Last weekend’s Canberra round of the Rockstar Energy MX Nationals was an action-packed battle in the Pro Lites class, with Serco Yamaha’s Kirk Gibbs ultimately coming out of the event as the round winner and new series leader.

The South Australian put in a solid performance as he continued his momentum from a podium finish at Horsham’s season opener, this time taking the win and leaving the round with the red plate.

Gibbs had a consistent day in the nation’s capital with 2-3-3-1 results in the four motos that were contested back-to-back, his final race victory being his second of the season.

MotoOnline.com.au gave Gibbs a call to see how it feels to be the series leader heading into next weekend’s Broadford round in Victoria.

First of all, congratulations on the win in Canberra, you must be pretty pumped on your start to the season?

Yeah, definitely. You know, we’ve had some ups and downs, but mostly it’s been real good. I’m excited with the way that things have been going, my starts have been pretty good, and I’m happy to get two race wins under my belt already, that’s for sure.

Having four starts in the Sprint format gives an added opportunity to get into trouble, however you managed to stay clean and finish in the top three for all races. Are you a fan of the format?

I am, for sure. I got good starts in all four motos, which helped me out unbelievably for the weekend. That’s what you needed, good starts and to stay away from the trouble. I was able to do that in every race and that helped me out a massive amount.

I’m a big fan of the four Sprints if you can get off the line, but it could be a love-hate relationship with it. I like it, it seems to bring out the fitness in everybody, lining up straight away after each race, so I think it’s good.

You also took your second race win of the season in as many rounds, so what’s the plan from this point if you’re going to hold onto that point lead?

I just need to keep going that way I have and I haven’t changed anything in my program just because I’m leading the championship. Whether I have the red plate or not, I’m going to try and get good starts, do my best and be as consistent as I can be, which was the plan at the start of the year as well.

I’ve got an eight-point lead, but we still have 19 races to run, so there are a lot of points to be earned. Hopefully I can keep it up, keep getting good results and be there at the end.

Have the boys from Serco sent you down a red plate to run on your practice bike in the couple of weeks leading up to Broadford!?

[Laughs] Nah, they haven’t! They actually haven’t even put one on my race bike yet. I talked to Michael [Marty, Serco team manager] today and he said they’re getting the red plate on it soon, so I told him as soon as they get one on there I want them to send me a photo – I’m pretty excited. I almost thought about getting some red paint out myself and painting up the blue ones!

[Laughs] The Pro Lites field is stacked with talent this year, both young guys and experienced guys, so who do you think is your main opponent for the title?

It’s a deep field this year and without the likes of [Matt] Moss in the field, I think anybody can win it out of the top guys. You’ve got my teammate Ford Dale, who’s riding awesome when he stays on, there’s PJ Larsen, who’s possibly the quickest guy, there’s Ryan Marmont, Cody Mackie, Luke George, Lawson Bopping – the list goes on! Any one of those guys can win, but PJ and Ford are probably the main opponents.

It seems a lot of guys like the Canberra track layout, but what round are you most looking forward to this year?

Well I was looking forward to Barrabool to tell you the truth, because the fast and flowing tracks suit my style, but I guess now we are going to Broadford instead for round two next weekend. I like anywhere really, I’m not the greatest fan of Toowoomba or Lakes, but I like hard-pack tracks so it’s not too bad. I don’t really have any favourites, but I do suit hard-pack better than anything else.

Does it disappoint you as a South Australian that the MX Nationals or Super X don’t visit your home state anymore?

Definitely, because my family and mates love going and watching the races, plus it’s really good when you have some local support at the races. Murray Bridge is normally a good round for the Nationals, I thought it was one of the best tracks in the series, but they mustn’t have been getting the crowds that they need, which is a bit disappointing.

Especially in Super X as well, I thought Adelaide was good when they had it, but anyway. It’s not too bad because Horsham and Broadford aren’t that far from my place, so my family gets to come out and watch those rounds.

Okay, well thanks for your time and we’ll see you at Broadford for round three with that shiny new red plate!

Yeah, thanks a lot…I’ll see you there.