DNF in race two hinders overall result for Craig Dack Racing rider.
Image: Supplied.
Qualifying third on combined times signified the genuine speed of Luke Clout in what was his first SX2 World Championship appearance in the British Grand Prix, despite what eventuated as a troubled night program.
Clout has stepped back from the WSX category to SX2 this year with the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team, topping the second group in qualifying, which placed him P3 overall.
After finishing fourth in his heat race, Clout got out to a second-place start in the first of three races to make up the main event and looked energetic as he tried to make a pass on defending SX2 champion Shane McElrath (Rick Ware Racing).
A few small mistakes saw him lose a couple of positions before he admittedly tightened up, eventually finishing fifth. In race two, Clout jumped out of the gates well once again, but came together with Max Anstie (Fire Power Froth Honda Racing) in turn one and went down, resulting in a DNF. The final SX2 race of the night saw the number four bounce back to finish eighth, resulting in 11th overall for the round.
“Round one of World Supercross is in the books, which, overall, it was a decent day for me,” recalled Clout. “I qualified third overall which was really good to show that my speed is pretty close to where I want to be, and that was confidence-building.
“Night show, I got a great jump in the first final and ran up front early, I just got a bit tight as we’ve been off supercross for a while, so ended up in fifth. Then second race, good start, but that’s where the chaos began when I got t-boned and that was pretty much all she wrote…
“Last race, I finished [eighth], which was probably the best I rode, so I think we’ll come out strong with a bit more prep at the next one. Big thanks to the CDR team, it’s a massive workload, so a big shoutout to them.”
Clout and CDR Yamaha Monster Energy now shift their focus back to the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship, with the final two rounds at QMP and Coolum set to take place before round two of the World Supercross Championship in Singapore on 30 September.
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