A packed and raucous Sheffield Arena witnessed plenty of close action this evening, with different race winners featuring throughout the four Arenacross classes, whilst the Freestyle riders kept the audience on their feet with three incredible sets of insane high-air antics.
Cedric Soubeyras, RFX St Blazey, rode a near perfect Main Event at tonight’s penultimate round of the 2017 Arenacross series to slightly stretch his Pro championship lead over team-mate Angelo Pellegrini. Reigning AX champ Thomas Ramette, SR75 World Suzuki, is still in the thick of it in third place, just one point behind the Italian.
Frenchman Soub clearly rediscovered his 2016 form this evening, taking maximum points from the Hot Lap to add to his race win tally, and increase his team’s lead in the championship standings in the process. “Finally!” Exclaimed a jubilant Soubeyras, “As soon as I got out on the whoops today, I knew that I stood a good chance. Congratulations to both Angelo and Thomas though as they pushed me all the way.”
The Tour now heads to the double-points finale at Wembley in London next weekend, with any of the top six in with a fighting chance of lifting the 2017 AX Pro crown.
Dylan Woodcock, Team Green Kawasaki, and Yannis Irsuti, I-fly JK Yamaha, took a win apiece in the fast-paced Pro Lites group, with Joe Clayton and Jason Meara also in contention.
Over in the youth ranks, SuperMini championship leader Ben Clayton and race rival Bobby Bruce each claimed a share of the winner’s spoils to tie on points in the overall on-the-day standings. As they head to the last round of the series, they drop their worst score which, on current standings, points the title towards Clayton aka ‘Beanz’. Northern Ireland’s Charley Irwin knocked Ashton Boughen off the top spot in the first Youth 65cc race, but the series leader bounced back to take the second race win.
Pro Main
1. Cedric Soubeyras, #85, RFX St Blazey, 20 points
2. Angelo Pellegrini, #941, RFX St Blazey, 18 points
3. Thomas Ramette, #1, SR75 World Suzuki, 16 points
4. Jack Brunell, #155, Team Green Kawasaki, 15 points
5. Jay Wilson, #6, I-Fly JK Yamaha, 14 points
6. Adam Chatfield, #407, Buildbase Honda Racing, 13 points
7. Hugo Basaula, #747, Team Green Kawasaki, 12 points
8. Gaeten Le Hir, #17, FRO Systems PAR Elite, 11 points
9. Matt Bayliss, #4, Buildbase Honda, 10 points
10. Cyrille Coulon, #5, SR75 World Suzuki, 9 points
11. Adrien Escoffier, #137, MVR-D Husqvarna, 8 points
Pro Championship
1. Cedric Soubeyras, (FR) 104 points
2. Angelo Pellegrini, (IT) 96 points
3. Thomas Ramette, (FR) 95 points
4. Adam Chatfield, (UK) 88 points
5. Jack Brunell, (UK) 87 points
6. Cyrille Coulon, (FR) 72 points
7. Adrien Escoffier, (FR) 69 points
8. Florent Richier, (FR) 69 points
9. Hugo Basaula, (PT) 65 points
10. Matt Bayliss, (UK) 54 points
Team Championship
1. Team RFX St Blazey MX, 201 points
2. SR75 World Suzuki, 166 points
3. Team Green Kawasaki, 164 points
4. Buildbase Honda Racing, 149 points
5. MVR-D Husqvarna, 78 points
6. Keystone Honda Racing, 72 points
7. I-Fly JK Yamaha, 53 points
8. FRO Systems PAR Elite, 32 points
Pro Lites Overall
1. Yannis Irsuti, #170, I-Fly JK Yamaha, 36 points
2. Dylan Woodcock, #60, Team Green Kawasaki, 35 points
3. Jason Meara, #10, RFX St Blazey, 34 points
4. Joe Clayton, #14, Keystone Honda, 33 points
Pro Lites Championship
1. Yannis Irsuti, #170, 212 points
2. Dylan Woodcock, #60, 202 points
3. Joe Clayton, #14, 191 points
4. Jason Meara, #10, 174 points
Supermini Overall
1. Bobby Bruce, #579, 38 points
2. Ben Clayton, #4, 38 points
3. Carl Osterman, #10, 31 points
4. Louie Kessell, #7, 30 points
Supermini Championship
1. Ben Clayton, #14, 234 points
2. Bobby Bruce, #579, 212 points
3. Louie Kessell, #7, 184 points
4. Callum Beeken, #211, 164 points
Youth 65cc Overall
1. Ashton Boughen, #2, 36 points
2. Ben Mustoe, #3, 36 points
3. Charley Irwin, #50, 34 points
4. Freddie Bartlett, #292, 30 points
Youth 65cc Championship
1. Ashton Boughen, #2, 234 points
2. Ben Mustoe, #3, 203 points
3. Shaun Mahoney, #11, 174 points
4. Charley Irwin, #50, 172 points
All roads now lead to Wembley for what is poised to be an ultra-close and explosive 2017 AX Final. Tickets are available via www.arenacrossuk.com or the box office 0844 338 8000.