There was no stopping CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Luke Clout (MX1) and Castrol Honda Racing-mounted Kyle Webster (MX2) in round two of Penrite ProMX at Canberra, the pair taking convincing double-moto victories to assert their authority on the weekend. MotoOnline tracked both riders down post-race for this Debrief interview.

MX1

Image: Foremost Media.

Awesome day for you and a great result, well done.

Thanks, yeah, it was definitely what we needed to bounce back after that first round, where we had great speed. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to because I think we would have been on the box at Wonthaggi for sure, potentially with the red plate. But, the past is the past, we knew we had to come here strong, work hard during that break between rounds and that’s what I did. We made some positive games with the team and, yeah, perfect day – fastest qualifier and 1-1.

It just seemed like it clicked from the moment you hit the track and they weren’t easy conditions, either…

Nah, I just seemed to have that feeling from when I woke up. I know I’ve been working hard on and off the bike, so my fitness is good, the bike’s really good and I feel good on it. There’s no reason I can’t win and, you know, this is my first 1-1 on the 450, so it’s awesome and I plan on keeping the ball rolling.

You won the first moto, part one of the second moto and then in that final one we saw you and [Kirk] Gibbs do battle. You got into the lead, came together afterwards and you went off-track, so how did that all go down from your perspective? Talk us through it.

Yeah, look, I got a really good start and that’s a bonus on a track like this. I kind of followed Gibbsy a little bit, found some of his lines and weaknesses, then it was about lap five I seen him make a couple of mistakes. I pounced on him, made the pass stick and then the roles reversed. I made a couple of mistakes, left the door open and he saw that, so we just came together. Nothing in it, just a racing incident, but unfortunately I went off the track and nearly threw it away! That was the goal, not to put it down, and I almost did. That’s racing, but I calculated in my head that the 1-2 in those back-to-backs would give me the moto win.

Pretty special day for ProMX, this place is buzzing and the crowd seems to be strong here in Canberra.

Oh yeah, it’s massive. Obviously, you know, I was in the US last year and with how high the sport is over there, to be back here and to see how crazy elevated this is in its first year is so good. We’re only at round two, so to see the crowd and how good of a job MA are doing, having it on TV as well, it makes you feel like you’re actually in a bit of a recognised sport and I think it should be. This is one of the best sports in the world and I’m all for it to see things get bigger in the future – I’m happy to be a part of it.

100 percent. Finally, have you had a look at the points yet? You’re up to fourth, only 13 outside of the lead now.

Yeah, yeah, we had a look then and we’ve pretty much cut those points in half, so I’m happy with that and, like I said, if we didn’t have that DNF I think we would have the red plate. I’ve gotta look at the positives out of this, go home and work hard to keep the ball rolling.

MX2

Image: Foremost Media.

Congratulations on another win and a continuation on your strong start to the season…

Definitely, it was an awesome day for us and I couldn’t have asked for much more, really. It’s good for the championship, I think I have a decent points-lead now, so we’ll go back to Victoria tonight and keep on doing what I’ve been doing, I guess. It seems to be working and riding with the whole crew’s been unreal.

Two completely different types of track from Wonthaggi to Canberra’s hard-pack, so was it good to show that you are versatile in that sense?

Yeah [laughs]! I definitely think a few people thought round one was just a Wonthaggi thing, so to back it up today was unreal. I knew it was going to be fairly hard-pack, so I was looking forward to seeing where I would be at this weekend. It just proves everything that we’ve been doing has been working.

It was a big day as well from a fan standpoint, a lot of people watching trackside and a really good vibe, so I’d imagine that makes days like today even more special.

It does. We had a few friends down here from near Sydney where we used to live, so they were stoked for me and it was cool. It’s good to see people at the track and swinging off the fences, we like having a lot of people at the races again and especially being televised as well. It’s awesome for the sport, so to get the win, I was pumped.

Castrol livery as well this weekend!

Yeah, it was different and I actually quite liked it! We’ll see what’s on there at the next round because I think it’s changing at each one! I’m looking forward to it.