Former MX1 champion Kirk Gibbs claimed a sixth-place result in a super-rough and technical Toowoomba round of the Australian ProMX Championship, which doubled as the unique retro weekend of season 2024 in Queensland. Unfortunately for teammate Byron Dennis, he was ruled out partway through the opening encounter.
The day got off to a positive start for Gibbs on his GASGAS MC 450F in qualifying fifth, before he finished fourth in the opening premier class race. The second moto was more challenging for the Sunshine Coast-based racer, working his way from outside of the top 10 into the top five.
Gibbs then encountered dramas and found himself bumped back down the order to 13th position, but he managed to work his way forward once more to P8. That placed him sixth overall for the weekend and, as a result, the MX1 mainstay remains fourth in the championship standings.
Kirk Gibbs: "Overall, I’m happy with how I rode today, but on paper the results don’t show that. My first race was good, but at the start of the second moto there were all these ruts going into the second turn and I got shuffled right back. I managed to get myself back to fifth, but then I pushed into a turn too hard and blew through it. Being in a taller gear in the mud, the bike stalled and it took a while for me to get going again. I fought back to P8, but the track was really difficult today – there were ruts right into the base of the up ramps, then you were landing into more ruts, so you had to basically pick a line in the air and line yourself up. It was pretty gnarly!"
It was a short-lived return to competition for our MX2 hope Dennis this weekend. In his first race back after breaking his arm, the rookie injured his hand in the opening moto and eventually had to call it a day – since cleared of any major injuries after undergoing scans this afternoon.
Kyle Blunden (KTM Group Australia Motorsport Manager): "It was Byron’s first race back from injury and, unfortunately, he came down one of the hills in the first moto and tangled with another rider and injured his hand. He tried to regroup and head out again, but was in too much pain. He was assessed by Racesafe and sent to hospital for scans. They’ve since come back clear of any serious injury, but he does have severe swelling – we’ll reassess his condition once the swelling goes down."