Report: Arenacross UK - Belfast
By TMX Archives on 1st Feb 17
The Arenacross UK circus crossed the Irish Sea last weekend to bring two nights of spectacular racing to Belfast.
Racing started on Friday night with the Pro heats and Thomas Ramette looked fast and hungry as he attempted to get his championship bid back on track.
The SR75 World Team Suzuki rider made quick work of Florent Richier to hit the front, while Cyrille Coulon bested Adrien Escoffier and Angelo Pellegrini for third.
Adam Chatfield had his starts dialled in on Friday night and he nailed the heat-two holeshot ahead of Cedric Soubeyras.
It didn't last long,though, as the French speedster made his pass on the opening lap and disappeared into the distance to take the flag.
Chatfield followed him over the line and Jack Brunell made a great last-lap pass on Team Green team-mate Hugo Basaula to steal third.
Pro heat three would have major repercussions for the championship chase.
The first attempt was red-flagged after Basaula and red-plate holder Coulon went down hard in the first turn.
Both riders were able to remount and line up for the restart but Coulon looked in a great amount of discomfort.
Ramette took the lead in the restarted race with Chatfield also getting away quickly and settling in behind.
Escoffier ran in third for the majority of the race until a crash in the whoops handed the position to Basaula.
Richier powered his Keystone Honda to the front of the pack in heat four, followed by Soubeyras and team-mate Pellegrini.
Soubeyras soon found a way around Richier, while Pellegrini worked hard to fend off constant attacks from Brunell to hang on to third.
French ace Soubeyras carried the momentum from his two heat race wins into the hot-lap competition and nailed the fastest lap of the night ahead of Ramette and Pellegrini.
Australia's Jay Wilson took on MVR-D Husqvarna's James Dunn in the head-to-head LCQ final and the JK Yamaha rider was able to come
come away victorious, leading both riders straight into the main event.
Coulon was still feeling the effects of his heat-race crash and although he salvaged some points in the Main the championship chase was knocked wide open.
Chatfield nailed one of the biggest holeshots in AX history and was able to hit the first rhythm lane perfectly while the rest of the pack struggled through the first-turn melee.
Ramette followed in second, with Pellegrini and Soubeyras just behind.
Chatfield was working hard to hold the lead but behind him Soubeyras was on the charge and a slight mistake from Ramette allowed him through to second.
As the one-to-go board came out Chatfield covered the inside line in the final corner meaning that he was unable to jump the finish line double and Soubeyras launched over Chatfield's head but went off the track into the tuff blocks.
Soubeyras rejoined the track just ahead of Ramette and in a tense final lap the top three raced wheel-to-wheel, with Chatfield just hanging on for a great win, with Soubeyras claiming second from Ramette.
An ecstatic Chatfield said: "I love a track like this. It's softer and a little bit more technical. i like the dirt here and it was a brilliant race.
"Cedric was all over me and I got confused and thought it was the last lap but we still had to two to go.
"He passed me but I went back inside and got the lead again. I'm happy, I did the best I could and it's nice to get an English guy on top of the podium.
"I've done this for my mum, she's not very well so she's watching at home. This is for her.”
Arenacross is an unpredictable game. With Coulon's misfortune and his Main Event win Chatfield found himself leading the points table heading into Saturday night's competition.
And to emphasise the capricious nature of the sport there were four different winners in the heats – Ramette, Soubeyras, Escoffier and Richier all taking a flag. Brunell has struggled in the Hot Lap competition for the past two weekends, making crucial mistakes, but he finally got it together on Saturday and logged the fastest time of the night ahead of Soubeyras and Richier.
In the Head-to-Head LCQ tournament Ash Greedy again put on a spectacular show crashing and making saves.
He failed to make the final but advanced to the Main Event as the promoter's choice.
Wilson again took the victory over Chatfield who was struggling on Saturday after his victory 24-hours earlier.
Ramette took the Main Event holeshot but before he could think about running away with the lead Escoffier snatched it away from him.
Matt Bayliss sat in third early on, fighting off attacks from Richier.
Escoffier, meanwhile, put his head down and opened up a comfortable gap over Ramette, while Bayliss was having his best ride of the season and looking to close the gap to second.
After yet another bad start Soubeyras had to fight through the pack for a distant fourth but with two laps to go Bayliss made a huge mistake, crashing hard and failing to rejoin the race – a gutting turn of events for the Buildbase Honda rider looking to make his first podium of the season.
At the flag Escoffier claimed his first ever Arenacross win and the delighted French ace said: "I'm so happy. This is my first win on a 450 – it was just a perfect night.
"The whole team works so hard and I'm happy to be able to do this for them.”
Ashton Boughen continued to tighten his grip on the 65cc class championship lead.
