Serco Yamaha’s Luke Clout is on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery on his thumb injured at Murray Bridge’s fourth round of the 2015 MX Nationals.

Clout was able to soldier through the pain of torn thumb tendons/ligaments in South Australia and at Coolum on Sunday, maintaining the MX2 red plate entering the timely mid-season break.

On Monday he went under the knife in Brisbane with a successful outcome, now recovering before the series resumes on 5 July at Raymond Terrace.

“I’m booked in to have some surgery [Monday] and should be back on the bike within a month,” Clout explained at Coolum on Sunday. “That should give me another time for it to heal and then get some riding in before round six at Raymond Terrace.”

After racing to second in the opening moto and 20th in the final outing at Coolum, defending national champion Clout currently has a five-point lead over Jay Wilson and Takeshi Katsuya at the season’s halfway point.

Clout’s surgery comes just weeks after teammate Jed Beaton underwent surgery to plate his broken collarbone sustained at Murray Bridge, charging to an impressive sixth overall in what was a gritty performance from the teenage MX2 rookie.