The short five-round nature of the Australian Supercross Championship was the motivator for Luke Clout’s spirited performance in Jimboomba’s SX1 main event on Saturday that saw him navigate his way from last through to the podium.

The KTM Motocross Racing Team ace demonstrated promising speed throughout the day, finishing second in his heat, although a crash in turn one of the main meant he was forced to charge through the highly-competitive field to ultimately wind up in third position.

“I felt really good all day,” Clout stated. “I was a little tight in practice, but I spoke with the team and they reassured me that my riding was good. From that talk, I felt I was riding well all day.

“We didn’t make any changes at all, so the testing we’ve done has been really incredible. I knew it was a short championship, so that motivated me to get back as high as I could in the main event after the mistake.”

His inspiring ride earned praise from team manager and multi-time Australian supercross champion Jay Marmont, who believes he has two championship contenders within the team as new recruit Dakota Alix landed a solid result in SX2 to kickstart his campaign.

“Luke was riding great all day,” said Marmont. “He was third in qualifying, led all of his heat race until the last lap, while in the final he crashed in the first turn and gritted his way for 20 laps and got back to third pretty comfortably. We’ve got two guys who could be battling for a championship, so it’s exciting.”

Cementing himself as a strong candidate for the crown, popular New South Welshman Clout will be back out on track for round in Coolum, Queensland, scheduled for 6 October.