The RFX KTM rider ripped yet another holeshot in Friday night's final in Belfast, while Jake Davies also nailed a solid start to run second early on.
Local lad Charley Irwin gave the Irish crowd something to cheer as he battled over third place with Ben Mustoe.
As the laps counted down Boughen stretched the gap at the front, while the battling Mustoe and Irwin caught the rear wheel of Davies, with the home crowd really urging on their boy.
Boughen took the flag with Davies holding on for a well-deserved second from Irwin and Mustoe.
Team Green rider Mustoe rider hit the front on Saturday from series leader Boughen on the opening lap but Boughen charged the whoop section hard to take over the race lead.
That left Mustoe in defence mode once again as Irwin also looked to pass the Kawasaki rider.
The battle for second was a good one and with the sold-out Irish crowd behind him Irwin was able to make a pass stick to take over second.
Boughen once again rode a flawless race to take the win as Irwin crossed the line ahead of Mustoe.
Carnage was the name of the game in the Pro Lites class on Friday night.
In the opening race Dylan Woodcock hit the deck in the first turn as Chris Bayliss grabbed the holeshot, avoiding the majority of the carnage behind him.
Championship leader Yannis Irsuti chased Bayliss, with Joe Clayton on his heels.
An uncharacteristic mistake from Irsuti let Clayton past and the pair indulged in a fierce battle for second that lasted the whole race.
Josh Greedy had a great start but crashed on the landing of the finish-line double. Fortunately he was able to remount and rejoin the race.
The battle for second intensified but Clayton was able to counter each attack from Irsuti until the final lap when he found himself stuck momentarily behind a lapped rider and Irsuti finally made a pass stick.
Having avoided the majority of the mayhem Bayliss took a well-earned win as Irsuti held on to second from a disappointed Clayton.
Bayliss again nabbed the holeshot in race two, with Woodcock looking to bounce back strongly in second just ahead of Irsuti and Clayton.
Woodcock was looking to make a move on Bayliss and a great fight for the lead saw him make a good run through the opening rhythm lane to finally make a pass stick.
Irsuti joined the party and a blanket could have covered the top three.
As Irsuti attempted a pass Bayliss hit the deck and the battling pair of Clayton and local lad Jason Meara joined the fight.
With the Irish crowd behind him Meara was desperately looking to make it into a podium position and momentarily held third but Clayton hit back straight away.
At the front a small mistake from Irsuti gave Woodcock a bit of breathing room and he took the flag, with Clayton following Irsuti over the line.
Irsuti's two runner-up spots were enough to give him the overall, with Woodcock and Bayliss joining him on the podium.
Woodcock claimed the race-one holeshot on Saturday with Clayton, Bayliss and Irsuti in hot pursuit.
A huge mistake from Irsuti through the whoop section saw him lose control, though, and take race leader Woodcock with him, leaving Clayton to inherit the lead which he held to the flag, with Bayliss second.
Race two saw a great battle at the front between Bayliss and Woodcock and when Irsuti joined in the fun Woodcock squirted away with the race lead which he stretched to the flag from Irsuti and Bayliss.
Woodcock had done enough to top the podium from Bayliss and Clayton.
With Kacey Hird exiting the series due to the injury he suffered last weekend in Birmingham Ben Clayton looks to have the Supermini championship on lockdown – although Team Green's second pilot Bobby Bruce is aiming to give him a run for his money.
Clayton nailed the holeshot in the Supermini final on Friday night with Bruce close behind him, while Callum Beeken also found good drive out of the blocks as he sat in third place early on.
Bruce was looking to make a pass but due to the softer, more technical track conditions Clayton and the rest of the pack were unable to launch the finish-line double which often makes all the difference.
Clayton had slightly better timing than Bruce through the technical rhythm lane and he slowly stretched his lead away from the hard-charging Bruce to take the win, with Louie Kessel third.
The first race of the day on Saturday saw Bruce was able come away victorious after a titanic battle with series leader Clayton.
When the gates dropped for the final Kessell grabbed the holeshotchased by Bruce and Beeken, with Clayton fourth.
This Kessell's best ride of the year, but Clayton's speed through the whoops was too much for the Husqvarna rider and Kessell dropped back into Bruce's clutches.
Bruce also made a pass on Kessell but he wasn't going to give up second easily as the pair battled to the end.
Clayton took a comfortable win, as Bruce grabbed second from Kessell.
