
Serco Yamaha / Metal Mulisha Racing team member Luke Styke has made it a hat trick of podium finishes in the opening three rounds after the Wonthaggi round of the 2012 MX Nationals was concluded over the weekend. After a third and a win at the opening two rounds, Styke took over the points leaders red plate and headed into round three at Wonthaggi looking to keep the consistency rolling and the red plate in his possession.

Styke achieved both goals, taking second place for the round on the back of his 3-1-6 results and maintains a 23 point lead in the championship. The win in race two was undoubtedly the highlight of the day as Styke snatched the holeshot and broke clear of the pack to take a wire to wire win. “Today was good. The first two races went well and I felt like I had the speed and fitness to get the job done, but my start in the last race wasn’t great so I just had to get as many points as possible. My plan is to be fast and consistent at every round and so far things are on track after the first three rounds.” – Styke

Team mate Kirk Gibbs faced some challenges at Wonthaggi but still managed to pull down sixth for the day. Gibbs found himself picking up his YZ250F more times than he would care to remember as small crashes proved costly. He rounded out the day with 5-13-4 results with the opening two motos both marred with falls. Despite the tough day, Gibbs currently lies in third place in the championship and with seven rounds remaining there is plenty of time to launch an assault on the championship leaders as the MX2 class heads towards the business end of the season. “It was a bit of a frustrating day where I made some small mistakes that cost me dearly. I would work my way into a reasonable position, only to fall and drop valuable points. I need to get that sorted ASAP.” – Gibbs.
Results
MX2 – Wonthaggi
1st Ford Dale – 69 (Honda)
2nd Luke Styke – 60 (Serco Yamaha)
3rd Josh Cachia – 57 (KTM)
4th Adam Monea – 55 (Suzuki)
5th Cheyne Boyd – 49 (Honda)
6th Kirk Gibbs – 43 (Serco Yamaha)
7th Kade Mosig – 43 (Kawasaki)
8th Errol Willis -39 (Suzuki)
9th Geran Stapleton – 36 (Honda)
10th Lewis Woods – 29 (Suzuki)
Championship Standings – After Round Three
1st Luke Styke- 192
2nd Ford Dale – 179
3rd Kirk Gibbs – 162
4th Josh Cachia – 149
5th Kade Mosig – 140
6th Cheyne Boyd – 136
7th Adam Monea – 135
8th Errol Willis – 115
9th Justin McDonald – 110
10th Ryan Marmont – 91

Back here in the USA and coming off a win last weekend, Star Valli Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes got a great start in his heat race, only to go down while leading.
Sipes managed to recover and finish fourth. In the main, unfortunately, Sipes suffered some bad luck and wound up 16th. Already looking ahead, Sipes is focusing on the East/West Shootout in Las Vegas. He won the season-ending event last year and is eager to defend his title next weekend. “This was not the weekend I was hoping for but I feel like I was riding good. I should have had the heat win, but I had a little tip-over. In the main, it was the craziest thing, I got taken out pretty hard on the parade lap. The bike was all bent up and there was no back brake, but by the middle of the race I was putting in some good laps. Then I mistimed a section and made a mistake that hurt me. Now, I’m just looking forward to defending the East/West Shootout in Las Vegas next weekend. I’ll be there and I’ll be strong.” – Sipes

In the Supercross class, Bobby Kiniry continues to charge hard! After transferring to the main by winning the LCQ, Kiniry made the most of his gate pick and gave 100 percent for all 20 laps. Kiniry worked his way through the field to finish ninth and pick up his third top-10 result of the year. “I got the Rockstar Yamaha out to a pretty bad start in the main event, due to my qualifying. Then I just chugged along and came from about 18th to ninth. So I got a solid top 10 for the night, and I moved us up a spot in points. My Rockstar Yamaha felt great and I’m just trying to stay in the top 10. Las Vegas is next weekend and I’ve done well there in the past, so I’m looking forward to it.” – Kiniry
Weston Peick turned in a respectable performance at Salt Lake City. Peick overcame a fraught first lap in his eight-lap heat race to pick up the final transfer spot to the main.

There, Peick rallied after a less-than-optimal gate pick and worked his way through the field to 12th. “In the heat race, I got a great jump off the gate but then I spun really bad right past the finish line and got pinched off. Then I worked my way from about 17th to ninth. Obviously, in the main, I had almost the last gate pick so I was basically last off the start. But I just worked my way up the best I could with how fast the track was. For Las Vegas next weekend, I’ve got to have my game going. I’ve got to walk out of there close to the top five to get up in the points. But anything can happen, it’s Supercross.” – Peick
Gareth Swanepoel is still recovering from injury and did not race in Salt Lake City, nor did Nico Izzi, who qualified well but suffered a practice crash and was unable to race.
The next event for the Rockstar Energy Racing teams is the 17th and final round of the 2012 AMA/FIM Supercross Championship on Saturday, May 5th, at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV.