The third leg of the 2018 Power Maxed Arenacross provided the crammed Genting Arena with yet another exhilarating three-and-a-half-hours of tense, full-throttle indoor race action, with unscripted ballistic Freestyle. A fireworks display fit for a November evening, a marriage proposal and the first-ever main event people’s vote were also thrown in to the mix, to make it an evening to remember.
The French Pro riders were dominant this evening, securing all three podium positions and the top five places in the championship itself. Championship leader, Cedric Soubeyras, lined his Team FRO Systems Suzuki up fourth on the gate for the main event and had a solid start. An off in the early stages of the race saw him circulating at the back for a few laps but, ever-determined and with the championship itself on his mind, he picked up his speed and worked his way through the pack to a hard-fought sixth overall. This left the way clear at the front for the super-smooth SR75 World Suzuki pairing of reigning AX champ Thomas Ramette and team-mate Cyrille Coulon to pull away from the field and lay claim to a very welcome one-two team finish. Buildbase Honda’s Fabien Izoird rounded out the top three, whilst Shocktech Kawasaki’s Hugo Basaula (Portgual) infiltrated the French stranglehold to take a well-deserved fourth in both the final and the overall, ahead of Charles Lefrancois (Buildbase Honda) in fifth.
The head-to-head is always a firm fave with AX fans and tonight’s last chance qualifier yet again drew 2013 AX champ Adam Chatfield into its clutches. He lost out to RFX Suzuki’s Evgeny Bobryshev in the eliminator itself, and then again to Ashley Greedy when the people were given the chance to vote for the rider they wanted to seed through to the main event.
Soubeyras and Lefrancois still lead the championship on 52 points but, with just seven points separating the top six; this is a championship that is set to go to the wire.
The six-strong AX Freestyle crew once again drew a collective gasp of awe from the assembled West Midlands crowd. The incredible skills of the world-class FMX athletes never fails to impress, and their antics at the third round of the Tour continued to deliver on the entertainment front. Brits Dan Whitby, Samson Eaton, Arran Powley and Nez Parker gave the Spanish legend Edgar Torronteras and uber-cool Aussie, Ryan Brown, a run for their money. Powley’s cliffhanger-to-no-hander-
The aggressively-competitive Pro Lites racing saw current leader Joe Clayton win both races, but he had to work hard for it in the second race. Northern Ireland’s Jason Meara put in a hard pass on the start and led for the first six laps, with Chris Bayliss keeping him company. Clayton was never far behind though, and first picked off Bayliss before setting his sights on Meara. Clayton kept his composure and showed his class to take his fifth win of the season.
Carl Osterman returned to the Supermini class in dominant form, emphatically taking both race wins and, over in the Youth 65 group, Harvey Antrobus achieved a similar feat to put him in joint first place with Shaun Mahoney in the overall championship stakes.
The 2018 Power Maxed Arenacross Tour now travels across the Irish Sea to Belfast for the only double-header of the series. It will open its doors at 6.30pm on Friday the 26th and again on Saturday the 27th of January.
Tickets are available via www.arenacrossuk.com
RESULTS
Pro Main Event
1. Thomas Ramette
2. Cyrille Coulon
3. Fabien Izoird
4. Hugo Basaula
5. Charles Lefrancois
6. Cedric Soubeyras
7. Evgeny Bobryshev
8. Julien Lebeau
9. Adrien Escoffier
10. Ashley Greedy
Pro Overall
1. Thomas Ramette, 23 points
2. Cyrille Coulon, 18
3. Fabien Izoird, 16
4. Hugo Basaula, 15
5. Charles Lefrancois, 14
6. Cedric Soubeyras, 14
7. Evgeny Bobryshev, 12
8. Julien lebeau, 11
9. Adrien Escoffier, 10
10. Ashley Greedy, 9
Pro Championship
1. Cedric Soubeyras, #3, France, Team FRO Systems, 52 points
2. Charles Lefrancois, #225, France, Buildbase Honda, 52
3. Fabien Izoird, #871, Buildbase Honda, 50
4. Cyrille Coulon, #7, France, SR75 World Suzuki, 47
5. Thomas Ramette, #1, France, SR75 World Suzuki, 46
6. Hugo Basaula, #8, Portugal, Shocktech Kawasaki, 45
7. Jack Brunell, #6, GB, Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki, 33
8. Dan Reardon, #122, Australia, JK I-Fly Yamaha, 27
9. Ashley Greedy, #33, GB, Team FRO Systems, 27
10. Evgeny Bobryshev, #777, Russia, RFX Suzuki, 26
Team Championship
1. Buildbase Honda, 102 points
2. SR75 World Team Suzuki, 93
3. Team FRO Systems, 79
4. Shocktech Kawasaki, 45
5. Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki, 43
6. JK I-Fly Yamaha, 38
7. RFX Suzuki, 26
8. MVR-D St Blazey Husqvarna, 24
9. Geartech Husqvarna, 16
Pro Lites Overall
1. Joe Clayton, 40 points
2. Jason Meara, 36
3. Chris Bayliss, 31
4. Scooter Webster, 31
5. Harry Kimber, 28
6. George Clarke, 24
Championship
1. Joe Clayton, Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki, 118 points
2. Jason Meara, JK I-Fly Yamaha, 104
3. Chris Bayliss, Wooldridge Demolition, 101
4. Scooter Webster, Shocktech Kawasaki, 81
5. Harry Kimber, 72
6. George Clarke 70
Supermini Overall
1. Carl Osterman, 40 points
2. Raife Broadley, 34
3. Oliver Kilgour, 32
4. Buster Hart, 30
5. Josh Jones, 30
6. Robert Storer, 25
Championship
1. Buster Hart, 106 points
2. Raife Broadley, 96
3. Kai Tucker, 82
4. Oliver Kilgour, 81
5. Carl Osterman, 80
6. Josh Jones, 78
65cc Overall
1. Harvey Antrobus, 40 points
2. Zane Stephens, 34
3. Jake Davies, 30
4. Shaun Mahoney, 30
5. Kyron Carron, 28
6. Charlie Hucklebridge, 26
Championship
1. Harvey Antrobus, 103 points
2. Shaun Mahoney, 103
3. Zane Stephens, 95
4. Jake Davies, 94
5. Kyron Carron, 76
6. William Murphy, 72