Prior to this evening’s Arenacross extravaganza in the series finale at Wembley, it was widely predicted that the championship would go to the wire, and that it did. SR75 World Suzuki’s Thomas Ramette is the newly-crowned first-ever three-time Arenacross Pro champ and, remarkably, he achieved this without winning a Main Event this year.
The Pro race threw up plenty of surprises with MVR-D Husqvarna’s Adrien Escoffier enjoying his second Main Event win of the season and delighting his team with a perfect end to a season that has had its ups and downs. Team boss Mark Chamberlain was clearly overjoyed with his young teamster’s prowess saying; “I’m so chuffed for Adrien and the team. It’s a great result and makes up for our early season difficulties. As a team, it’s encouraging for us to run at the front and gives us the belief that anything is possible.”
Ramette finished second on the night and Collin Jurin, the newly AX-drafted WD40 X-Bladez Husqvarna pilot put in a sterling performance to take third which, according to the American, was “redemption for last year”.
Early odds-on favourite Cedric Soubeyras (RFX St Blazey) recovered from an early race ‘off’ to finish ninth, whilst team-mate Angelo Pellegrini took fourth and secured second overall in the championship. RFX St Blazey won the team championship in convincing style.
Worthy of mention in the ultra-competitive Pro Lites is Buildbase Honda’s Chris Bayliss, who was unable to compete at Sheffield last weekend due to a stomach bug. He came back firing on all cylinders with just one goal; to win the overall in the class and earn his place in the Pro head-to-head. He did just that and, to the delight of the crowd, almost upset the Pro order when he narrowly missed out on beating Jay Wilson (I-Fly JK Yamaha) to the chequered flag by just .007 of a second. Northern Ireland’s Jason Meara (RFX St Blazey) won his first Pro Lites final to finish second overall on the night and fourth in the championship itself, in his first-ever AX series.
Both youth championships had been decided in the morning’s set of races with Ben Clayton and Bobby Bruce taking first and second in the SuperMinis. Ashton Boughen and Ben Mustoe did the same in the 65s. Come the public showing, Louie Kessell took a well-deserved third overall in the bigger capacity class and, one of the most travelled 65cc riders, Charley Irwin from Northern Ireland secured a triumphant third in his group.
Pro Main
1. Adrien Escoffier #137, MVR-D Husqvarna, 40 points
2. Thomas Ramette #1, SR75 World Suzuki, 36 points
3. Collin Jurin #476, WD40 X-Bladez Husqvarna, 32 points
4. Angelo Pellegrini #941, RFX St Blazey, 30 points
5. Adam Chatfield #407, Buildbase Honda Racing, 28 points
6. Alex Snow #31, Keystone Honda, 26 points
7. Hugo Basaula #747, Team Green Kawasaki, 24 points
8. Jack Brunell #155, Team Green Kawasaki, 22 points
9. Cedric Soubeyras #85, RFX St Blazey, 20 points
10. Florence Richier #2, Keystone Honda, 18 points
Pro Championship
1. Thomas Ramette (FR), 131 points
2. Angelo Pellegrini (IT), 126 points
3. Cedric Soubeyras (FR), 124 points
4. Adam Chatfield (UK), 116 points
5. Adrien Escoffier (FR), 113 points
6. Jack Brunell (UK), 109 points
7. Cyrille Coulon (FR), 96 points
8. Hugo Basaula (PT), 89 points
9. Florent Richier (FR), 87 points
10. Matt Bayliss (UK), 54 points
Team Championship
1. Team RFX St Blazey MX, 255 points
2. SR75 World Suzuki, 226 points
3. Team Green Kawasaki, 210 points
4. Buildbase Honda Racing, 183 points
5. MVR-D Husqvarna, 122 points
6. Keystone Honda Racing, 116 points
7. I-Fly JK Yamaha, 55 points
8. WD40 X-Bladez Husqvarna, 32 points
8. FRO Systems PAR Elite, 32 points
Pro Lites Overall
1. Chris Bayliss #259, Buildbase Honda, 36 points
2. Jason Meara #10, RFX St Blazey, 34 points
3. Yannis Irsuti #170, I-Fly JK Yamaha, 33 points
4. Joe Clayton #14, Keystone Honda, 31 points
5. Dylan Woodcock, #60, Team Green Kawasaki, 31 points
Pro Lites Championship
1. Yannis Irsuti #170, 245 points
2. Dylan Woodcock #60, 233 points
3. Joe Clayton #14, 222 points
4. Jason Meara#10, 208 points
5. Chris Bayliss #259, 207 points
Supermini Overall
1. Ben Clayton #14, 40 points
2. Bobby Bruce #579, 36 points
3. Carl Osterman #10, 31 points
4. Louie Kessell #7, 31 points
5. Callum Beeken #211, 28 points
Supermini Championship
1. Ben Clayton #14, 236 points
2. Bobby Bruce #579, 218 points
3. Louie Kessell #7, 185 points
4. Carl Osterman #10, 184 points
5. Callum Beeken #211, 167 points
Youth 65cc Overall
1. Ashton Boughen #2, 40 points
2. Freddie Bartlett #292, 34 points
3. Ben Mustoe #3, 32 points
4. Charley Irwin #50, 31 points
5. Jake Davies #7, 24 points
Youth 65cc Championship
1. Ashton Boughen #2, 238 points
2. Ben Mustoe #3, 205 points
3. Charley Irwin #50, 189 points
4. Freddie Bartlett #292 178 pooints
5. Shaun Mahoney #11, 174 points
Full results are available at www.arenacrossuk.com