IN
THE
WIND
P38
GIBBS TOPS AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL MX
K
irk Gibbs, on the KTM Factory Moto-
cross Racing Team, put an end to Dean
Ferris' six-race winning streak in the 2017
Australian MX National Championship at
the Shepparton circuit in Victoria, July 16.
Gibbs went 1-2, taking full advantage of a
first-moto crash by Ferris to nab the overall
victory. The Queensland-based South Aus-
tralian is just the second rider of the seven
rounds held so far to take the MX1 win other
than Ferris.
Gibbs was pressuring CDR Yamaha-
mounted Ferris for the lead in the first
moto when Ferris lost the front end and
went down. He remounted in 12th and had
worked his way up to seventh when the
checkered flag came out.
Gibbs inherited the lead when Ferris
went down, and he never looked back, tak-
ing his second win in three rounds.
Ferris came back with a vengeance in
the second moto, taking the win with Gibbs
battling for second.
"It's really exciting and a great relief," said
Gibbs. "We knew if we just worked hard,
and followed our plan, we could put it all to-
gether, and today was the day. Both motos
were really fast and I battled in both, it was
pretty tough. In that second moto, I lost a
few spots and just had to work real hard to
get back to second. I'm really happy with
my riding and how it went today, for myself
and the team.
"Shepparton was a little bit different to
the last few years; the ruts got really rough
and bumpy and it was hard to find good
lines out there, but it made
for good close racing."
"You can't win them all,
but I really wanted to," Fer-
ris said. "I felt pretty good
in moto one and was right
(Top left) Kirk
Gibbs became
just the second
different rider
to win the MX1
class after seven
rounds of the
2017 Australian
National MX Series
after winning in
Shepparton.
PHOTOGROPHY
COURTEST
MXN
Wilson Todd
took the
overall win in
the MX2 class.
(Left to right)
Brett Metcalfe,
Gibbs and
Dean Ferris
celebrate on
the Shepparton
podium.
