Preview: London calling for Arenacross Tour finale
By Team TMX on 14th Feb 18
The 2018 Power Maxed Arenacross Tour has been an up and down affair with no fewer than four different Main Event winners and every rider in the starting line-up including all four previous tour champions has found themselves in the last chance qualifying Head-to-Heads.
Who could have predicted that? As the tour heads to the showdown at the capital citys SSE Arena in Wembley there is one certainty nothing is certain! And if previous encounters are anything to go by the London leg is set to be off the wall.
Just three points separate red plate holder Cedric Soubeyras (Team FRO Systems) from racing rival and reigning AX Pro champ Thomas Ramette (SR75 World Suzuki). Can this be the year for Soub?
With four unforgiving fellow countrymen behind him hell have to stay out of trouble and make it to the finish line unscathed. Theres a title to be won and serious money up for grabs so any off-track friendship will be put on hold for those vital and intense 14 laps.
There are double points on the last round, which means the Pro Hot Lap could play a pivotal role. Six points for first, four for second and two for third could make the difference between winning or losing the championship.
Fortunately for those top eight pro class qualifiers the hot lap is against the clock rather than Ash Greedy! That pleasure is reserved for those lucky or unlucky enough to go through to the Head-to-Head (H2H) last chance saloon. Of course, AX fans can also make a difference here as the last place on the final start grid is reserved for the Pro or Pro Lites rider voted through by the people who didnt make it through the H2H.
To be clear the top eight Pros, after the evening heats are finished, go through to the Hot Lap and then the Main Event. They are joined by the last three standing from the H2H and the non-qualifying rider who received the most likes on the Arenacrossuk Facebook page.
Voting opens as soon as the H2H is over but, fans need to be quick as there is, at most, a 10-minute window to put their fave through. With double points up for grabs, any one of the top eight has a mathematical chance of winning the series.
The top five Frenchmen Soubeyras, Ramette, Charles LeFrancois (Buildbase Honda), Fabien Izoird (Buildbase Honda) and Cyrille Coulon (SR75 World Team Suzuki) are followed by a big Portugeezer in the form of Hugo Basaula (Shocktech Kawasaki), Australian Dan Reardon (I-Fly JK Yamaha) with another Frenchman, Adrien Escoffier (MVR-D St Blazey Husqvarna) in eighth.
But the Brit Pack shouldnt be discounted and any one of them could easily upset the order of play and keep the Frenchies at bay. They cant win the championship but they will be hungry for AX glory at the final round and have always risen to the Wembley challenge.
Two-time British MX champ Elliott Banks-Browne (Geartec Husqvarna) is the only Brit to have podium-ed this season, while Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki stablemates Jack Brunell and Adam Chatfield have tasted Arenacross success in the past.
Ashley Greedy (Team FRO Systems) and Matt Bayliss (Wooldridge Demolition) both have the speed and could hang it all out for one last time The final of the 2018 Power Maxed Arenacross Tour takes place at the SSE Arena, Wembley, London, this Saturday February 17.
Doors open at 6.30pm with the show opening getting underway at 7.30pm. Tickets from 17 are available online at www.arenacrossuk.com or directly from the Arena Box Office on 0844 815 0815.
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