Landing a seventh place result in the 250SX West main event at St. Louis’ second round of Monster Energy Supercross is exactly what Australian Luke Clout wanted after failing to finish the opening round a week ago.

The Penrite Honda Racing entry displayed strong form all night long, finishing fourth in his heat before riding strongly in the 18-lap encounter, where he charged to an impressive P7 ranking.

The result comes after increased testing in the lead up to the Missouri event, while he also benefited from increased seat time aboard the CRF250R as he continues his adaption from a 450.

“I felt more like myself tonight,” Clout stated. “Finishing fourth in the heat was great and it’s much closer to where I want to be. I am getting more comfortable on the 250 as well.

“Coming away inside the top 10 is what I wanted, so I’m pretty happy with seventh. We are heading in the right direction and the weekend has been great.

“Now I’m looking forward to racing at Anaheim again next week. The bike is good, the team is working hard to make sure we have every chance to be up the front, so hopefully I can keep on improving each week.”

Clout is ranked 13th in the championship standings as the series heads back to Anaheim’s Angel Stadium this Saturday for round three of the 17-stop series.