2016 Monster Energy Arenacross blasts into life in Manchester
By TMX Archives on 4th Jan 16
The Monster Energy Arenacross Tour, powered by Ford Ranger, welcomed in the New Year at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night.
Top European AX pro riders, Monster Girls, whips, flips, flames and lasers all played a part in bringing an awesome night of family entertainment to a packed arena.
Over the last three years the UK Arenacross Tour has firmly established itself as the most watched moto series in the UK, bringing in thousands of spectators that may be lost if it wasn't for this slick, well run series.
And for 2016 there's extra spice an interest with the inclusion of US star Josh Hansen.
Hansen, who was expected to compete in the 250 supercross championship in 2016 after a welcome return to the sport in 2015, but the three-time X Games Gold medallist favoured a new challenge of AX racing this side of the pond.
A packed Manchester Arena hosted the Monster Energy Arenacross opening round where no fewer than three former champions, Adam Chatfield, Fabien Izoird and the number one plate holder Thomas Ramette were set to dual for the honours.
The Pro Class pilots aren't the only big name stars to blow the minds of the crowd with Edgar Torronteras (who changed-up his beatbox routine for this year's tour), world FMX star Petr Pilat, Jamie Squibb, Dan Whitby and the rest of the FMX team never fail to wow the crowd with their trains, whips and flips.
Each year the show's hosts, Christian Stevenson and Jeff Perrett get better and better and they really have their role nailed now. The dynamic duo were on top form, keeping the house pumped and well informed – the latter being so important for the next generation of the sport.
They certainly made the future stars of motocross feel like rock gods. The duo bigged up the 65, Supermini and Pro Lites classes no end. These youth classes certainly do not feel like tacked on support races but instead like they are an integral part of the show. Which they are. The little guys race hard and the crowd really gets into it.
In the 65cc class it was Kiean Boughen who impressed the most. A final lap mistake saw Boughen settle for second spot in the first 65cc heat that took place in the afternoon before the doors opened. However, young Kiean bounced back strong when it really mattered and took the second and final moto win in front of the packed arena to take the overall win and the series points lead.
Ollie Colmer also showed talent as well as a huge set of danglies, certainly not being afraid to go big. Colmer took advantage of Boughen's first moto mishap, taking the moto win. But he just didn't have quite enough to answer Boughen's steely determination in the second moto. Young Tyler Etheridge rounded out the 65cc podium in third place.
The Supermini class is a new and revised format to this year's series. Pitching both small and big wheel 85 class racers against each other in a test to see who is the top 85cc AX pilot.
The most consistent rider of the night in this class and the eventual overall winner was last year's big wheel 85 champion, Harry Kimber. The Hardcore racing rider showed speed, stamina and consistency that his rivals found hard to match.
An altercation with a tuff block in the first moto saw Kimber drop back to second allowing the Team Green rider Kacey Hird to take the lead and the win in what was his inaugural race on board a big wheeled machine.
The second Supermini moto proved to be slightly chaotic for everyone apart from the #78 of Harry Kimber. The Westlander controlled the race from start to finish claiming his spot on top of the box.
Mistakes in moto two meant that Kacey Hird could only manage a sixth place. A more consistent performance from Ben Burridge, who went 3-2, meant that he was just able to nick second spot on the podium from Hird by just one point.
The Pro Lites class saw a more evenly spaced field throughout. Joe Clayton threw down the gauntlet for the series, taking two moto wins. George Clark and Jordan Moxey followed him up in second and third in each of the motos.
Pro Class Heats
Hansen and reigning champ Ramette took to the start gate for the opening Pro Heat and it was Ramette who took the win with Hansen in second.
Potentially the biggest surprise of the night came in the form of the red number four that belongs to Wooldridge Demolition's Matt Bayliss.
As the pro racers hit the track once more it was British pilot Bayliss that engaged the crowd's patriotism after watching two Frenchmen take wins in the first two heats.
Heat three belonged to Bayliss – he nailed the holeshot, led the entire race and fought back a last corner attack from former champ Izoird to take the chequers in a race that got the entire arena to their feet.
It was this performance and a duel with Izoird, which ended with the Frenchmen in the dirt that saw Bayliss quickly become a favourite amongst the Manchester crowd.
After his maiden Arenacross race Hansen managed to claim his first race win in the final heat race of the night, giving him first gate pick for the Main.
H2H
These races see the riders that have qualified for the Main take each other on in short two lap dashes in the pursuit of bonus points.
At every round you'll likely see bar-banging action that will provide some of the main talking points of the night.
Riding a wave of confidence after his heat win, Hanny surfed right through each round of the H2H battles to meet Geartec Yamaha's Cedric Soubeyras in the final.
An early bobble in this short sprint race saw Hansen lose time that was impossible to reclaim, leaving the Frenchmen with an emphatic win over the American and four vital bonus points that would be very valuable come the end of the night.
Hanny didn't look pleased with himself, his racing to this point had shown his desire to win the series and he's not going to take it lightly if he fails to make the impact that he or his fans expect.
Pro Class Main Event
By the time the main event showdown rolled around the whole crowd were up on their feet cheering on the pros, mainly encouraged by the ultra-competitive and crowd-pleasing head-to-head dash for cash which, perhaps more importantly, bestowed additional championship points upon the top four.
A field packed with international racing talent took to the start line for the 14 lap final. Reigning champion Ramette grabbed the holeshot and was never bettered. In a supreme display of Arenacross racing he fended off attacks from Brits Brunell and Chatfield and fellow countrymen Soubeyras and Izoird, overcoming back markers in the process to blast across the Manchester Arenacross tour finish line and secure the win for his SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki team.
Sadly for Hanny, he was all out of luck. He took the opening corner tight and Italian Angelo Pellegrini came in hot, colliding with the US star, putting them both in the AX dirt. SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki's Cyrille Coulon was unable to take avoiding action and he was left to work his way round the two downed riders.
It was too much for Hanny to make up ground and he finished the Main in eighth place.
Soubeyras' four bonus points from his H2H win meant he was tied with Ramette on points, which gave Cedric the overall.
Similarly Hansen's second place in the head-to-head races gave him an extra three points which moved him into sixth overall.
SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki's Ramette has continued on from where he left off last season and will be a contender throughout the series. As for Chatfield and Izoird, they be looking to up their game – expect to see more from these two in the coming weeks.
There's sure to be plenty more action and drama when the series rolls into Glasgow this weekend for Round Two. See you there.
