The MotoHead-backed XBladez Husqvarna crew sailed to Belfast this weekend for the fourth and fifth leg of the Arenacross UK tour, this time without Gradie Featherstone who has jetted to America to start his Supercross preparations. While the team dedicates its effort to replace him for forthcoming rounds, it was left to our Pro Lites rider -Frederick Højris from Denmark – to fly the flag.

Team manager Dave Willet explained: “We struggled to source indoor riders that can compete at this level. It’s not easy to step into the Arenacross tour and race at the level required so we decided to just focus on Fred and source some riders for future rounds. We have a break in the tour and this gives us some time to try and make a good decision. What we don’t want to do is commit to another rider and change again.

“Frederick is young and is progressing week in and week out. He looked much more comfortable on the bike and in his surroundings this weekend and he’s putting in the work.”

The transformation from when Frederick started the series in Glasgow was clear to see on the doubler-header at Belfast. On Friday night he was sixth which although isn’t a true reflection on his pace, was a good start. On Saturday Fred gained better qualifying times and his speed gained him third, taking full advantage of others’ mistakes. The final race started strong but he needed to act faster in the opening laps and he ended up a strong 6th and 5th overall.

Willet said: “I’m super happy with Fred’s progression and attitude. With progression like this we are going to make a big push for the last two rounds.”