Queensland’s Kirk Gibbs showed just why his reputation as a championship-winner is growing during this toughest and most competitive of Australian Motocross Nationals seasons seen in recent years.

The KTM Motocross Racing Team’s defending MX Nationals No.1 proved his title-winning mettle once again at the weekend’s third round of 10 in the MX Nationals championship at Broadford, winning the overall victory ahead of returned Grand Prix racers Dean Ferris (Yamaha) and Todd Waters (Suzuki), in the most atrocious conditions seen in the series in three years.

Gibbs likened the quagmire faced by MX1 competitors in the first moto to conditions seen at the same track back during his rookie year in the premier class in 2013.

While Waters and Ferris split the wins yesterday, it was Gibbs’ pair of second placings which earned the overall victory, and moved the Queensland-based South Australian to within one point of the lead in Australia’s most important motocross championship.

So poor were the conditions after unexpectedly heavy rain yesterday morning that race organisers and team management decided to cancel qualifying, opting instead to use the championship standings of the time for grid selection.

“The track was pretty tough and though it wasn’t too physical, it was pretty technical – you had to really be onto it,” said Gibbs afterwards.

“You also had to get good starts and put yourself in really good positions, and I felt like I did that. My second start wasn’t quite as good, but I felt like I rode pretty solid and hit my marks.

“My first year in 2013, the track was pretty similar, it was just having that rain overnight. It got really one line-ish, which makes it really hard to pass. I’m glad to come away from there with relatively good results and points. I’m still chasing that first race win, but obviously I’ll take an overall! I’m trying to be really consistent and battle with the top guys every weekend, because they are going to do the same, I just want to be there every moto, and I’ve been able to do that so far.”

MX2 CLASS

In MX2 racing, Caleb Ward lost his lead in the MX2 championship after terrible luck at Broadford.

The likeable North Queensland suffered a mystery engine failure while running top six in the first moto, then in the second, he had another rider high-side directly in front of him as he had his KTM 250 SX-F in third gear with the taps wide open. Ward crashed heavily but managed to remount and limp home in 15th place, slipping from first to seventh in the championship.

Yamaha’s Jed Beaton bagged both wins in the MX2 class at Broadford and has taken over the championship lead.

“It is so good to reward the team and also myself with the win at Broadford today,” said Beaton.

“I’ve been working so hard for this and I can’t believe it’s finally happened,” he said.

“To go 1-1 for the first time is just a really good feeling and I’m hoping to carry that same momentum into the next round. I’m feeling confident so, it’s all upwards from here.

“I finally got my starts sorted which was good too, but I really just can’t thank DPH Motorsports Yamaha enough for the opportunity, as well as everyone else associated with the team. Hopefully there are lots more moments like this throughout the season.”

Photo courtesy MXN Images

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Thor MX1 Overall Round 3:

1. Matt Moss – 65 Pts
2. Kirk Gibbs – 64 Pts
3. Dean Ferris – 60 Pts
4. Kade Mosig – 53 Pts
5. Todd Waters – 52 Pts
6. Brett Metcalfe – 52 Pts
7. Daniel Reardon – 50 Pts
8. Dylan Long – 48 Pts
9. Jesse Dobson – 44 Pts
10. Jay Wilson – 43 Pts
11. Lawson Bopping – 41 Pts
12. Michael Menchi – 35 Pts
13. Joel Milesevic – 34 Pts
14. Matthew Toth – 34 Pts
15. Kurt Wightman – 33 Pts
16. Daniel Banks – 28 Pts
17. Michael Mahon – 26 Pts
18. Aaron Watts – 23 Pts
19. Jack Foley – 21 Pts
20. Jacob Wright – 19 Pts
21. Lachy Steen – 19 Pts
22. Jayson Tough – 17 Pts
23. Eddie Brown – 15 Pts
24. Izak Maule – 13 Pts
25. Luke Wilson – 12 Pts

Thor MX1 Championship Standings After Round 3 of 10:

1. Dean Ferris – 190 Pts
2. Kirk Gibbs – 189 Pts
3. Todd Waters – 182 Pts
4. Matt Moss – 177 Pts
5. Brett Metcalfe – 165 Pts
6. Daniel Reardon – 146 Pts
7. Dylan Long – 139 Pts
8. Jay Wilson – 133 Pts
9. Kade Mosig – 130 Pts
10. Jacob Wright – 106 Pts
11. Michael Menchi – 104 Pts
12. Kurt Wightman – 98 Pts
13. Daniel Banks – 93 Pts
14. Matthew Toth – 89 Pts
15. Lawson Bopping – 85 Pts
16. Michael Mahon – 84 Pts
17. Izak Maule – 67 Pts
18. Jesse Dobson – 57 Pts
19. Joel Milesevic – 53 Pts
20. James Alen – 52 Pts

Motul MX2 Overall Round 3:

1. Jed Beaton – 70 Pts
2. Kyle Webster – 62 Pts
3. Luke Arbon – 55 Pts
4. Nathan Crawford – 54 Pts
5. Jake Moss – 54 Pts
6. Dylan Wills – 47 Pts
7. Wade Hunter – 46 Pts
8. Wilson Todd – 46 Pts
9. Hamish Harwood – 43 Pts
10. Richie Evans – 43 Pts
11. Jayden Rykers – 43 Pts
12. Dean Porter – 43 Pts
13. Joel Wightman – 37 Pts
14. Kale Makeham – 30 Pts
15. Elias Dukes – 26 Pts
16. Kurt Gow – 25 Pts
17. Jamie Harvey – 23 Pts
18. Aaron Tanti – 20 Pts
19. Nick Sutherland – 20 Pts
20. Jedidiah Cornthwaite – 19 Pts
21. Caleb Ward – 16 Pts
22. Ricky Latimer – 15 Pts
23. Joel Green – 14 Pts
24. Darren Schenk – 14 Pts
25. Allister Kent – 11 Pts
26. Brandon Johnson – 9 Pts
27. Meghan Rutledge – 5 Pts
28. Maddy Brown – 4 Pts
29. Russell Scoble – 2 Pts
30. Jayden Conforto – 1 Pts
31. Stephen Krop – 0 Pts
32. Josh Adams – 0 Pts
33. Geoffrey Chalmers – 0 Pts
34. Mathew McEntee – 0 Pts

Motul MX2 Championship Standings After Round 3 of 10:

1. Jed Beaton – 172 Pts
2. Nathan Crawford – 169 Pts
3. Luke Arbon – 161 Pts
4. Jake Moss – 161 Pts
5. Wilson Todd – 148 Pts
6. Jayden Rykers – 144 Pts
7. Caleb Ward – 142 Pts
8. Kyle Webster – 138 Pts
9. Kale Makeham – 134 Pts
10. Wade Hunter – 130 Pts
11. Hamish Harwood – 124 Pts
12. Dylan Wills – 124 Pts
13. Richie Evans – 121 Pts
14. Joel Wightman – 112 Pts
15. Dean Porter – 103 Pts
16. Aaron Tanti – 84 Pts
17. Kurt Gow – 79 Pts
18. Ricky Latimer – 71 Pts
19. Nick Sutherland – 55 Pts

MX Development Championship Points after round 3:

1. Connor Tierney 185, 2. Wade Kirkland 169, 3. Jordan Hill 164, 4. Cooper Pozniak 162, 5. Kaleb Barham 158, 6. Mitchell Evans 157, 7. Zak Small 149, 8. Lochie Latimer 140, 9. Hugh McKay 112, 10. Travis Silk 109.