Oz MX: Styke wins MX2 title

Yamaha’s Luke Styke is the 2013 Australian motocross champion in the MX2 class after another stellar performance in the penultimate round at Toowoomba (Qld) on Sunday, August 25.

The champion-designate now holds an unassailable 107pt lead over KTM’s Kale Makeham in the MX2 standings with one weekend of racing remaining.

“From the moment I left the final round at Coolum in 2012, I set out a plan to win the championship this year and it feels awesome to have achieved that goal," said Styke.

“I surrounded myself with the right people, used the right products and I’m a part of the best MX2 team in Australia so to have everything fall onto place and make it happen in the last half a lap of the first race was unreal.

“Today was really special for me as I had a few of my mates up from up from home, my girlfriend was here as well as my Mum and Tobz, so it was really nice to get it done in front of them. I can’t thank everyone enough for their efforts and support this year and the Serco Yamaha team are awesome."

Meanwhile, in MX1 Suzuki’s Matt Moss is a 25pt leader over KTM’s Todd Waters after he went 1-2 at the superb Echo Valley circuit to win the day on 71pts from Kirk Gibbs  (KTM, 68), Waters (57), Jake Moss (Suzuki, 56) and Billy Mackenzie (Yamaha, 55).

Gibbs won the second 30-minute moto – his first in the MX1 class at the national level. He said: “It feels great to get that first win. Two holeshots helped today;  you can’t start much better. In the second race the track got hard and it was slipperier than it looked. Once I had a decent lead I was saying to myself, ‘just don’t stuff up, get it to the finish’.

“I really want to thank everybody involved – my mechanic Kyle and my mum and dad, and particularly KTM because a lot of teams never gave me the chance to ride a 450 and KTM gave me the opportunity when I needed it most.”

The final round of the 2013 Australian Motocross Championship will be held in Coolum (Qld) on the weekend of August 31–September 1.

Monster Energy MX1 championship standings (after 9 of 10 rounds): 1. Matt Moss 582, 2. Todd Waters 557, 3. Billy Mackenzie 516, 4. Cody Cooper 478, 5. Kirk Gibbs 475, 6. Jake Moss 444, 7. Lawson Bopping 407, 8. Jay Marmont 383, 9. Adam Monea 376, 10. Sam Martin 294

Motul MX2 championship standings (after 9 of 10 rounds): 1. Luke Styke 613, 2. Kale Makeham 504, 3. Brock Winston 472, 4. Ryan Marmont 398, 5. Dylan Long 389, 6. Takeshi Katsuya 362, 7. Rhys Carter 351, 8. Geran Stapleton 349, 9. Kayne Lamont 347, 10. Josh Cachia 305

Pirelli MXD championship standings (after seven of eight rounds): 1. Hamish Harwood 439, 2. Jay Wilson 386, 3. Jack Simpson 381, 4. Jesse Dobson 353, 5. Corey James 336, 6. Joel Dinsdale 325, 7. Joel Wightman 317, 8. Jake Emanuelli 279, 9. Logan Blackburn 255, 10. Dakota Court 223.