Australian motocross star Kirk Gibbs simply loves racing at Taupo and he showed why when he snatched the first major trophy of the 2024-25 Kiwi motocross season on Sunday.
Traditionally regarded the first big event of the New Zealand summer season, the big annual Huka Honda MX Fest extravaganza on the outskirts of Taupo typically brings out all the main contenders for the multi-round national championship season in the New Year.
This high-profile event has always been the ideal place for riders and teams to showcase their new machines, test bike settings and perhaps also fire off a few early warning shots at their rivals.
But this year it was semi-regular visitor Gibbs who celebrated the loudest – supported in his quest by the Auckland-based CML GASGAS Racing Team, Alpinestars and Crown Kiwi Enterprises – who took his sparkling new GASGAS MC450FE bike to clinch the coveted Nicky Smith Memorial trophy, the prize for winning the popular shoot-out feature races on Sunday.
The 35-year-old Gibbs, from the Sunshine Coast, outlasted all competitors in the “champions-of-champions” feature shoot-out, a series of races that eliminated riders at each phase.
The shoot-out started with the top riders from each of the senior 125cc, MX2 and MX1 classes and culling out the slowest riders each time, reducing the competition from 40 riders in the first stanza, to 20, to 10, to six and eventually there were just three riders in the final one-lap dash.
Australian rider Kirk Gibbs (GASGAS MC450FE), on his way to clinching the first major silverware of the 2024-25 New Zealand motocross season. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
Gibbs was the last man standing, winning the final three-rider shootout ahead of Mangakino’s Maximus Purvis (Yamaha) and Papamoa’s defending Nicky Smith Memorial winner Cody Cooper (also on a GASGAS bike).
Gibbs had finished 2-2-5-2 in the 10-minute sprint races in the MX1 class early in the day and this was good enough to finish overall runner-up in the MX1 class. Pruvis won the MX1 class overall, with GASGAS rider Luke Maitland, from Waikino, claiming the third podium spot.
However, Gibbs was on fire in the shoot-out elimination races, finishing third in the top-40 shootout (with 20 riders eliminated); second in the shoot-out with the remaining top-20; fourth in the top-10 shoot-out and then first in the top-6 and, most significantly, first in the final race for the top-3 riders.
“It has been a while since I was last in New Zealand … in 2020,” said Gibbs afterwards.
“Shayne King, from New Plymouth, hit me up about halfway through this year and said he’d love to kit me out and get me over to race in New Zealand again. I told him I was interested and then it all just happened.
“There is talk that I may be able to come back over to race the New Zealand nationals in February and March, but we just have to see how it all pans out for me as regards the dates in both countries.”
Although Cooper could not repeat his shoot-out win from last season, that may have partly been due to him this time racing the less-powerful 250cc model GASGAS bike against the 450cc machinery of Gibbs and Purvis, but he still did have plenty celebrate as he won the MX2 (250cc) class outright on Sunday.
Cooper won the MX2 class ahead of Cambridge’s Jared Hannon (KTM) and Pukehina’s Flynn Watts (Yamaha).
Other senior class winners at the weekend were Te Awamutu’s Joel Hansen (veterans’ 35-44 years); Whakatane’s Darren Capill (veterans’ over-45 years); Auckland’s Jayden McKenzie (MX3).
Junior class winners at the weekend were Ohau’s Phoenix Van Dusschoten (14-16 years’ 250cc); Oropi’s Levi Townley (12-13 years’ 125cc); Oropi’s Jaggar Townley (12-16 years’ 85cc/150cc); Hamilton’s Nico Verhoeven (8-11 years’ 85cc); Matamata’s Henry Millar (8-11 years’ pro 65cc); Raetihi’s Karaitiana Horne (women); Auckland’s Mikayla Matthews (women 12-16 years’ 85cc/125cc); Te Awamutu’s Mila Richmond (8-11 years’ 85cc).
Significantly, it was a double celebration for the host Taupo Motorcycle Club at the weekend, marking off 50 years since the creation of the club and also ticking off 40 years of hosting its signature Labour Weekend MX Fest extravaganza.
© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
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