KTM Australia press release:

The KTM Motocross Racing Team faced its challenges at round three of the 2018 Australian Supercross Championship hosted inside GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, Victoria, as talented teammates Luke Clout and Dakota Alix each displayed glimpses of brilliance.

It was a promising start to the weekend for New South Welshman Clout within the all-new Triple Crown format, qualifying in sixth position before capturing a commanding heat race victory to commence the evening’s proceedings aboard his KTM 450 SX-F.

Clout translated that form into an impressive fourth in the first of three 12-lap encounters, initially rebounding in the second outing to lead the field for the greater portion of the race before disaster struck. A heavy fall through the whoops saw the SX1 contender forced to withdraw from the remainder of the night with severe pain in his left knee.

American guest Alix put in amazing effort all night after securing fourth in his heat, leading a number of laps throughout the three separate main events. Mustering up another fourth in the opening final, the 22-year-old charged to a spirited third place in race two, concluding the night with a sixth place result in final three for sixth overall riding the KTM 250 SX-F.

The next stop of the 2018 Australian Supercross Championship is scheduled for next Saturday, 20 October, at Port Adelaide in South Australia. Clout is currently fifth in the SX1 standings, with Alix sixth in SX2 following three of five rounds.

Jay Marmont – Team Manager, KTM Motocross Racing Team: “It was a challenging night, but both of the boys were riding really well. I loved Dakota’s fight tonight – he was up and down with his starts, but he responded well and I thought he fought for every position. He came close to winning the round, but the last race ended up costing him. It was a shame to see Luke go down as he came out really strong in that second moto and his strength in the whoops really improved. He was winning comfortably, but unfortunately he had that crash, but we will look to bounce back next weekend and keep pushing.”

Luke Clout – KTM 450 SX-F: “Tonight started off well, winning my heat race. In the first main I was in second and finished fourth after a mistake, but it was still good to challenge up front. I had good speed all night and I spoke to Jay between races, so I switched my line in the whoops and I was getting through them really comfortably. I was pulling a lead on [Brett] Metcalfe before a mistake bit me – I didn’t expect it and hit the ground really hard. Originally I thought I had done something to my knee, possibly the ligaments, but I went to Racesafe and they’ve given me the all clear. I’ll regroup for Adelaide and hopefully can get out there next weekend!”

Dakota Alix – KTM 250 SX-F: “I felt better today, for sure. The track was really tough, being short and quite slippery. The first main I got a good start and finished in fourth, while in the second one I went pretty good and made a pass for the lead, but then made a mistake and got passed again to finish in third. The last one was tough, someone’s bike tangled with me and I didn’t make the triple, which allowed some guys to get by. Overall, I made some progress today and I was really happy with how the second main went so we will look ahead to the next round now.”