Clout and Waters charge to overcome Toowoomba challenges

Crankt Protein Honda Racing teammates Luke Clout and Todd Waters wound up sixth and ninth overall in today’s penultimate round of the 2017 MX Nationals at Toowoomba in Queensland.

Round nine started positively as Clout and Waters were fourth and fifth respectively in the Super Pole qualifying session at the hill-side Echo Valley circuit.

In the opening 30-minute moto of the day Waters was first of the factory-backed CRF450R riders home to cross the line fifth, as Clout – who ran as high as third in the early stages – recovered from a crash to salvage ninth place.

The second encounter was an improvement for Clout as he pushed forward to place sixth, resulting in that same position overall. Waters finished in 10th after multiple crashes, which put him in ninth overall despite being equal on points with his teammate.

With one round remaining Waters maintains fourth in the championship standings and still within reach of a series podium, while rookie standout Clout is currently in seventh overall.

The 10th and final round of the MX Nationals is scheduled next weekend for 19-20 August, at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.

2017 MX Nationals Rd9 Toowoomba results:

1. Dean Ferris 70
2. Kirk Gibbs 64
3. Kyle Peters 60
4. Nathan Crawford 54
5. Kade Mosig 53
6. Luke Clout (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 47
7. Luke Styke 47
8. Dylan Long 47
9. Todd Waters (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 47
10. Callum Norton 39

2017 MX Nationals championship standings:

1. Dean Ferris 633
2. Kirk Gibbs 553
3. Kade Mosig 489
4. Todd Waters (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 468
5. Luke Styke 455
6. Kyle Peters 431
7. Luke Clout (Crankt Protein Honda Racing) 425
8. Brett Metcalfe 375
9. Nathan Crawford 358
10. Joel Green 300