Todd Waters wins 2016 Manjimup 15,000

Todd Waters captured his second Manjimup 15,000 victory at the picturesque Cosy Creek circuit in Western Australia’s southwest. The 2016 edition of the event saw perfect racing conditions as the track developed into it’s most challenging state that it’s renowned for.

Defending Manjimup 15,000 victor Kirk Gibbs stole the show early on, racing to victory in both Moto one and two, plus taking home the prized elimination shootout held in the middle of the day.

Gibbs’ plans to make it three wins in-a-row derailed in the third Moto with Waters chipping away lap after lap, eventually grabbing a hold of the lead to go on and win his first race of the day.

The final Moto of the event would be the ultimate decider, with both Waters and Gibbs leaving nothing on the table. KTM mounted Gibbs snatched the early lead, however an uncharacteristic mistake forced him to relinquish the lead. This wasn’t the last of his woes, as the Australian champion suffered a suspected flat rear tyre, salvaging third to end the day in second overall.

“Today was difficult – Gibbsy had me all morning and the track was super slick – he is a hard guy to catch on a smooth and flat track.” Waters said.

Todd Waters - Image by Jeremy Hammer — Todd Waters – Image by Jeremy Hammer

“Towards the end of the day, it got really rough through the sand, and I was able to make up time through there. I made the pass there in the third Moto, and I just capitalised on his (Gibbs) mistake in the final.”

Western Australian favourite Kyle Webster concluded the podium in third, tying on points with Jesse Dobson – Webster was awarded the higher position on count back after an impressive second place finish in race four.

Caleb Ward narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing just one point shy of Dobson and Webster. Like Gibbs, he would also make a mistake in the final Moto, handing over a bunch of positions. He fought back to sixth, just behind teammate Dobson. Ward put together two solid results earlier in the day with a pair of thirds.

With the All-stars category predominately filled with open class machines, Jayden Rykers displayed an incredible performance to finish just within the top ten in nearly every Moto aboard his KTM 250 2-stroke – his efforts were rewarded with a clean sweep of the Lites riders, who were scored separately in the overall standings.