AFTER a disappointing outing the week before, Kirk Gibbs proved he was back on track with a second overall in Round 5 of the MX Nationals at Murray Bridge on Sunday.
Gibbs raced on the Murray Bridge circuit as a junior and being less than four hours from Mount Gambier, the professional motocross racer had plenty of support on the sidelines, which led to an overall podium position.
He qualified third, before taking away the super pole honours before race one.
Gibbs lined up on the start gate alongside reigning champion Dean Ferris and the fight to the finish was on.
However, the KTM factory rider’s team mate Luke Clout was first out of the start gate and claimed the holeshot ahead of Dylan Long, Brett Metcalfe, Ferris, Rhys Carter and Gibbs.
With traffic up ahead, Gibbs knew he needed to make moves quickly, getting around Carter in the early stages of the race.
Ferris was able get around Metcalfe and into third, but not allowing the current points leader to break away, Gibbs too made the pass.
Ferris was stuck behind his team mate Long, which allowed Gibbs to find his rear wheel.
Approaching the half-way point of the race Ferris made the move on Long, before Gibbs shows him a wheel and also made the move.
Gibbs was matching Ferris’ lap times and was desperate to carry confidence into the five-week break.
He was able to again get on the back wheel of Ferris, which showcased some of the best bar-to-bar racing in the MX1 class all season.
Ferris was sandwiched between the two factory KTM riders with 10 minutes remaining and a three-way battle to the finish was the expectation.
However, Metcalfe found his way back into the podium fight.
With less than five minutes remaining Ferris made the pass for the lead, while Gibbs struggled to deal with the roost of Clout after ditching his goggles.
The fine sand on the Murray Bridge Circuit made it difficult for Gibbs to keep on the pace and as a result he was forced to surrender the podium position.
However, his never-say-die attitude shone through and Gibbs was able to capitalise on a mistake from Metcalfe on the final lap to regain third position by the chequered flag.
Ferris maintained his perfect record with another victory, followed by Clout and Gibbs who also had the fastest lap on the moto.
Gibbs rocketed out of the starting gate in the second race, but entered the corner too hot and as a result Kade Mosig claimed the hole shot.
Ferris sat in second and watched Mosig’s lines, while Gibbs applied the pressure from behind.
Neither Mosig or Ferris could put down a clean lap, which helped Gibbs mount an attack six minutes into the race.
He showed a wheel to the current points leader, but came off around a corner and gave up two positions.
Gibbs picked up the bike and was back in his groove before long, but it was enough to give Mosig and Ferris breathing room.
Despite his best efforts, Ferris was unable to catch Mosig who finished 1.713 seconds ahead of the champion to break his perfect streak.
Late in the moto Gibbs made the move back on Long and Caleb Ward to cross the line in third.
Gibbs explained the ups and downs of the weekend after race two on the podium.
“It has definitely been interesting, I got two good starts, but somehow ended up stuffing them up,” he said.
“That was a bit disappointing, but I felt good today, I felt fast, just little issues kept coming up and I need to start eliminating them.
“It is all good, at least we are back on the box and we had a bit more of a positive day.
“Last week was a shocker for me, so I am happy with that.”
Gibbs returned to second position in the championship standings after the weekend’s efforts and has high hopes to improve in the second half of the season.
“We are trying to be better every week and hopefully we can have some more success in the second half,” he said.
“I think we can improve on the bike still, we are not far off the mark, but I think we can better that and also myself I think I can be better again.
“It will be good to have a little bit of reset and worry about the second half of the season, Dean (Ferris) is riding amazing and hats off to Kade (Mosig) for getting that win.”
MX1 Pro Class Murray Bridge top 10: Dean Ferris 67 points, Kirk Gibbs 60, Kade Mosig 57, Luke Clout 56, Brett Metcalfe 53, Dylan Long 51, Caleb Ward 50, Mitch Evans 48, Rhys Carter 48, Connor Tierney 42.
MX1 Pro Class overall top 10: Dean Ferris 354 points, Kirk Gibbs 286, Mitch Evans 275, Luke Clout 273, Kade Mosig 263, Dylan Long 258, Caleb Ward 247, Rhy Carter 239, Brett Metcalfe 215, Connor Tierney 213.
