Entering the 2016 Motul MX Nationals series as the defending MX1 champion for the first time in his career, the weight of the world was on Kirk Gibbs’ shoulders. With reduced preparation time due to an off-season injury, the Queensland-based rider was facing a long and tough season in the hotly-contested premier category. Barely missing out on the title at Coolum’s final round after an impressive 10-round championship defence, Gibbs then suffered a broken femur while training for the 2016 Australian Supercross Championship, forcing him out of both that series and the 2016 Motocross of Nations event. Fast-forward to 2017, following a lengthy recovery process, the KTM Motocross Racing Team rider is now back in action and eager to regain that number one plate.

Taking a step back to 2016, the year obviously didn’t turn out exactly the way you would have planned after narrowly losing the Motul MX Nationals MX1 title, breaking your femur and subsequently missing the Motocross of Nations (MXoN) event and Australian Supercross Championship. That must have been a tough situation to be in?

Yeah the biggest thing for me was missing MXoN. For me, I had been trying to get on that team for I think eight years. With Todd [Waters] and Dean [Ferris] coming back to Australia, that kind of gave me a little bit more of a window and it was obviously the first time I had been selected. I was really happy with that and really looking forward to seeing what I could do when I went over. I obviously went to Glen Helen the year before and got my feet wet, so I sort of had a little bit of knowledge on what to expect and I was really looking forward to going back and seeing what I could do. It was a little frustrating, but injuries happen and it is what it is. I’ve just been trying to get back as best as I can, it’s been a pretty tough injury but I’m back on the bike now so everything is feeling not too bad.

As you said, the broken femur has been a tough injury, how was the recovering process overall?

It’s funny, I know it only took Luke Clout eight weeks or so to get back on the bike and my team manager, Rob Twyerould, did his femur too and where they broke it they only needed screws. I broke mine just below the ball and it needed a rod and screws, so that really affected my groin area and things like that because it’s so close. It was really tough, it’s definitely the worst injury that I’ve had to come back from, even my hip and stuff the year before wasn’t quite as bad. So yeah, it’s been a tough one and it’s still not 100 percent, and I don’t think it ever will be, but it’s getting there. I was going to a chiropractor a couple times a week and also seeing Todd Waters’ girlfriend, who is a physiotherapist, a couple times a week. That’s basically all I was doing for around six to eight weeks before Christmas, I was just going to the physio and seeing people trying to get things back on track as best I could. It was pretty gnarly, but everything’s getting back on track now and I can do most things myself, I just have a couple of check ups here and there with those people. My riding feels good though, I feel solid on the bike and nothing really bothers me, so that’s good. It’s just a few other little things that I need to get sorted to give me that little bit of extra confidence.

You’re back with KTM again for 2017, a team you’re comfortable with and have had great success with in the past. That must make this return from injury a whole lot easier heading into the season?

Yeah for sure, it’s always great and the relationship I have with KTM is really good, I’ve been there since 2013. I love that environment and it’s definitely easier for me, it’d be different if I had to change brands or do something else, that’d make it a lot more difficult. We already have a really good base setting, I’m just riding the stuff that I was on last year and we’re only going to have to fine-tune. There are a few other things that the boys want to try after talking to Europe and America too, so that’ll be really good. Everything’s good, I just have to worry about myself and get that at 100 percent to make sure I’m fit enough to go into round one and do battle with Todd, Dean and all of the other boys that are stepping up including a few internationals.

Losing the championship at the final round followed by a serious injury was obviously not the plan for 2016. Does that motivate you even more to return in 2017 and reclaim that number one plate and finally make your MXoN debut?

Yeah, for sure. To lose the championship at the last round was pretty tough, but like I said to the boys on the team, I didn’t ride until Australia Day in 2016, and I don’t think anyone at all thought I could run with Todd and Dean. I just put my head down and wanted it, I really felt like I rode good within myself, so at the end of the day you can’t really be too disappointed. Obviously I lost the title and it’s really frustrating, but it only motivates me more for this year. For sure to get back on the MXoN team is a huge goal for me as well and I’m motocross only this year, so I’ll be putting everything into this motocross series. It’ll be all or nothing and hopefully things turn out better than they did last year.

Finally, roll-offs, they’ve been a hot topic heading into 2017, what’s your take on the updated ruling?

It’s a little bit up in the air for me. It can be good, but there are only probably two or three brands that have really good roll-off systems, so it’s going to be hard for everyone to have the best of what’s going around. If it comes down to a very muddy or sticky round, I think there could be a few dramas with clogging them up or breaking them. That’s when you’re going to see people pulling their goggles off, and I think they should think about that. It could be more dangerous with people pulling their goggles off, which is the last thing you want to do. It’s not going to be a huge deal at rounds where it’s not really heavy, and I think in real sloppy mud it could be better to run roll-offs. It’s a bit of a hit and miss for me, but I’m getting into them now so I’m really used to it and hopefully by round one it doesn’t even phase me and we’ll just go from there.