Round four of the 2017 Arenacross Tour kicked off today at The SSE Arena in Belfast for the first of the weekend’s championship double-header.

Less than half a second separated the leading trio of Thomas Ramette, SR75 World Suzuki, Cedric Soubeyras, RFX St Blazey MX and Cyrille Coulon, SR75 World Suzuki in this morning’s Pro class qualifying session. Top Brit Jack Brunell, Team Green Kawasaki, continued his fine form, after last weekend’s podium, to break the French stranglehold, taking fourth.

Local lad Jason Meara, posted fifth fastest in the Pro Lites qualifying, with Yannis Irsuti, I-Fly JK Yamaha and Chris Bayliss, Buildbase Honda Racing out front, and the only two to set lap times in the 24-second bracket.

It was business as usual in the SuperMinis with Ben Clayton again taking an emphatic win on his Wheeldon Off-Road Honda, ahead of Team Green Kawasaki’s Bobby Bruce.

Young Charley Irwin from Ballyclare, set out his stall in the first 65cc race of the day with a strong second, to set him up nicely for this evening’s performance in front of his home crowd, friends and family.

Pro Qualifying

1. Thomas Ramette, #1, SR75 World Suzuki, 22.821
2. Ceric Soubeyras, #85, RFX St Blazey MX, 23.080
3. Cyrille Coulon, #5, SR75 World Suzuki, 23.255
4. Jack Brunell, #155, Team Green Kawasaki, 23.451
5. Florent Richier, #2, Keystone Honda Racing, 23.597
6. Sulivan Jaulin, #211, 23.743
7. Adrien Escoffier, #137, MVR-D Husqvarna, 23.800
8. Adam Chatfield, #407, Buildbase Honda Racing, 23.860
9. Angelo Pellegrini, #941, RFX St Blazey MX, 23.862
10. Hugo Basaula, #747, Team Green Kawasaki, 23.007

Pro Lites Qualifying
1. Yannis Irsuti, #170, I-Fly JK Yamaha, 24.286
2. Chris Bayliss, #259, Buildbase Honda Racing, 24.428
3. Joe Clayton, #14, Keystone Honda Racing, 25,057
4. Dylan Woodcock, #60, Team Green Kawasaki, 25.392
5. Jason Meara, #10, RFX St Blazey MX, 25.450
6. Frederick Hojris, #9, WD40 XBladez Husqvarna, 26.306

SuperMini Race 1
1. Ben Clayton, #14, 20 points
2. Bobby Bruce, #579, 18 points
3. Louie Kessell, #7, 16 points
5. Carl Osterman, #10, 15 points
6. Ben White, #338, 14 points

Youth 65cc
1. Ashton Boughen, #2, 20 points
2. Charley Irwin, #50, 18 points
3. Shaun Mahoney, #11, 16 points
4. Ben Mustoe, #3, 15 points
5. Jake Davies, #7, 14 points
6. Cristina Palmer, #131,13 points

Doors open for this evening’s show at 6.30pm with the show kicking off at 7.30am. Tickets are still on sale directly via the arena on 028 9073 9074 or via the website www.ssearenabelfast.com. A few tickets will also be available on the door.