Motocross

Luke Clout heads into mid-season break Happy to be seeing Red

Posted:

Tuesday, May 7th, 2019

11:26 PM

Clout heads into the midseason break with a slender four point lead after a great weekend out at Murray Bridge

CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team rider, Luke Clout, has charged his way to the championship lead at the half way stage of the 2019 MX Nationals after a successful weekends‰Ûª racing at rounds four and five of the championship, at Murray Bridge.

It was a mixed weekend for the team as while Clout took home the red plate, team mate Kirk Gibbs fell heavily in the final moto on Saturday afternoon and wasn‰Ûªt able to compete on Sunday. He is now undergoing further tests to determine the extent of his shoulder injury.

The fast and flowing Murray Bridge circuit in South Australia has been a happy hunting ground for Clout in recent years with plenty of success coming at the venue, highlighted with his first ever MX Nationals round win back in 2013 while in the MX2 division.

And with a double header of racing that saw a full day of racing on Saturday and Sunday, Clout was confident he could close the points gap on the championship leader and go into the mid-season break with plenty of momentum.

He did more than that and now holds a four point lead in the series after taking a second place finish on both days, showing the speed and consistency required to make a serious championship tilt.

After a rough start with a crash on the start straight on the first moto of the weekend followed by another just two laps later, Clout bounced back for a weekend to remember

His weekend started off in perfect fashion, taking the fastest lap time in qualifying. Saturday saw the two traditional 30 minute motos but just less than 30 seconds into race one, Clout was behind the eight ball after a fall on the opening lap that saw his bike twisted and bent. He remounted quickly but was classified in 34th place at the end of lap one.

He began the long climb back to the front and 17 laps later, he crossed the finish-line in fifth place in an incredible ride.

Race two was far smoother, he slotted into second place behind current champ, Dean Ferris and shadowed him the entire race. He finished second and his 5-2 results were good enough to claim second for the day.

Round five on Sunday saw the MX1 division face the sprint format of two nine lap back to back motos and then a 30 minute race to round of the day. Clout was in no mood for messing around and claimed the race win in both sprint legs. He backed that up with a second place finish in race three for the day and again finished second overall for the round.

‰ÛÏIt was a tough weekend with five motos on a track that always produces close racing,‰Û

Kirk Gibbs was looking strong at Murray Bridge and was in line to fight for the championship lead until a heavy crash on Saturday afternoon

As mentioned, the weekend wasn‰Ûªt as successful for local hero, Kirk Gibbs. The Mt Gambier rider finished second in the first race on Saturday and then fell heavily in race two and was unable to compete for the rest of the weekend.

Gibbs was clearly disappointed with the turn of events as he was desperate to put on a strong showing in front of the South Australian crowd.

‰ÛÏI fell early in race two just past the mechanics area and it took me a little to get up and going again,‰Û