked knee that ruled out for the rest of the day and will require specialist examination. Dylan Wills (7-8) was again the highest placed KTM finisher in eighth, with Factory support rider Hamish Harwood (6-10) ninth after a best result of sixth.

Caleb Ward – “It’s pretty devastating but there’s not really much I can do about it. I was in a battle for the lead with Clout and Jay Wilson and I just passed back into second, and in the corner my leg clipped a deep rut and pushed my knee up into the handlebar and sent it on a weird angle. I’ve done a knee before and I know the feeling. I knew I’d done something straight away. The Race Safe guys said my MCL could possibly be torn, so we’ve got to go get it checked out this week. From what I’ve heard an MCL isn’t as bad as an ACL, so hopefully I don’t need surgery and can get back out in a couple of weeks.”

Hamish Harwood – “I’d call it an okay day. I couldn’t get a good lap in qualifying, but seventh was okay. In the first race I ended up sixth after moving forward quite a bit. My fitness is still not there, I definitely need to work on that, as well as my intensity. In the second race my start was absolutely terrible, I got caught up in the bog in the first turn and I was well outside the top 20. I made my way back to 10th and that’s probably the best I’ve felt on the bike so far. But none of that matters if you’re getting around in last place. I’m making progress, and we’re getting there.”

In MXD racing, 16-year-old KTM support rider Kaleb Barham (QB4 Toowoomba) stunned observers with a demonstrative victory in the opening moto, but missed his chance at the overall when he fell in front of traffic during the second moto. Barham was run over several times and sustained burns when his bike rested itself on him, but proving they breed them tough in Toowoomba, the youngster remounted and finished 14th for 6th on the day, to elevate himself to sixth in the championship – where he is now the highest placed KTM rider!

Kaleb Barham – “It was really good. Wasn’t expecting it, but I went out there, had to pass a few people out of the first corner, but got up there and got the job done. It was awesome. I’ve only just turned 16 late last year, so this is more of a look-around year, but I definitely came out swinging today, I was just a bit unlucky in that second moto. I had a bit of an off in the first corner, got run over a few times and had the bike drop on top of me, so I couldn’t get the overall, but anyway…”