Kirk Gibbs has affirmed the importance of getting behind the gate last weekend during round two of the Sunshine State MX series at Conondale, the Queensland outing vital following a foot injury that left him sidelined for a period during the pre-season.

Gibbs, 32, crashed practicing in the lead-up to round one of the Sunshine State series at Hervey Bay, forced to take approximately a week and a half from putting any pressure on his foot as a result.

While key Penrite ProMX championship rivals continued to build form and spend time on the bike racing ahead of Wonthaggi’s opener, Gibbs was sidelined, losing bike fitness and admittedly a degree of race savvy as a result.

“I definitely feel like we are semi-close, just that lack of… a lot of the boys have been racing and that time off the bike – at our level – just played a decent part in it,” Gibbs told MotoOnline this week.

“I felt pretty good, I was keeping speed, first race back, a bit of arm-pump and just not quite race savvy – in the way of picking up a few little things around the track and stuff like that, where others have been racing and they were right on the ball – they had my measure that way.

“It was good to get back behind the gates, definitely what I needed and its just put us on the back foot with the injury, still chasing a tiny bit of bike set-up, not major, but like I said, put us on the back foot a little bit. Just working hard, trying to make things progress and hopefully be a lot closer by round one.”

The KTM Racing Team rider finished third overall at Conondale behind MX1 winner Aaron Tanti and Matt Moss, remaining confident that the switch back to the Austrian manufacturer for 2022 will provide the platform required to win another national title. Gibbs notably winning the MX1 national championship with the brand in 2015.

“It feels very natural for me to be on the KTM. I love it, I love everything they have going for them, the team, everything, everyone is helping me personally,” Gibbs added.

“Definitely in a very good spot that way, just fine-tuning, and I definitely feel like it’s a long season, so I don’t want to be peaking at round one and I definitely won’t be. We will go to round one hoping to get a good result and build from there.”

Round one of the 2022 Penrite ProMX Championship takes place in just under two weeks at Wonthaggi on 27 March, marking a welcome return to national level competition after multiple seasons being affected by the pandemic.