MotoOnline.com.au speaks with Serco Yamaha’s newest recruit, Luke Arbon and get his thoughts on his year in the wilderness, his new team signing for Supercross and what the 21-year-old hopes to achieve during this series in order to keep his restarted racing career alive.

Luke Arbon has inked a deal with Serco Yamaha for Australian Supercross 2013. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

Getting the call-up to ride for Serco Yamaha…

I’d been riding a bunch of local races and wasn’t really interested or thinking about the MX Nationals at all. Then Kirk Gibbs, Brenden Harrison, Ryan Deckert and Luke Wilson came down to Adelaide for a surprise birthday party for me.

We were talking and Gibbsy told me I should hit up Serco Yamaha boss Gavin Eales for a Supercross ride with Luke Clout being out of action. Gibbsy spoke to Gavin for me, then I called him up and spoke with him, then within a week I was on the team, had a new YZ250F and had started practicing for the upcoming Supercross series.

I was pretty surprised it all came together. I wasn’t exactly out in front of people and I owe Gibbsy one for putting in the good word for me.

Running the number six plate instead of 54…

I think Gavin Eales likes the idea of running low numbers on his bikes, so I said I’d take the number six. I’ve had the 54 plate since my junior days on the Honda team in 2006, then I went back to my original number, 121, for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. When I got back on the Yamaha with the GYTR team in 2011 I reverted back to 54.

The number six plate is growing on me though – I’ve already got it on my practice bike and I think it’ll look especially good on top of the podium!

The past 12 months…

The 2012 season didn’t really go to plan and I had a lot of downs. To top it off I broke my ankle at the final round of the MX Nationals at Coolum, so I missed the entire Supercross championship.

I rang a few teams during the silly season, but I couldn’t organise a ride for this year. I got sick of not hearing back from people when they said they’d return my calls, and the whole process left a bad taste in my mouth.

Arbon was left without a seat following the 2012 season. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

I went overseas for Christmas, then Ivan from City Discount Tyres sorted out a couple of bikes so I could race the SA titles and enduros. Ivan, Yamaha SA and Ray Howard from Yamaha have been a big help this year and I’m grateful for their support.

At the same time I worked on the wharves unloading ships, operating cranes and saved a bit of money. It’s shift work, so it suits me and means I still have time for fun.

It’s been frustrating watching the 2013 MX Nationals from the sidelines. At the first round I got more nervous watching the Twitter feeds than if I’d actually been there. I watched Murray Bridge as well, and that definitely lit the fire in me again – I wanted to come back so bad.

Racing Enduros and 24-hour races…

Yamaha gave me the opportunity to race a YZ450F in Motocross and Enduro, and a WR450 for reliability trials, which is sort of like a rally on dirt roads, with timed sections through the trees.

It was interesting to do something different and it made me appreciate the Motocross tracks, and also made me realise how much I love Supercross. I love jumping, the timing and the technical side of it.

In the Enduros I rode the Expert class and won most of the rounds and am second Outright in the series. In the reliability trials, I led the championship until the last round.

The 24-hour race was crazy. It was intense staying up that long riding. I saw a chick flash her ass on one of the road sections, I thought I was hallucinating, but a couple of other guys saw it as well, so that was pretty funny!

Arbon’s familiar number 54 will be traded for the six plate when SX begins in Darwin.

The 2013 Supercross championship…

It feels awesome knowing I’m coming back to the national scene. The first day back on the Supercross track felt better than I thought. I was a little nervous about not riding a 250F for a year, but as soon as I got out on the track it came back to me and I just loved it.

Every day I can ride, I’m out there and you can’t wipe the smile of my face. I’m heading up to Queensland on Monday and will do some testing with the Serco team. I’ll stay up for those two weeks before the first round and will watch the MX Nationals round at Coolum.

I’m excited about this upcoming season. It feels like I’ve been given a second chance and I want to make the most of it.

Setting sights on 2014…

I definitely feel like Serco have given me a lifeline and I’m so thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me to prove myself. I’m putting in the hard yards now and will be more than ready for the opening rounds at Darwin.

But I’m not concentrating on next year at all. My sole focus is on the Supercross and I’m going to put everything I’ve got into it. If I do that, stay healthy and finish strong, I hope something comes up for next year and we can take things from there.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself, and if I tick the boxes I need to now, things will hopefully work out in the future.