LUKE CLOUTS WINS FIRST SX1 OVERALL

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In front of a vocal Wollongong crowd, CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team’s Luke Clout has claimed his first career SX1 victory at round three of the Australian Supercross Championship.

It was an impressive night for Clout. He was the fastest in practice, fastest in qualifying, second in his heat race and then posted the fastest lap in Superpole, to kick start his night in perfect fashion.

But all that could mean nothing when faced with the triple challenge that saw the SX1 (450cc) riders face three, eight lap main events to determine the round winner. Clout continued on in the same form as the afternoon sessions and posted 2-1-1 results to take the round victory and move to within three points of the championship lead with two rounds remaining.

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Luke Clout – Photo Matt Bernard

Clout’s starts were strong all night and he drove his Yamaha YZ450F aggressively into the first turn in each moto. He led every lap of races two and three and proved to be the best rider on the night in dominant fashion.

“The day went perfectly for me and it was an awesome night for the team with all three guys doing well,” Clout begins. “I felt pretty good right from the first lap of practice but I knew looking at this track it was going to be a fight as the top guys were evening matched in speed.

“But great starts and keeping focused in the race was the key for me tonight and I’m so exiting to be able to get my first win in SX1, especially here in Wollongong where I had so many friends and family on hand to watch.

“It’s back to three points between Justin (Brayton) and myself and Dan (Reardon) is also right there just a few points behind me, so things are tight in the championship and with the next two races having more US imports, it will really shake things up.

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Luke Clout – Photo Matt Bernard

“Thank you to Aaron for his hard work on the bike and the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team. Its been a while coming to get this first SX1 victory but hopefully it’s the start of plenty more.”

There is now a quick turn around to round four with riders and teams heading to New Zealand to race this weekend at Mt Smart stadium in Auckland. Head to www.sxopen.com for more information

Round Three Results – SX1
1st Luke Clout
2nd Dan Reardon
3rd Justin Brayton
4th Josh Hill
5th Brett Metcalfe
6th Dylan Long
7th Cody Dyce
8th Lawson Bopping
9th Todd Waters
10th Henry Miller

SX1 Championship standings
1st Justin Brayton – 70
2nd Luke Clout – 67
3rd Dan Reardon – 64
4th Brett Metcalfe – 52
5th Dylan Long – 42
6th Todd Waters – 40
7th Richie Evans – 39
8th Joel Wightman – 34
9th Jayden Rykers – 30
10th Jesse Dobson – 28