Adam Chatfield is to quit the all-new FRO Arenacross team before the first round and will join the Buildbase Honda team, replacing Frenchman Fabien Izoird. It’s not yet confirmed who will join FRO but it is likely to be little-known Gaetan Le Hir.

Boss of the FRO Systems PAR Elite team, Mark McCann, has made a statement that says: “I set out to get the strongest team possible, we agreed terms with a 5 strong English athlete team with Adam Chatfield being our primary rider. I was very proud to have a rider like Adam with our team considering this is our first project of this scale. I’ve known Adam for many years and have followed his career globally. As a country we only get to see Adam at the Arenacross as he has been based in the USA and then Brazil for most of his career.

“From the very beginning I agreed to give Adam everything he needed to win races. Unfortunately only a week ago after huge financial expense and less than a month to kick off I had some bad news. Adam would no longer be riding for me.

“Of course this has put the whole team in jeopardy, however, for sure it will be 100% sorted one way or another by the new year. In short I am gutted Adam will not be on our team, but this was not my doing.”