With a long list of strong racing results under his belt, including a Motul MX Nationals MX2 title from 2014 with the Serco Yamaha squad, Luke Clout was left without a ride heading into the 2017 season on return from a year touring the American racing circuit. It was then that the 22-year-old from New South Wales received the call he had been waiting for and locked in a premier class seat with the Crankt Protein Honda Racing outfit alongside experienced MX1 contender, Todd Waters. As the 2017 Motul MX Nationals season opener closes in, MotoOnline.com.au decided to check in with the returning Australian for this latest edition of Five Questions Why to question him on a range of moto-related topics.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

Why are you making the jump to the MX1 class for 2017?

When I got back from America I was riding a 250 and I had been pretty much left without anything. I was searching for rides and I was pretty much at that point just trying to take anything I could, basically I had no offers. Then I got a call up from Paul [Free] the team owner at Crankt Protein Honda Racing and it seemed to fit what I was looking for and I thought I was ready for the next step. So pretty much that offer was a done deal straight away, I thought I was ready and basically signed straight away.

Why do you feel your 2016 US experience will be so valuable for you this season?

Obviously being over in America it will be better for me, just learning racing against those guys will benefit me. Racing them, racing those tracks and obviously seeing how good those guys are and having to learn from what those guys do and pretty much just use what I learnt over there which was pretty much everything from bike setup, fitness, learning how to race with those guys. Bringing that over to Australia and me knowing that is definitely going to help me here in Australia, you see pretty much anyone that does it, they come back to Australian and seem to do pretty well – so I think it’s pretty good for me to have that type of knowledge and to be able to bring it back over here for myself.

Why do you think working with the experienced Crankt Protein Honda Racing members such as Jay Foreman and Todd Waters will be beneficial for you in your rookie MX1 season?

Having those guys is awesome and they’re really knowledgable, Jay [Foreman] has been around for years and he’s won so many championships with the likes of Matt Moss winning countless championships. Jay has been around, he knows how to set up a bike, he knows how to run a program really well, and likewise with Todd, he’s been over in Europe and raced over there for multiple years and he’s been on a 450 for quite some time now. Just working with those guys and seeing how it’s done, the little comments those guys give me every now and then and the bike setup, the changes they make, I really trust in them. Obviously it’s a no brainer with Jay, anything he sees and tells me we change and it works, so I really have trust with Jay. Also obviously liaising a little with Todd and talking about his setup and my setup, it just seems to gel and it makes my confidence a lot higher having those two guys and obviously everyone in the team. The whole team works really hard, but obviously having those two guys on the team is very good for myself.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

Why do you feel you’re a strong contender in the premier class this year?

I just think being an MX2 champion in 2014 and runner-up in 2015 and stuff like that, just being around and racing in America, it’s just built me into a rider. This year I’m coming in with a little bit of a different mentality obviously being on a 450 and being a rookie, but I’ve been a rookie before and I’ve won races being a rookie. It really doesn’t change the way that I think, I’ve been putting in the hard yards, I’ve got a trainer at the moment, I’ve got pretty much everything that needs to be done to do well, I want to be competitive and I’m really confident in myself, my team and my bike. I’m giving myself every opportunity to go out there and be as competitive as any person out there, I’m really eager to get out there and show what I’ve got.

Why will your testing schedule increase drastically over the coming weeks ahead of round one?

Obviously Toddy has been going over to New Zealand so I think that has been their priority to get Todd more comfortable as he’s been racing and obviously I’ve just signed on a 450. The plan was for me to get the bike and just go and ride, get to know how the bike works and start with myself to actually learn how to ride the 450 properly and get comfortable with it before we start making changes. Right now as of the weekend pretty much, we’ve learned that I am riding the bike at 100 percent and getting into the swing of things, so now we’ll really start getting into some testing, even though we have done little bits here and there. I’m really comfortable on the bike and I can’t wait for the next six weeks to roll along and to keep progressing and getting better. It’s been a long process getting the new bike and getting everything prepped with the new model, but right now everything is really solid and the team has done an unreal job so it’s all going really well and I’m just looking forward to it all.