Sunday’s opening round of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals started off so strong for Serco Yoshimura Yamaha as riders Ford Dale and Kirk Gibbs set the fastest laps in qualifying, but that all turned pear-shaped come race time.

Contesting the Pro Lites class at Broadford, Gibbs’ day was ruined with crashes in motos one and two, however he was able to bounce back with 3-2 finishes to round out the day. He put it down to a stroke of bad luck and finished with sixth overall.

“It was just one of those days. I tried hard and felt I was riding well, but just had no luck and got no reward,” said Gibbs. “I put myself in good positions in every race only to have something happen in the first two and ruin the day.

“The positives are that my speed is good and the bike is working well, so I am confident I can rebound well at round two.”

Dale also went through the highs and lows of racing at Broadford. He raced to fifth in the first moto after a bad start then took a convincing moto victory in race two.

But just as things were looking up, Dale crashed heavily in race three and was unable to finish the moto. 13th position was all he could manage to round out the day as pain set in.

“I’m not sure what happened when I crashed in race three, it all happened pretty fast,” Dale said. “I know I hit the ground pretty hard and it ruined what was shaping up to be a good day of racing.

“But we have a long way to go, so I have to put it behind me, focus on the next round and get myself back into this championship.”