Image: Foremost Media.

A crash scare at the start of the opening MX1 moto at QMP left Luke Clout – along with Todd Waters – sidelined for the remainder of the ProMX finals, with Clout later calling track preparation into question after escaping any major injuries.

The 2021 national champion Clout was landed on by his Penrite Racing Empire Kawasaki KX450 after a multi-rider clash saw it sent skyward, forcing him out moto two altogether.

Clout, Raceline Husqvarna Tdub Racing Team owner/rider Waters and the retiring Kirk Gibbs (KTM Racing Team) all went down prior to the first turn, with only Gibbs able to return later for moto two.

“It was probably the craziest crash I’ve ever had in my career and, honestly, I’ve never seen a crash like that my whole life,” Clout told MotoOnline. “And yeah, I really didn’t realise the severity of the crash until I came back and kind of calmed down and seen some footage of it.

“To only be banged up like I am, I’m really lucky – it could have been a whole lot worse… I’m lucky to be here talking at the moment. I kind of had a bit of a run on [Gibbs] and as he kind of come across on me a little bit, we just tangled bars and then I went across into – I think it was Wilson [Todd] – and then I was just ejected from there.

“It was it was gnarly because, look, Gibbsy and Todd Waters and myself just had a massive crash that really could have been prevented, in my opinion. I hit my head pretty hard… Whether it was from the first impact or when the bike decided to tackle me to the ground again, I’m not sure.

“The bike got me really, really hard on my left shoulder and neck. I spoke to Racesafe and it hit a nerve or something in my neck to my shoulder, so my whole left arm was numb for about 15 minutes. I pretty much had no feeling in it and I thought I’d done something to my shoulder, but luckily it was just like a stinger and it’s come back good now.

“I got pretty bad whiplash my neck, shoulder and head’s pretty sore. As the minutes are ticking on, I’m getting a little bit sore all over the body, so tomorrow’s going to be pretty rough.”

Clout was vocal afterwards that his crash could have been avoided if the track was prepared differently, calling for added input from the riders in a bid to increase safety in ProMX.

“If I’m being honest, I think the start straight shouldn’t have been the way it was,” he explained. “
They put too much water on it, it was too ripped, and it was too muddy. It’s just unnecessary risk that it shouldn’t even be a question of having 40 bikes come into this turn and you’ve got a space for 10 bikes because the rest of it’s just muddy.

“
I honestly don’t understand it, but I feel like things need to change, and I’ll be the one to voice it if I have to be the bad guy. There needs to be a change in the way we go about prepping tracks and doing things, limiting the risk. Everyone needs to get onboard, everyone needs to take criticism in some way and take it onboard.

“We’re not out here to try to benefit ourselves or anything, we’re trying to better the sport, make the sport safer and limit the risk. I think we need to have more preparation of the track, sections need to be touched up and tidied. 
Yeah, we might not have time, but let’s make time.

“We need to all work together – there are just too many incidents that could have been avoided that haven’t been avoided. 
And I’ll be the one to voice it. I don’t really care. Ask anyone in the pits, I think they would agree with me as well. The problem is, it’s year after year.

“There’s been so many incidents that could have been avoided in the first turns and things like that. Even getting a rider representative, getting someone that can, you can go and talk to, they can talk to MA or whoever it is, and try and build the sport, move the sport better and work together. 
That’s it.”

Waters, meanwhile, sustained a broken rib in the impact, which broke the triple clamps of his FC 450. It was later determined that he too would sit out the weekend’s final encounter.

“I’ve hit my head, broke a rib, so I’m pretty tender at the minute,” Waters confirmed. “But like, geez, we got out of it for what it was. I don’t know if you guys seen the video, but man, Clout, his bike went as high as the power poles and landed on him.

“Yeah, it was crazy – there was some force because I snapped my triple clamps. I literally got up and started riding, I thought the handlebars were loose, but yeah, I snapped where the bolt goes through the triple clamp and it completely snapped the triple clamp out. It was a big one.”