KTM Motocross Racing Team rider Luke Styke has taken the first MX Nationals premier class race win of his career, then rapidly backed it up with his first MX1 round win, as the 2015 Australian MX Nationals continued with the third round of 10 at Victoria’s Broadford circuit at the weekend.

The class rookie continued to use his combination of speed and composure to fast track himself into title contention, Styke winning the day’s first moto then taking third in the next, to ensure the win ahead of Kawasaki’s Adam Monea and his KTM team-mate Kirk Gibbs.

Gibbs extended the championship lead he has held since the very first moto of this year’s series, on the back of a determined and incessant moto one showing where he surged back through the pack after falling not once, but twice.

In moto two, the holeshot went to New Zealand MX1 champion Cody Cooper (Penrite Honda), however with redemption on his mind CDR Yamaha’s Daniel Reardon made the passes required to take the race lead ahead of series points leader Gibbs.

Despite Reardon holding the lead for the majority of the moto, Gibbs went into championship management mode and put in a late charge to reclaim the race lead and finish ahead of Reardon who finished second, and Styke who took third.

With the MX1 class providing a mixed bag of results, Styke’s consistency proved to pay off – finishing round three on the top step of the podium, ahead of Monea in second, and Gibbs in third.

Gibbs 7-1 result means he’ll take a 19-point lead into next month’s round in his home state of South Australia, with Styke making it a KTM 1-2 in the championship, 16 points clear of the next best placed rider, Yamaha’s Kade Mosig.

“Second in the super Pole was good for points, and in the first moto was going all right, but early on I came together with (New Zealand Kawasaki rider) John Phillips and went down so I had to regroup and get going again,” said Gibbs afterwards.

“I was charging, got up to third and was catching those front two boys, but was just pushing too hard and had another big crash, so it was just sort of damage control from there – trying to ride the best I could with my bike all bent up. It was a decent crash that second one so I’m going to be sore for a couple of days – a stupid mistake that could have been pretty costly.

“In the second moto I got a great start and I got into the lead pretty quick. Then Reardon had a couple of better lines and was riding well, but I knew if I stayed with him I could pressure towards the end. I made a little mistake and he got away from me, but I just put my head down and charged and chipped away at his lead, got back on and just waited for my move. When I put it on him I just tried to sprint away at the end and I pulled out about a five or six second lead.

“I’m really happy to bounce back with a win, but I’m going to have to keep my bike off the deck in future, that’s not the way to win a championship, so I’ve got to be a little bit smarter with that.”

For Styke, the weekend was a huge boost.

“It was good to get the monkey off the back in the first moto,” said Styke.

“It was great. I struggled a bit in qualifying, and made a change at the front end. In moto one I started off a little bit tight, and then kind of at the 10 minute mark I fell into a bit of a groove, put my head down and bum up and rode my own race, and just chipped away and got the win.

“In the second moto I was just concentrating on a good top-three start. That’s all I wanted and we came out second. I made a silly mistake and got passed, but I didn’t let it worry me, I just did my own thing and put in my own laps. There were two guys behind me giving me some heat, but overall we went pretty good – I was pretty happy with my first win.

I’m looking forward to the sand rounds next. I know my bike works really well in the sand, and I ride good in the sand so I’m looking forward to them.”

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Round Three Results – Broadford

MX1 Class:

1) Luke Styke 65

2) Adam Monea 60

3) Kirk Gibbs 59

4) Cody Cooper 53

5) Dylan Long 49

6) John Phillips 49

7) Kale Makeham 48

8) Jesse Dobson 45

9) Cheyne Boyd 43

10) Lawson Bopping 42

MX1 championship standings after round three:

1) Kirk Gibbs 204

2) Luke Styke 185

3) Kade Mosig 169

4) Adam Monea 159

5) Lawson Bopping 158

6) Cody Cooper 151

7) Dylan Long 144

8) Jesse Dobson 140

9) Kale Makeham 135

10) Daniel Reardon 124

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com