THE LEADERS SPEAK | Bikesportnz

With the ninth round of 10 of the Australian MX Nationals at Echo Valley this Sunday, we catch up with the points leaders in the MX1, MX2, and MXD Classes, to hear everything from what makes Toowoomba so special, to what fans can expect from the first class venue.

New Zealand riders Cody Cooper, Ben Townley and Hamish Harwood will also be racing this event and using the weekend as part of their build-up to the Motocross of Nations in France next month. Cooper and Townley are two-thirds of Team New Zealand, with British-based Kayne Lamont the third team rider, while Harwood is one of the non-travelling reserves for the MXoN.

Kirk Gibbs – MX1 Championship Leader

“Toowoomba is an awesome venue, it’s something different and we don’t have a lot of tracks like Echo Valley in Australia. It’ great for spectators which is cool, but for a rider it’s got a great soil, it gets nice and rutty and they always prepare the track very well. Toowoomba marks a bit of a milestone for me, it was where I got my first 450 win in 2013 so I like it there, and hopefully we can get some more success there this weekend. There’s a lot of competitors in the MX1 class who can win races, but the guys who are going to be strong I think will be my teammate Luke Styke, he will be pushing hard, and then the CDR boys Kade (Mosig) and Dan (Reardon). Then you can’t go past the Kawasaki boys, they have stepped it up the last few rounds too. Oh and then B.T (Ben Townley) he’s coming back, so he’ll mix things up a bit (laughs). A start will play a big factor at Toowoomba because it will get very rutty and technical, so it could be hard to pass, but it will definitely make for some good close racing, and hopefully at the end of it, I’m the guy who finishes on top.”

Jay Wilson – MX2 Championship Leader

“Toowoomba is pretty special for me – it’s the track that I got my first senior win in 2011, when I was racing in the Under 19’s class and it’s a bit of a home round for me, so I’ll have a lot of family and friends there, which is always nice to have that bit of extra support. Echo Valley can be quite a technical track, and the hills and that technical style of racing is in some ways similar to what I’ve raced in New Zealand. This track can really separate the guys, and show who really deserves to run up the front. You need to be a well-rounded rider to race at Toowoomba. For a spectator it really doesn’t get any better than Echo Valley. You can pretty much stand anywhere and see it all, which is really cool for all of the people who come out to support what we do. I’m feeling really good about this weekend. I headed over to New Zealand straight after Nowra and got some good training and riding in with Josh Coppins, so I’m feeling confident heading into these last two rounds.”

Wilson Todd – MXD Championship Leader

“I’ve raced at Toowoomba as a junior and I really like the track there. There’s nothing that specifically makes it too special for me, but it’s always fun chasing the two-strokes up the hills. It’s a pretty cool track with all of the up and down hills; where as some of the other tracks on the calendar are a bit more basic, so it always makes for interesting racing. For a spectator, you can stand down the bottom and look up at the whole venue, or you can stand at the top and look down on the track, so it’s cool because no matter where you are, you can pretty much see everything. The hills are really long and it’s pretty wide open everywhere. It’s going to get rough and rutty and if you back it off to play it safe, someone else is going to take the risk, so everyone pretty much has to hold it on all the time, even if you don’t want to (laughs).”

Round nine of the MX Nationals will take place this Sunday, August 23, at Echo Valley Raceway in Toowoomba.

© Photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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