RESULTS
PRO FINAL: 1 Adam Chatfield (Buildbase Honda Racing), 2 Cedric Soubeyras (F – RFX St Blazey Suzuki)), 3 Thomas Ramette (F - SR75 World Suzuki), 4 Angelo Pellegrini (I - RFX St Blazey Suzuki), 5 Florent Richier (F - Keystone Honda Racing), 6 Jack Brunell (Team Green Kawasaki), 7 Jay Wilson (AUS - JK Yamaha), 8 Hugo Bausala (P - Team Green Kawasaki), 9 Matt Bayliss (Buildbase Honda Racing), 10 James Dunn (MVR-D Husqvarna), 11 Cyrille Coulon (F - SR75 World Suzuki).
PRO HOT LAP: 1 Cedric Soubeyras, 2 Thomas Ramette, 3 Angelo Pellegrini, 4 Florent Richier, 5 Adam Chatfield, 6 Hugo Bausala, 7 Cyrille Coulon, 8 Jack Brunell.
HEAD-to-HEAD LCQ: 1 Jay Wilson, 2 James Dunn, 3 Matt Bayliss, 4 Alex Snow.
PRO HEAT ONE: 1 Thomas Ramette, 2 Florent Richier, 3 Cyrille Coulon, 4 Angelo Pellegrini, 5 Adrien Escoffier, 6 Matt Bayliss, 7 Romain Biela, 8 James Dunn, 9 Gaetan Le Hir.
PRO HEAT TWO: 1 Cedric Soubeyras, 2 Adam Chatfield, 3 Jack Brunell , 4 Hugo Bausala, 5 Sulivan Jaulin, 6 Jay Wilson , 7 Alex Snow, 8 Ashley Greedy.
PRO HEAT THREE: 1 Thomas Ramette, 2 Adam Chatfield, 3 Hugo Bausala, 4 Jay Wilson, 5 Adrien Escoffier, 6 Cyrille Coulon, 7 Romain Biela, 8 Gaetan Le Hir, 9 Ashley Greedy.
PRO HEAT FOUR: 1 Cedric Soubeyras, 2 Florent Richier, 3 Angelo Pellegrini, 4 Jack Brunell, 5 Sulivan Jaulin, 6 Alex Snow, 7 James Dunn, 8 Matt Bayliss.
JUNIOR 65cc ONE: 1 Ashton Boughen (RFX KTM), 2 Charley Irwin (Discount Beds Belfast KTM), 3 Shaun Mahoney (First Call Travel KTM), 4 Ben Mustoe (Team Green Kawasaki), 5 Jake Davies (Dirtpro Xtreme KTM), 6 Cristina Palmer (Wulfsport Husqvarna), 7 Charlie Hucklebridge (KTM), 8 Freddie Bartlett (Fro Systems KTM), 9 Alex Henderson (KTM), 10 Ryan Lowes (JK Yamaha), 11 Harvey Shaw (Auto Tek Timing KTM), DNF Neo McCartney (Judd Racing KTM).
JUNIOR 65cc TWO: 1 Ashton Boughen, 2 Jake Davies, 3 Charley Irwin, 4 Ben Mustoe, 5 Alex Henderson, 6 Shaun Mahoney, 7 Harvey Shaw, 8 Neo McCartney, 9 Cristina Palmer, 10 Freddie Bartlett, 11 Ryan Lowes, 12 Charlie Hucklebridge.
SUPERMINI 85cc ONE: 1 Ben Clayton (Wheeldon Off Road Honda), 2 Bobby Bruce (Team Green Kawasaki), 3 Louie Kessell (St Blazey Husqvarna), 4 Carl Ostermann (Fox Head Europe KTM), 5 Callum Beeken (Fro Systems PAR Elite KTM), 6 Ben White (White Transport Husqvarna), 7 Cole Davis (Plymouth Motopark Kawasaki), 8 Tommy Gilbert (TGS Racing KTM), 9 Josh Jones (Dynamic Air KTM), 10 Charlie Knight (St Andrews Carpet KTM), 11 Robert Storer (Wulfsport KTM), 12 Arai Elcock (Dirt Pro Husqvarna).13 Matthew Beattie (Solid Fabrications KTM), 14 Ben Hendre (Image MX KTM), 15 Cory Aldridge (St Andrews Carpet KTM), 16 Ezra Blackwell (Meredith MX KTM), 17 Tye Jones (Dynamic Air KTM).
SUPERMINI 85cc TWO: 1 Ben Clayton, 2 Bobby Bruce, 3 Louie Kessell, 4 Carl Ostermann, 5 Callum Beeken, 6 Ben White, 7 Cole Davis, 8 Tommy Gilbert, 9 Josh Jones, 10 Arai Elcock, 11 Ben Hendre, 12 Robert Storer, 13 Charlie Knight, 14 Tye Jones, 15 Matthew Beattie, 16 Ezra Blackwell, 17 Cory Aldridge.
