Geordie joy for Adam at UK Arenacross
By Sean Lawless on 3rd Feb 16
Adam Chatfield put his Buildbase Honda on the podium as the 2016 Monster Energy Arenacross Tour stopped off at Newcastles Metro Radio Arena over the weekend.
But his team-mate Angelo Pellegrini had a weekend to forget after crashes prevented him from converting race-winning speed into podium finishes.
On a soft track that rutted up quickly, Saturday's qualifiers for round eight of the series went well for Angelo who won both of his races with Adam progressing to the heats in 14th.
Both riders then eased through to the final comfortably with Angelo running 2-2 and Adam carding 3-5 but average starts in the Main Event proved costly.
Angelo was on the move immediately but while challenging for third he clipped a rider's rear wheel and went down hard, hurting his chest and playing no further part in the evening's proceedings.
Adam inherited fourth after his team-mate crashed but late mistakes dropped him to seventh.
Both riders appeared to have turned it around for Sunday's ninth round and Angelo qualified for the Main Event with 4-1 finishes compared to Adam's 3-2 card.
The pair started well in Sunday's Main Event with Angelo fourth, one place ahead of Adam.
After a couple of quick passes Angelo was chasing the leader in second when he clipped the wall exiting a turn and bounced back onto the track into the path of the following rider and was knocked down.
Inheriting third, Adam then rode a solid race to bring his CRF450 home for the team's first podium of the series.
"I was riding better all night and I finally put it on the box,” said Adam.
Mistakes
"Saturday I was running fourth in the final and ended up making a couple of mistakes, almost crashed twice and dropped back to seventh after I lost my rhythm so I was determined not to repeat those mistakes again.
"The track was very technical on Saturday with lots of ruts but I was riding well and I knew I could do well the next day.
"I qualified a lot better on Sunday and almost won my second heat which gave me a good gate pick.
"I had a really good start but lost a couple of places when I was run wide.
"Angelo got by me but ended up crashing so I just rode my own race and got on the podium. I'm really happy – that's where I should be.
"I'm looking forward to Sheffield – the dirt should be a little bit softer like it was for Newcastle and I know that suits me. I just need to keep the momentum rolling.”
Despite having his worst weekend of the tour with two DNFs, Angelo left Newcastle feeling positive.
"I am very disappointed,” said the Italian.
"But I am also happy with how I have been riding. I easily had podium speed on both days which is good but two crashes were not so good for me and were very expensive.
"That is the nature of the sport and I will come back for round 10 in Sheffield even more determined to win.”
After a motocross career that brought him three world 500cc titles, team owner Dave Thorpe knows all about the ups and downs of racing.
"I feel delighted for Adam but, at the same time, I'm very disappointed for Angelo,” he said.
"Neither rider knows the meaning of the word quit and both gave it their all in Newcastle but arenacross is a very unforgiving sport and there's a very fine line between finishing on the podium and ending the night with a DNF.
"We've now got two weeks to prepare for the next round and I know both Adam and Angelo will be working hard towards getting on the podium in Sheffield.”
