Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Despite suffering his toughest day at the MX Nationals in some time, Serco Yamaha’s Luke Clout, has maintained his grip on the points lead in the MX2 championship after round four of the series took place at Murray Bridge in South Australia.

Clout started the day strongly, posting the fastest lap in qualifying in his first lap but shortly after fell heavily in the whoop section, giving his body and head a heavy hit. He instantly retreated back to the truck and tried to regather himself in preparation for the opening moto.

At the drop of the gate in moto one, it was obvious Clout wasn’t 100% as he struggled to move forward after an average start. He battled away the entire moto in discomfort to bring it home in 10th place. Moto two fared little better as he was again outside the top 10 and dealing with plenty of issues. He was able to gain one spot better than moto one and his 10-9 scores for the day placed him 10th overall for the round.

“No doubt one of the hardest days’ racing I have had in a long while,” Clout recalls. “I’m not really sure what happened when I crashed, I just got ejected and landed pretty hard. My head hurts, my body hurts – it was just a big impact – and I was lucky to even be able to race.

“I did the best I could do under the circumstances and a big thank you to the team for encouraging me and keeping me going all day. It wasn’t good, but I was able to score points in each race and hang onto the championship lead.

“We have a two week break before round five at Coolum, so a few days off will be just what I need to recover and then come back strong,” Clout ends.

Round four wasn’t any better for team mate Jed Beaton who was also in the wars all weekend. Beaton also fell heavily during practice and hit the opening moto battered and bruised.

After a not so good start, Beaton began his usual charge through the field and was onto the back of the top five when he landed awkwardly from a jump, causing his rear brake pedal to hit the engine cases, before wrapping itself underneath the footpeg. He then raced the next 15 minutes with no rear brake and on every jump, the rear brake would jam on as the bike landed. He still managed to fight his way to ninth place.

Moto two and Beaton was determined to get his day back on track. He again tore through the field and was headed for the front when he clipped a rider and went down, breaking his collarbone and forcing him to retire from the race. He is now in a race against time to be fit for Coolum in a fortnights’ time.

“It was a terrible day,” Beaton explained. “Crashes, no brakes and now injury. I just want to put this behind me and get onto the next race.

“I’m seeing a specialist in Melbourne first thing to get my collarbone sorted and I will be back on the start line at Coolum. I have dropped a few points in the championship but a lot of the front guys had a tough day and this championship is still wide open.”

Round five of the MX Nationals now moves to Coolum, in Queensland which will prove to be a pivotal round in the MX2 championship. Both Serco Yamaha riders will be looking to rebound after their challenging weekend at Murray Bridge and get their campaigns back on track.

For more information on the MX Nationals. www.mxnationals.com.au or to follow the Serco Yamaha team on social media; www.facebook.com/sercoyamaha or @sercoyamaha