Monster Energy Arenacross in Birmingham's a blast

New competitors added a fresh dimension to both Arenacross and FMX performances and the track, the longest of the championship, proved to be technically challenging which in turn made for tight and exciting racing.

The French riders reigned supreme at the West Midlands venue, with the top five positions filled by the competitive Gallic riders. In one of the closest Main Event races of this year's competitions, SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki rider Thomas Ramette fended off late challenges from team-mate Cyrille Coulon and series leader Fabien Izoird of LPE Kawasaki to take the win in convincing fashion. The excitable fans were treated to a display of Arenacross racing at its very best. 

Amongst the razzmatazz of fireworks, confetti and lasers, the Freestyle team impressed with a set of outlandish massive whips and tricks. New rider Jeremy Rouanet was the first to get the crowd to their feet when he popped a solid backflip in the opening set of runs. Anxious not to be outdone by the newbie, the rest of the crew threw caution to the wind as they strived to outperform each other with new variations of traditional favourites. Ever a firm favourite, Jamie ‘Squibby' Squibb was on fire as he executed a number of perfect manoeuvres, getting the vote of the partisan audience. The European Godfather of FMX Edgar Torronteras, Bolddog team-mates Dan Whitby, Samson Eaton and Aaron Powley, together with ex-motocrosser Nez Parker all added to the carnival atmosphere.

The younger riders had great battles throughout the day with Supermini championship leader Harry Kimber showing his mettle and clearing the BIG finish line jump. Meanwhile, 65cc competitor Kiean Boughen took two wins from two starts to close up the gap at the top to eight points. Tye Jones literally flew into the corner first to grab the holeshot and finished third, whilst current series leader Ollie Colmer didn't have the best of starts, simply saying, "I just messed up.” 

There was great racing too in the ProLites category which saw the top three positions repeated in both morning and evening races. Runaway series leader Joe Clayton charged his MVR-D Fuel Husqvarna to a pair of wins ahead of George Clarke and Jordan Moxey. The same trio head up the ProLites championship.

The Last Chance Qualifier was red-flagged when Hitachi Revo Husqvarna's Jordan Booker landed badly and crashed. He bravely made it back to his feet to the cheer of the crowd, but his hopes of making it through to the Main Event were dashed. Angello Pellegrini, Buildbase Honda, and Harri Kullas, MVR-D Fuel Husqvarna, finished first and second to automatically go through, whilst Matt Bayliss, Wooldridge Demolition Honda, went through as the Promoter's choice.

With spectator anticipation at an all-time high, next up was one of the most popular elements of Arenacross; the Head-to-Head. Jack Brunell, SJR Kawasaki, Izoird, Coulon and Cedric Soubeyras made up the top four with Coulon and Soubeyras digging deep in the Head-to-Head final. The riders barely gave an inch as they barged into the first corner with Coulon going wide and leaving the track, which left the way clear for Soubeyras to collect four valuable additional points.

The Main Event proved to be ultra-close with LPE Kawasaki's Florent Richier out of the gate first, followed by Ramette and Coulon. Despite some close dicing, the positons stayed in that order until around half race-distance when Ramette made a pass on Richier who then lost momentum and slipped back. Coulon was in the right place to take advantage and a battle ensued between the hard-charging trio, with Soubeyras right behind. With just two laps to go, Richier made a pass stick on Coulon and the order at the chequered flag was Ramette, Izoird, Coulon.

Post-race, Ramette the Main Event winner, his team-mate Coulon and team-boss Geoff Walker were clearly delighted with the result; the first time this series that both SR75 Molson Suzuki stable-mates have been on the podium together.

Thomas Ramette; "It is a really nice result and I think the best race this year. I started out in second place behind Fabien and when I passed him, I pushed to make a little gap but lost some time. My plan was to leave Fabien in second place, make some space and relax a bit. But, it was all so tight and I couldn't back so I kept pushing all the way to the finish. It was a good and clean race, which was appreciated by everyone. The team works hard during the week to prepare my bike for me and so it's good to reward them with a win. For me it was great to race so closely with Fabien and Cyrille as we are racers on the track but friends when we're off it.”

Cyrille Coulon; "It was good, hard race with lots of respect between the racers at the front. I really like this track as it's challenging and I'm strong and fast over the whoops, which has been an advantage for me today.”

Geoff Walker; "Naturally I'm happy as it's the first time this series that we've had both team riders on the podium. The mutual respect between the riders out there was clearly evident. Cyrille had the speed today and Thomas was on tremendous form. For the guys to race in such close proximity at those speeds and without incident, demonstrates the level of skill involved. Strength and respect; that's what it's all about.”

Birmingham was also the setting for the first of two Pre-Show Pit Parties. Opening three hours before the show doors opened, party-goers got to meet and greet all the teams, racers and FMX competitors; had photo opportunities with not one, but eight Monster Energy girls together with former Miss Supercross Diana Dahlgren; took part in a whole host of games and activities and took time out to recharge their batteries with hot and cold refreshments. The Pit Party is free-of-charge to Arenacross ticket holders and another one is set to get underway prior to the opening of the seventh round of the 2016 series.

The Monster Energy Arenacross Tour is back at the Genting Arena tomorrow for round seven. A matinee performance that gets started from 3pm.

Tickets can be bought by calling the box office on 0844 338 8000 or on the door at the arena.

Main Event
1. Thomas Ramette #1 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki
2. Fabien Izoird #871 LPE Kawasaki
3. Cyrille Coulon #5 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki
4. Cedric Soubeyras #120 Geartec Yamaha
5. Florent Richier #2 LPE Kawasaki
6. Jack Brunell #155 SJR Kawasaki
7. Adam Chatfield #407 Buildbase Honda
8. Matt Bayliss #4 Wooldridge Demolition
9. Collin Jurin #3 Xbladez Husqvarna
10. Angelo Pellegrini #941 Buildbase Honda

Pro Championship
1. Fabien Izoird #871 LPE Kawasaki, 116 points
2. Cedric Soubeyras #120 Geartec Yamaha, 113 points
3. Thomas Ramette #1 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki, 101 points
4. Cyrille Coulon #5 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki, 99 points
5. Josh Hansen #100 SJR Kawasaki, 79 points
6. Adam Chatfield #407 Buildbase Honda, 73 points
7. Matt Bayliss #4 Wooldridge Demolition, 69 points
8. Angelo Pellegrini #941 Buildbase Honda, 68 points
9. Jack Brunell #155 SJR Kawasaki, 68 points
10. Florent Richier #2 LPE Kawasaki, 56 points

Team Championship
1. SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki, 200 points
2. LPE Kawasaki, 172 points
3. SJR Kawasaki, 147 points
4. Buildbase Honda, 141 points
5. Geartec Yamaha, 115 points
6. Wooldridge Demolition Honda, 80 points
7. Xbladez Husqvarna, 51 points
8. Hitachi Revo Husqvarna, 31 points
9. MVRD Fuel Husqvarna, 30 points
10. Shocktech Honda, 4 points

Pro Lites Main Event
1. Joe Clayton #14
2. George Clarke #161
3. Jordan Moxey #981

Pro Lites Champs
1. Joe Clayton #14
2. George Clarke #161
3. Jordan Moxey #981

Supermini Main
1. Harry Kimber #78
2. Lewis Hall #419
3. Ben Clayton #11

Supermini Champs
1. Harry Kimber #78
2. Lewis Hall #419
3. Kacey Hird #28

65 Main
1. Kiean Boughen #5
2. Ollie Colmer #6
3. Tye Jones #221

65 Champs
1. Ollie Colmer #6
2. Kiean Boughen #5
3. Jak Taylor #22