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Luke Clout and Empire Kawasaki Secure 3rd in Australian Supercross Championship
Luke Clout and the Empire Kawasaki Team prevailed through an intense Triple Crown format at the AUS-X Open and Round 5 of the Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX) on Saturday night. Securing 3rd in the SX1 Standings at the conclusion of the Championship, it was a highly successful run for Clout as the lead Australian rider behind the international imports to AUSX in 2024.
The Triple Crown race format was combined with an all star international line up of riders for the AUS-X Open, meaning the pressure was on for Clout who mathematically still had a chance to compete for 1st and 2nd in the AUSX SX1 Championship coming into Melbourne.
Starting the night with an incredible showing in Superpole, Clout would set the 3rd fastest time against the world's best in the one-lap showdown, giving him a solid gate pick and track position heading into the finals.
Ultimately early lap chaos, crashes and incidents with other riders would hinder Clout’s progress throughout the night, logging 9,5,5 Race scores to come home in 5th Overall for Round 5 and 3rd in the SX1 Championship.
“Tonight was frustrating as we didn’t get to show the speed I knew could have seen me run up front with the international riders. It was a case of what could have been, as I’m extremely proud and happy with the Team and my own efforts to claim 3rd in the Championship, but we left something on the table tonight as far as results”, commented Clout.
“I want to thank Empire Kawasaki for their efforts this season. We took the All-New KX450 to the podium multiple times this year across ProMX and AUSX and it’s been a very rewarding year for me professionally and personally”, concluded Clout.
With a duo of 8th places in the opening SX1 Races, “Metty” would unfortunately come together with another rider on the opening lap of the final race, causing a crash that ended his night early due to a concussion.
“It’s not the way I wanted my final race to go but I was extremely happy with the 8th place I achieved before the final moto, racing the world's best at this stage of my career. I am ok, just a little sore and cleared medically. Thanks to Kawasaki Australia for all their support and I look forward to catching up with everyone at some events in 2025”, concluded Metcalfe.
Across the AUS-X Open event, Kawasaki sponsorship and Team Green support riders saw a huge presence for the brand, as the largest Supercross event of the annual calendar wrapped up the 2025 season.