15 Nov 2011

The Serco Yoshimura Yamaha team endured its toughest night of the Super X season with team riders Luke Styke and Kirk Gibbs both suffering from falls and bad luck. Yet despite the round four issues, Styke holds down second place in the Pro Lites Championship with one round remaining.

Maitland Oval proved to be an unlucky venue for the factory supported Yamaha team as Luke Styke finished eighth for the night, while team mate Gibbs in 12th.

Styke was on song in the afternoon heat races and was just two corners from a victory when he got cross rutted in a series of jumps and fell from his YZ250F. That crash dropped him back to ninth spot and while a direct transfer to the main event, it would also mean next to last gate pick and on the very outside of the start straight.

The short start straight combined with the ultra tight first turn meant even a recognized good starter like Styke couldn’t gain good track position early in each of the three finals. While he pushed and charged all the way to the end, he finished with 12-9-6 results to take overall for the night.

But there is some comfort in knowing that his championship rivals also experienced a tough night and he was able to gain one place up the leader board to now be in second place in the championship with the Brisbane finale this coming weekend.

“Had I not crashed in that heat race, things might have been a lot different but I have no one to blame but myself,” Styke said after the race.

“Every rider knows that a good starting position is vitally important in supercross and that’s why success in the heat races means a lot.”

“I was at least able to get a top 10 result and with some bad luck to some of the other riders, I have now moved to second in the championship. But I can’t rely on luck every weekend, so next weekend it’s all about putting together the best races I can and making no mistakes.”

The 2011 Monster Energy Super X Championship hasn’t been kind to Kirk Gibbs. From breaking a collarbone just four weeks prior to run one, to first turn pile ups and plain old bad luck, Gibbs has struggled to show his obvious talents in this years’ series.

Again in Maitland things didn’t go his way with a crash in his heat race then in the first final a rear puncture slowed his progress and he returned to the start line to get the bike ready for remaining races. The final two motos were a small improvement taking 8-4 for 12th overall for the round but not what Gibbs expected or is capable of.

“It’s been a frustrating series for me so far and I have struggled to get any momentum going. I have been practicing well and I feel pretty good on the bike yet I’m just not getting the starts I need to get the job done in these short races and then to have a flat tyre in SuperX is rare.”

“I have one round to go and I at least want to finish the season on a strong note and get a result that myself and the team can be proud of,” Gibbs states.

The final round will be contested this weekend in Brisbane and the Serco team will be out for a good night in front of their home town crowd.

Follow the Serco Yoshimura Yamaha team on:  www.facebook.com/SercoYamaha

Round four Results – Maitland
Pro Lites
1st  Matt MOSS – JDR Motorex KTM
2nd  Dean FERRIS – Monster Energy Kawasaki
3rd  Luke ARBON – GYTR Rockstar Yamaha
4th  Gavin FAITH – Carlton Dry THOR Honda
5th  Adam MONEA – Team 07 Axis Motorsport
6th  Steven CLARKE – Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki
7th  Robbie MARSHALL – Coastal KTM
8th  Luke STYKE – Serco Yamaha
9th  Lucas SUTHERLAND – Suzuki
10th  Nicholas SUTHERLAND – Suzuki

Pro Lites- Championship Standings
1st Matt MOSS – JDR Motorex KTM: 93
2nd Luke STYKE – Serco Yoshimura Yamaha: 71
3rd Brendan HARRISON – JDR Motorex KTM: 70
4th Steven CLARKE – Team Motul Pirelli Suzuki: 68
5th Gavin FAITH – Carlton Dry THOR Honda: 67
6th Adam MONEA – Team 07 Axis Motorsport: 57
7th Dean FERRIS – Monster Energy Kawasaki: 52
8th Luke ARBON – GYTR Rockstar Yamaha: 52
9th Robbie MARSHALL – Coastal KTM: 47
10th Kirk GIBBS – Serco Yoshimura Yamaha: 37