Luke Styke believes the hard work of his Serco Yamaha team has been key to his early season success as he leads the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals MX2 series after three rounds.

After kicking off the season at Raymond Terrace with a 1-1 sweep, Styke ran into trouble at Murray Bridge’s round two where he went down hard and eventually took the runner-up spot behind teammate Luke Clout.

With the support of his Serco Yamaha crew behind him, Styke rebounded at Wonthaggi’s round three, scoring the overall win and extending his MX2 series lead.

“I wasn’t able to ride at all this week after my crash last week at Murray Bridge,” said Styke. “So it was good to be able to come away with a win despite not getting a full week of training in,”

“Race one was good and my teammate kept the pressure on the whole race which was great for the team, then race two wasn’t quite as good.

“I didn’t change my lines on the track from moto one and as a result, couldn’t generate the speed I needed to win the race.

Styke and his teammate Clout occupied the top two spots on the MX2 podium, proving furthermore that the Serco Yamaha team is a force to be reckoned with in 2013.

“The team again but in a huge effort and the 1-2 result again this weekend has as much to do their hard work during the week as the racing we do on the track,” he added.

Coming off the back of his first-ever MX2 overall win, rookie Clout is content with his runner-up finish and feels that his season is heading in the right direction.

“I’m pretty happy with how things went today,” Clout said. “I might not have won, but I felt that I rode as good as I could and put in two good motos.

“My speed has been pretty good, my fitness is there and my consistency is improving so it’s all heading in the right direction.”

Styke currently holds an 18-point lead over Clout in the overall standings with seven rounds of racing remaining.