Luke Clout arrived in Paris with little preparation on a 250cc, but he quickly proved he was one of the standout SX2 riders of the weekend. The Australian came agonisingly close to securing the Prince of Paris crown, only for a first-turn pile-up in Sunday’s second moto to end his title hopes. Despite the disappointment, Clout showcased impressive speed, composure and adaptability – especially considering he only swung a leg over the Bud Racing Kawasaki 250cc for the first time on press day. Kevin Frelaud caught up with him after the event to talk about the highs and lows of Paris, tackling the brutal whoops, the strength of Australian talent, and what the future might hold for him.
Luke, what could have been for you this weekend. The Prince of Paris title kind of got taken away from you in that second moto on Sunday. I guess that’s racing, a bit bittersweet in a way, but still a strong week-end. How was it from your seat?
Clout: Yeah, it was really good, mate. Look, obviously jumping back to a 250cc was a little bit of fun, and yeah, we were looking really good to get the Prince of Paris crown, but unfortunately, just a first turn kind of racing incident, and I went down with someone and it kind of took it away from me. But it is what it is, it’s racing, and I’m happy we went out and won the last race. I think we showed we were probably the fastest over the weekend, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to be in it to win it. I’m happy and at the same time, a little bit sad, but it is what it is, mate. I’m just really happy to be out here in Paris.
What was the actual issue of the bike? Because it looked like from the outside you couldn’t really do anything much with it.
Clout: Yeah, so when I picked the bike up, obviously all the bars were twisted completely. My throttle grip was completely snapped, and then the side plastics were broken off, and I couldn’t actually grip the bike, so basically just had to roll around and just try and get a position to salvage what I could.
Let’s talk about those whoops a little bit, especially in the SX2 class, they seemed like a big separator.
Clout: They were definitely the separator. I felt like I was pretty strong through them all weekend, and I’ve been working a lot at home on the whoops, and the Bud Racing Kawasaki 250 was really good. This was the first time riding this bike with these suspensions, and these whoops definitely were the biggest and gnarliest I’ve ridden in a long time. We don’t have them like that in Australia, and to be probably one of the strongest guys in them, I’m pretty happy with that.
Was there any part of the track where you couldn’t make up time as well, or was it just mainly the whoops? It looked like you were all pretty much doing the same rhythm sections.
Clout: The whoops was definitely the main part. Obviously, starts were very important, but I think if you just really tried to open up your turns and flow the turns, because the rhythms everyone was doing the same, that’s where you could make a little bit of time here and there as well. That took me a little bit to get used to on the 250, having to use the momentum, but it was all learning for me throughout the weekend, and I had a good time. It was a lot of fun in the end.
You had a good battle with Anthony Bourdon the whole weekend. I’m just curious, how many of these guys did you know before coming here?
Clout: I’ve known Anthony, I obviously raced him with World Supercross, and the other guys not so much. Calvin I’ve heard of a little bit. But yeah, I knew all the European guys, they ride well, and you come here, this is their home, they’ve ridden these kind of dirt conditions, and they’re always going to be fast. So obviously I only know really who Anthony was, but I didn’t really count out anyone else. But I was very impressed with a lot of the guys, they rode really well, and it was a really cool event.
So you’re racing on a 450cc Down Under. I believe last week you were in Stuttgart on the 450, and now you are in Paris on the 250. So my question is, how much time did you actually have on the 250? Did you discover that bike at press day on Friday?
Clout: Yeah, so Stéphane [Dassé] messaged me and said: do you want to race Paris? And I said yes, and then the next message was, do you want to do it on the 250? And I said: yeah, why not?
And the first time I rode their 250 was on Friday morning during press day. That was the first time I’ve ridden on a 250 in about two years. So I’m pretty happy with how I went. Obviously I felt like I got stronger kind of as the weekend went. So yeah, to drop back to a 250 and put up a pretty good fight, I thought it was good and I’ll be back on the 450 when I get home.
Does it feel like you were searching the whole weekend? Did you change much on the bike, or was it just straight off: I’m just going to go with that?
Clout: I didn’t touch anything like engine or chassis-wise. I was very surprised with how good the engine was. I made a few little adjustments on press day, and only minor ones. I’m talking a couple of clickers here and there, and I didn’t touch my bike the whole two race days. So to jump onto a bike and not have to touch it, I was pretty impressed.
Jett and Hunter were here this weekend. I’m curious. Does it feel like what they’ve done in America has helped to put Australia on the map? Because it seems like for the last few years a lot of Australians are getting opportunities.
Clout: Definitely. Jett and Hunter have just really changed the game, not only for Australia, but worldwide. They’re just unbelievable. And for them to be Australian as well is just a bonus for all Australian guys. Our Australian guys have a lot of potential, a lot of speed. I don’t think we get enough recognition, for whatever reason, I’m not too sure, but there is a lot of talent in Australia, and I think it’s starting to show.
How would you compare this event to the events from the Australian Supercross Championship?
Clout: I would say this one and the AUSX Open in Melbourne, they’re very similar. This is France’s biggest one, and then the other one is Australia’s biggest one. I think they’re pretty equal, but this event was run unbelievably. Just the European crowd and just the spot, everything. It’s on another level for sure in that aspect. The tracks are very similar, the stadium is quite similar, but just the crowd and things like that, you can’t match that here in Europe. It’s so much bigger than what we have in Australia.
Australia won the last two Motocross of Nations, and I don’t think I remember this, but you raced Motocross of Nations about 10 years ago. I think it was France and Latvia back in the days. What do you remember from those days?
Clout: I had a lot of fun, but I didn’t have the Lawrence brothers to help me [laughs]. I put in a decent result one year, I think I got a 12th on the 250, which if I had Jett and Hunter then I think we might have been up on the box. I had a lot of fun doing those things back when I was a young guy. Seeing Jett and Hunter do what they’re doing and making Australia proud, it’s unreal to watch.
Do you plan to go back to America and race some Supercross maybe? I think it’s been five years and you had a great showing last time you raced there.
Clout: Maybe, it’s been a few years. I would really like to. Obviously it’s hard to get over there and get on a good bike. I think at my age now I would love to go over there, but I just need to be on a good bike. And if that was to come up with a potential fill-in or anything, any opportunity of course, I would love to.
What’s 2026 looking like for you?
Clout: At the moment I haven’t signed anything in Australia. I just wanted to do these races and do some Supercross back home and just kind of make a decision from there. I look to probably do some World Supercross, hopefully come back here and try and do a bit of a Supercross program, something like Dean Wilson has done over the years. I think that looks nice. I still enjoy motocross, but I enjoy this better.
Is there a bit of sightseeing planned for you since you are in Paris?
Clout: Well, we sightsee through the week because I was in Germany last weekend. We did a little bit around Germany. We flew in early, did a tour of Paris. My wife wanted to go to Disneyland, so we did that and went back to business, back racing, and then I’ll fly out tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock. So back to Australia. Long flight as it is 24 hours. Then I ride one day back home and then i will fly to Melbourne to race some SX. So yeah, I’ve got a busy schedule ahead.
