Once again it was the fast Frenchmen that dominated in the second round of the UK Arenacross in Newcastle, with  Cedric Soubeyras taking the win from Fabien Izoird. With Portuguese rider Hugo Basaula fourth from last week’s winner Charles Lefrancois, it means Soubeyras and Lefrancois now share the lead in the championship.

Prior to the main final, a number of leading Pro riders such as Brits Adam Chatfield, Ashley Greedy and Matt Bayliss together with Aussie hotshot Dan Reardon, found themselves in the last chance eliminator. Cedric Soubeyras earned an additional three points by cleaning up in the hot lap ahead of Fabien Izoird, and a rejuvenated Hugo Basaula. Eight riders automatically qualified through to the main event. Greedy and Reardon were seeded through from the head-to-head, whilst James Dunn and Luke Norris gained the recognition of the promoter to make their first appearance in the highly-prized end-of-evening finale.

The UK’s flu outbreak claimed an AX scalp in the form of former British MX champ Elliott Banks-Browne who, despite qualifying in 10th, was unable to make the evening’s races, leaving team-mate Norris to fly a solo Geartech Husqvarna flag. MXGP hotshot Evgeny Bobryshev escaped the claws of the eliminator and, clearly enjoying the challenges of the harder-packed Newcastle circuit, put in some solid performances to take fifth in the main event and fifth overall.

The Pro Lites result was a repeat performance of last week’s opening round at Manchester. Joe Clayton took the final race win ahead of Jason Meara and Chris Bayliss. Clayton leads the championship on 78 points, with Bayliss on 70 and Meara 68. With five rounds still to go, there is much to play for.

In the youth ranks, 14-year-old Buster Hart had the arena on its feet when, racing on home turf, he brought the goods home for his friends, family and sponsors. The youngest racers of the Tour enjoyed a close tussle with Shaun Mahoney victorious, Jake Davies second and William Murphy third. Local rider Ryan Waggott from Carlisle had a terrific final to finish fourth; his best of the series

Pro Main Event
1. Cedric Soubeyras
2. Fabien Izoird
3. Hugo Basaula
4. Charle Lefrancois
5. Evgeny Bobryshev
6. Jack Brunell
7. James Dunn
8. Cyrille Coulon
9. Ashley Greedy
10. Dan Reardon

Pro Overall
1. Cedric Soubeyras, 23 points
2. Fabien Izoird, 20
3. Hugo Basaula, 17
4. Charles Lefrancois, 15
5. Evgeny Bobryshev, 14
6. Jack Brunell, 13
7. James Dunn, 12
8. Cyrille Coulon, 11
9. Ashley Greedy, 10
10. Dan Reardon, 9

Pro Championship
1. Cedric Soubeyras, Team FRO Systems, 38 points
2. Charles Lefrancois, Buildbase Honda, 38
3. Fabien Izoird, Buildbase Honda, 34
4. Hugo Basaula, Shocktech Kawasaki, 30
5. Cyrille Coulon, SR75 World Suzuki, 29
6. Jack Brunell, Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki, 25
7. Thomas Ramette, SR75 World Suzuki, 23
8. Ashley Greedy, Team FRO Systems, 18
9. Dan Reardon, JK I-Fly Yamaha Racing, 18
10. Evgeny Bobryshev, RFX Suzuki, 14

Team Championship
1. Buildbase Honda, 72 points
2. Team FRO Systems, 56
3. SR75 World Suzuki, 52
4. Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki, 35
5. Shocktech Kawasaki, 35
6. JK I-Fly Yamaha, 18
7. Geartech Husqvarna, 16
8. MVR-D St Blazey Husqvarna, 14
9. RFX Suzuki, 14
10. GL12 KTM, 12

Pro Lites Overall
1. Joe Clayton, 38 points
2. Chris Bayliss, 36
3. Jason Meara, 34
4. Harry Kimber, 29
5. Josh Greedy, 23
6. Ben Clayton, 23

Pro Lites Championship
1. Joe Clayton, 78 points
2. Chris Bayliss, 70
3. Jason Meara, 68
4. Scooter Webster, 50
5. George Clarke, 46
6. Harry Kimber, 44

Supermini Overall
1. Buster Hart, 40 points
2. Raife Broadley, 36
3. Kai Tucker, 28
4. Josh Jones, 28
5. Oliver Kilgour, 27
6. Tommy Gilbert, 27

Supermini Championship
1. Buster Hart, 76 points
2. Raife Broadley, 62
3. Kai Tucker, 58
4. Robert Storer, 53
5. Tommy Gilbert, 53
6. Oliver Kilgour, 49

65cc Overall
1. Shaun Mahoney, 40 points
2. Jake Davies, 32
3. William Murphy, 31
4. Zane Stephens, 26
5. Harvey Antrobus, 25
6. Charlie Hucklebridge, 22

65cc Championship
1. Shaun Mahoney, 73 points
2. Jake Davies, 64
3. Harvey Antrobus, 63
4. Zane Stephens, 61
5. William Murphy, 58
6. Kyron Carron, 48

The 2018 Power Maxed Arenacross Tour now heads south to Birmingham and The Genting Arena, next Saturday, the 20th of January. Doors open will open at 6.30pm, with the show kicking off at 7.30pm. Tickets are available via www.arenacrossuk.com