Report: Action packed night at Newcastle's Monster Energy Arenacross
By TMX Archives on 31st Jan 16
The 2016 Monster Energy Arenacross Tour travelled to the North East for round eight of the eleven-round championship. The energetic crowd at Newcastles Metro Radio Arena were happy to shut out the cold winter night and spend three and a half hours enjoying the very best indoor motocross and displays of freestyle action the UK has ever seen.
Uplifting music, lasers, fireworks, zealous commentators, new faces, a head-to-head that was won by pushing the bike over the line, a new championship leader and first win for Monster Energy athlete Cedric Soubeyras, Geartec Yamaha, were the order of the unforgettable night.
The four Pro heats ran trouble-free, with Estonian Harri Kullas, MVR-D Fuel Husqvarna, a surprise winner of heat three. At just over half-race distance he caught reigning champ Thomas Ramette, SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki, and then put in a strong challenge to take the lead and his first race win. Soubeyras headed the Main Event qualifiers with Kullas second and Ramette third. On the Brit front, Jack Brunell, SJR Kawasaki, and Adam Chatfield, Buildbase Honda, were automatically seeded through to the final, whilst Jordan Booker, Hitachi Revo Husqvarna, finished second in the dreaded Last Chance Qualifier to secure his place.
The Superminis were the first class of the evening's tightly-packed ‘real' race programme. Kacey Hird grabbed the holeshot but was quickly reeled in by championship leader Harry Kimber. Pals Lewis Hall and Preston Williams swapped places numerous times in their exciting battle for third and fourth. Williams emerged the victor with Hall, Ben Clayton and Ben White rounding out the top six.
Next up, the mighty-mini racers in the 65cc put on a sterling performance. New-to-Arenacross Bailey Johnston stunned the commentators and crowd by leading the race right up until Kiean Boughen picked his moment to make a pass stick. He took to the front for the final two laps, a position he held right to the chequered flag. Winner of the morning race and previous leader of the championship, Ollie Colmer was trying hard to impress his home crowd. He recovered from a couple of ‘moments' to carve his way through from the back of the pack to fifth but the Hexham lad was clearly disappointed with his result. Ten points now separate first and second in the championship.
In the ProLites, Joe Clayton picked himself up after his morning hiccup to seize a big holeshot. He and championship rival George Clarke diced for a few laps before Joe pulled away. Backmarkers came into play in the last stages of the ultra-intense race, but Clayton held it across the line to win by a whisker.
The Freestyle athletes, as ever, astonished the audience with their daring higher-than-high tricks and flips. In a reverse of fortunes, it was Lings Bolddog Honda teamster Samson Eaton who became the darling of the Metro Radio Arena crowd wining the first set Best Trick comp. He executed the craziest and baddest Kiss of Death to take the vote over fellow Brit Jamie ‘Squibby' Squib, the Spanish wonder Edgar Torronteras, and French master of the backflip Jay Rounet.
The highly anticipated head-to-head dash for cash most certainly didn't disappoint tonight. The fans' fave segment delivered plenty of drama, with Brunell going down on the last corner and losing out to Ramette. Then in the semi-final Soubeyras and Ramette took each other out right before the finish line. Soubeyras recovered quickly to push his bike over the line to take the result and went on to win the final and take the valuable four additional points.
Having been treated to Arenacross racing at its best and most unpredictable, Newcastle was ready for the Main Event. Despite the hard endeavours of the Arenacross track builders, the soft sandy track rutted up quickly and made for unpredictable racing lines. Ramette was quick off the line and first into the corner but Soubeyras, on his back wheel, was on fire. He swooped past Ramette and stayed out front, never letting up and literally gliding over the challenging whoops - he cleared off and stayed out of trouble and held the lead to the finish line. Behind him Ramette kept in front of a hard-charging Brunell who fended off challenges from Florent Richier, LPE Kawasaki, whilst visibly closing in on the Suzuki rider. Angelo Pellegrini, Buildbase Honda, was the only casualty of the race. Making a move on Brunell in the early part of the race, he span out and dropped his bike, hurting his shoulder in the process.
Said a pumped Soubeyras; "The head-to-head was the funniest race ever. Both Thomas and I tried everything and then fell off together. He went off the track and I managed to push my bike over the finish line to take the win. I was third off the line in the main event and I knew that Thomas would be as fast as he has been at every track. He is a hard rider to get past but I stayed focussed and, when he made a little mistake, I was past. I love the whoop section it's what I'm used to and I can go fast over them all the time, which is normal for me.”
The Monster Energy Arenacross Tour returns to the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle for an afternoon show on Sunday the 31st January 2016. Doors open at 2pm, with racing from 3pm.
Tickets can be bought by calling the box office on 0844 338 8000 or on the door at the venue.
Pro Main
1. Cedric Soubeyras #120 Geartec Yamaha 24.242
2. Thomas Ramette #1 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki 24.845
3. Jack Brunell #155 SJR Kawasaki 25.142
4. Florent Richier #2 LPE Kawasaki 25.887
5. Xavier Boog #121 LPE Kawasaki 26.438
6. Cyrille Coulon #5 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki 25.929
7. Adam Chatfield #407 Buildbase Honda 25.839
8. Harri Kullas #151 MVRD Fuel Husqvarna 26.643
9. Collin Jurin #3 Xbladez Husqvarna 26.077
10. Jordan Booker #114 Hitachi Revo Husqvarna
Pro Championship
1. Cedric Soubeyras #120 Geartec Yamaha 148
2. Thomas Ramette #1 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki 141
3. Fabien Izoird #871 LPE Kawasaki 128
4. Cyrille Coulon #5 SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki 125
5. Jack Brunell #155 SJR Kawasaki 100
6. Adam Chatfield #407 Buildbase Honda 99
7. Florent Richier #2 LPE Kawasaki 92
8. Angelo Pellegrini #941 Buildbase Honda 90
9. Matt Bayliss #4 Wooldridge Demolition 86
10. Josh Hansen #100 SJR Kawasaki 79
Team Championship
1. SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki 266
2. LPE Kawasaki 234
3. Buildbase Honda 189
4. SJR Kawasaki 183
5. Geartec Yamaha 151
6. Wooldridge Honda 99
7. Xbladez Husqvarna 71
8. Hitatchi Revo Husqvarna 53
9. MVRD Fuel Husqvarna 45
10. Shocktech Honda 8
Pro Lites Main
1. Joe Clayton #14
2. George Clarke #161
3. Edward Briscoe #56
Pro Lites Championship
1. Joe Clayton #14
2. George Clarke #161
3. Jordan Moxey #981
Supermini Main
1. Harry Kimber #78
2. Kacey Hird #28
3. Preston Williams #377
Supermini Championship
1. Harry Kimber #78
2. Lewis Hall #419
3. Kacey Hird #28
Junior 65 Main
1. Kiean Boughen #5
2. Bailey Johnston #19
3. Arai Elcock #11
Junior 65 Championship
1. Kiean Boughen #5
2. Ollie Colmer #6
3. Jak Taylor #22
