Todd Waters has claimed a maiden round victory for the 2016 Motul MX Nationals.
By Hayden Gregory
The Thor MX1 championship had been hotly contested over the opening three rounds and Murray Bridge was set to be no different. Following qualifying, Brett Metcalfe, Matt Moss, Todd Waters, Dean Ferris and Kirk Gibbs would progress to the GoPro Superpole with Ferris taking early victory and extending his championship lead by three points.
As gates dropped on moto one, NPE Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Kade Mosig collected the MXstore holeshot closely followed by Gibbs, Waters and Ferris. The battle for the lead would remain intense over the opening laps with Mosig defending Gibbs’ every move.
Charging through the pack Todd Waters made a remarkable move on all of the leading riders passing Ferris, Metcalfe, Gibbs and Mosig to sensationally find the lead. Taking control of the opening moto Waters looked comfortable until the final five minutes when lappers began to create issue.
Ferris had passed Gibbs for third and joined Mosig on his late pursuit of Waters. With all four riders within striking distance the race would come down to the wire with Waters holding out to claim the chequered flag narrowly ahead of Mosig and Ferris.
As race two got underway fans were ready for another spectacular, and they were bought to their feet as local rider Brett Metcalfe hit the early race lead. The Husqvarna rider was putting on a show holding off a persistent Ferris in second to still hold the lead by the halfway stage of the race.
Breathing space was then created in front as Ferris dramatically crashed on lap seven allowing Gibbs and Waters to move into second and third places respectively.
Metcalfe held strong until lap 14 when Gibbs made the decisive pass into the lead. The KTM rider pushed on to claim the second moto ahead of Metcalfe and Waters.
A 1-3 result was enough for Waters to be handed round victory, his first for the 2016 season.
“It feels awesome to finally get a round win here at Murray Bridge – we were close at Broadford but we got it done here today so I’m stoked,” he said.
“With a win in moto one, I just tried to ride a smart race in the second one – I knew that I just needed to get third so I did what I needed to do and finished with the round win.
“All of the boys are riding very well so it’s nice to finally get an overall, and now I’m just looking forward to getting in to some deep sand at Wanneroo next weekend.”
Kirk Gibbs claimed second for the round and in doing so secured the red leaders plate taking a one point advantage over Dean Ferris. Brett Metcalfe rounded out the round four podium in his final hit out before he heads overseas to contest the Canadian National Motocross Championship.
Thor MX1 round four results
1) Todd Waters – 65 points
2) Kirk Gibbs – 63 points
3) Brett Metcalfe – 58 points
4) Dean Ferris – 58 points
5) Kade Mosig – 57 points
6) Matt Moss – 50 points
7) Dylan Long – 46 points
8) Jacob Wright – 45 points
9) Daniel Banks – 41 points
10) Jamie Law – 38 points
Thor MX1 Championship Standings
1) Kirk Gibbs – 252 points
2) Dean Ferris – 251 points
3) Todd Waters – 247 points
4) Matt Moss – 228 points
5) Brett Metcalfe – 225 points
6) Kade Mosig – 187 points
7) Dylan Long – 185 points
8) Daniel Reardon – 171 points
9) Jay Wilson – 152 points
10) Jacob Wright – 151 points
