After finishing second in the 2011 installment of the Australian Motocross Championship, and with his long-time rival Matt Moss opting to stay in the USA to continue his AMA Supercross West Coast Lites campaign, Serco Yamaha’s Kirk Gibbs is one of the hot favourites to claim a MX2 MX Nationals title in 2012.

And Gibbsy didn’t disappoint at the opening round at Conondale over the weekend. With Ford Dale crashing hard in the third moto, the Carlton Dry Honda rider handed the overall win to Gibbs: his 2-5-1 score sheet over the three races saw him claim a slender one-point advantage.

We caught up with the likeable South Australian at the end of an eventful day to get his take on how it all panned out, and find out if there are truth in the rumours behind his busted wrist.

Gibbsy, it’s fair to say your season is off to a great start, taking the overall win at Conondale.

Yeah, definitely. I got out front in the first race early and rode well for the first three or four laps before Ford [Dale] passed me, then in the second race I didn’t get the jump off the gate and had to fight back through the pack for fifth place.

I got a great start in the last race and stalked Errol [Willis] for five or six laps before passing him and pulling out a good lead by the end of the moto.

From what you’ve seen today, who’s the one guy who’s going to be your biggest threat to the championship?

I’d have to say Ford [Dale] for sure. He rode extremely well in those first two races and it’s obvious he’s been working really hard and is comfortable on his new team. His riding today was a step above mine to tell the truth – especially in the first two races – but if we both stay healthy I think we’ll have some pretty good battles this year.

In the lead-up to the opening round there were rumours circulating that you’d busted your wrist. What’s the skinny on that?

Yeah the rumours were true that I’d hurt my wrist, but it’s not broken that I know of. I got x-rays, and but even though they couldn’t see the scaphoid it’s still pretty sore.

I rode Conondale with it strapped in a wristbrace and I didn’t ride for two weeks until race day. I was touch-and-go there for a while, but I made it happen once the gate dropped.

That’s got to be a big confidence boost to come off the couch and finish the day on top of the podium.

For sure. I spent the two weeks sitting on the couch resting and icing my wrist and I was pretty depressed for a while to tell the truth. I actually didn’t think I was going to make it to the races, so right now I couldn’t be happier.

You’ve got a couple weeks between Conondale and Coonabarabran. Are you going to continue resting it or start training hard?

I’m just going to have to see how it feels. If it’s feeling good I’ll do a couple days on the bike, but if not I’ll just have to rest. I don’t want any injuries niggling through the season; I want to get this thing better and start racing at 100 percent, because I think it still affected my riding out at Conondale.

This is your fourth year under the Serco Yamaha tent. Being with a team for that length of time has to carry its own advantages too, right?

Yeah it’s awesome. They’re like my second family now. We all know how each other operates and the team knows how I work. Having so much familiarity makes life a lot easier. They’ve picked up a heap of new sponsors this year, the boys are stepping up their game again and the bikes this year are unreal.

You’ve always been one of the nicest blokes in the pits. What’s it like having the Metal Mulisha logo emblazoned on the front of your jersey?

Everyone’s asking me when I’m getting a neck tattoo, so next round I might have to rock up with a big fake skull on my neck or a full sleeve [laughs]. Nah they’re awesome and their clothes are good. It’s great to see everyone throwing huge support behind the team this year.