It was a case of close but no cigar for GL12 Racing KTM at round six of the UK Arenacross Tour in Sheffield Arena on Saturday night. Despite two strong rides in qualification, James Dunn struggled with his starts in his heats and missed the Main Event. British two-stroke champ Mike Kras also looked solid in qualification and out-gated the 450 four-strokes on his 250 two-stroker in both his heats, but a crash in his second heat meant he failed to progress to the points-paying final.

They’ll now regroup and prepare for the last round at Wembley Arena this Saturday.

Kras said:  “Sheffield was much better for me. I put in a fast lap on the last lap of qualification but we’d done one lap too many so my time was ruled out which left me with a bad gate pick for the heats.

“That didn’t matter though because I nailed the holeshot from far outside in my first heat but I was riding tight so I lost positions and finished seventh.

“My second heat ended quickly because after a great start I got hit from behind and took a dirt sample. The clutch was broken and the handlebars were bent so that was my night over in Sheffield.

“My overall feeling is that I can do better and I hope that Lady Luck is on my side in London.”

Dunn said: “I was really happy with how I started off in Sheffield – in my two qualifying sessions I felt really good on the bike and had my best result of 14th which gave me seventh gate pick for the heats.

“In heat one I missed the start completely which made it hard work for myself and I ended up ninth.

“For heat two I had a better start and came around the first turn in about fifth but then got pushed up on top of the berm in the second turn.

“It was an annoying day for me as I felt I had good pace to run up front but my starts were my weak point.

“We’ll work on those and be ready to mix it up for the final round in London this weekend!”

Team boss Bob Buchanan said: “James put in his best qualifying performances in Sheffield but just didn’t get the starts in the heat races.

“Once he was into the race his times were good enough but by then the damage was done – the race is gone if you don’t get the start.

“Mikey Kras on the other hand holeshot both his heat races on a two-fiddy against the 450Fs. It was an unbelievable performance.

“For me the tannoy time and the resultant exposure it gets for my small team is incredible. I’m disappointed we didn’t get into the head-to-heads but we are loving the series and the boys are getting sharper and sharper for when we move outdoors.”