Image: Foremost Media.

Former national MX1 champion Luke Clout has outlined a series of changes to his 2023 program, making the move to Queensland and joining the Ford Dale Elite training program in hopes of returning to the top step of the podium.

Clout, 28, experienced a troublesome 2022 season after encountering two seperate injuries that ruled him out of both the Penrite ProMX championship and the Australian Supercross Championship.

“Basically, Dylan Wills being my usual training partner, his decision to not race the ProMX championship left me with no one to ride and train with in NSW, plus the tracks have been pretty poor over the last few years,” Clout told MotoOnline.

“So I relocated up here to get a better schedule, have a group to ride with, and just better structure myself – the Queensland weather and lifestyle is obviously a plus too. Ford has been really good to work with… I’ve just finished my first week up here, he organises our riding program and organises our tracks week to week.

“It just made sense for me to move up here and get on a riding program that is structured for us and it eliminates that extra work of having to find places to ride.”

The 2021 ProMX champion Clout’s addition to Ford Dale Elite will see him join the likes of fellow former 450 champion Kirk Gibbs, as well as Serco Yamaha teammates Jesse Dobson and Rhys Budd within the program.

This upcoming season will also see Clout transition to the new generation 2023 Yamaha YZ450F at CDR Yamaha Monster Energy, which he has been on since returning to riding in late December.

“Yeah, for a stock bike, which is what I’m riding at the moment, it’s really impressive,” he added. “I’ve ridden it in sand and on hard pack now and it’s been reacting really well to all conditions. So, for a machine that’s out of the box, I’m stoked.

“I’m really looking forward to doing some testing with the team – I think we’re only going to get the bike better, so I’m eager to get together with the guys from CDR Yamaha and seeing what we can come up with.”