PRO LITES ONE: 1 Chris Bayliss (Buildbase Honda Racing), 2 Yannis Irsuti (F - JK Yamaha), 3 Joe Clayton (Keystone Honda), 4 Jason Meara (RFX St Blazey KTM), 5 Dylan Woodcock (Team Green Kawasaki), 6 Frederick Hojris (DK - WD40 Xbladez Husqvarna), 7 Chris Povey (Husqvarna), 8 Harry Kimber (Crescent Yamaha), 9 Bradley Wheeler (Husqvarna), 10 Ben Burridge (Yamaha), 11 Luke Oldfield (SR75 World Suzuki), 12 Josh Greedy (Fro Systems PAR Elite Yamaha), 13 Aaron O'Mahony (Wooldridge Demolition Honda).
PRO LITES TWO: 1 Dylan Woodcock, 2 Yannis Irsuti, 3 Joe Clayton, 4 Jason Meara, 5 Chris Bayliss, 6 Frederick Hojris, 7 Aaron O'Mahony, 8 Chris Povey, 9 Harry Kimber, 10 Ben Burridge, 11 Bradley Wheeler, 12 Josh Greedy, 13 Luke Oldfield.
NEXT ROUND: January 28 – SSE Arena, 2 Queens Quay, Belfast (AX 2017 Tour).
PRO FINAL: 1 Adrien Escoffier (F - MVR-D Husqvarna), 2 Thomas Ramette (F - SR75 World Suzuki), 3 Cedric Soubeyras (F - RFX St Blazey Suzuki), 4 Angelo Pellegrini (I - RFX St Blazey Suzuki), 5 Jay Wilson (AUS - JK Yamaha), 6 Jack Brunell (Team Green Kawasaki), 7 Hugo Bausala (P - Team Green Kawasaki), 8 Adam Chatfield (Buildbase Honda Racing), 9 Ashley Greedy (Fro Systems PAR Elite), DNF Matt Bayliss (Buildbase Honda Racing), DNF Florent Richier (F - Keystone Honda Racing).
PRO HEAD TO HEAD LCQ: 1 Jay Wilson, 2 Adam Chatfield, 3 Sulivan Jaulin, 4 Ashley Greedy.
PRO HOT LAP: 1 Jack Brunell, 2 Cedric Soubeyras, 3 Florent Richier, 4 Adrien Escoffier, 5 Hugo Bausala, 6 Matt Bayliss, 7 Thomas Ramette, 8 Angelo Pellegrini.
PRO HEAT ONE: 1 Thomas Ramette, 2 Florent Richier, 3 Cedric Soubeyras, 4 Hugo Bausala, 5 Angelo Pellegrini, 6 Sulivan Jaulin, 7 Adam Chatfield, 8 James Dunn, 9 Cyrille Coulon.
PRO HEAT TWO: 1 Adrien Escoffier, 2 Jack Brunell, 3 Matt Bayliss , 4 Romain Biela, 5 Ashley Greedy, 6 Gaetan Le Hir , 7 Alex Snow, 8 Jay Wilson.
PRO HEAT THREE: 1 Cedric Soubeyras, 2 Thomas Ramette, 3 Angelo Pellegrini, 4 Adam Chatfield, 5 Jay Wilson, 6 Cyrille Coulon, 7 Gaetan Le Hir, 8 Jack Brunell, 9 Romain Biela.
PRO HEAT FOUR: 1 Florent Richier, 2 Adrien Escoffier, 3 Matt Bayliss, 4 Hugo Bausala, 5 Sulivan Jaulin, 6 James Dunn, 7 Ashley Greedy, 8 Alex Snow.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 7) rounds: 1 Cedric Soubeyras 81 points, 2 Angelo Pellegrini 77, 3 Thomas Ramette 77, 4 Adam Chatfield 75, 5 Jack Brunell 72, 6 Florent Richier 69, 7 Cyrille Coulon 63, 8 Adrien Escoffier 61, 9 Hugo Bausala 53, 10 Matt Bayliss 44,...
PRO TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 Team RFX St Blazey MX 158 points, 2 SR75 World Suzuki 140, 3 Team Green Kawasaki 135, 4 Buildbase Honda Racing 126, 5 Keystone Honda Racing 72, 6 MVR-D Husqvarna 70, 7 JK Yamaha 36, 8 FRO Systems PAR Elite 21.
JUNIOR 65cc ONE: 1 Ashton Boughen (RFX KTM), 2 Ben Mustoe (Team Green Kawasaki), 3 Alex Henderson (KTM), 4 Charley Irwin (Discount Beds Belfast KTM), 5 Shaun Mahoney (First Call Travel KTM), 6 Harvey Shaw (Auto Tek Timing KTM), 7 Jake Davies (Dirtpro Xtreme KTM), 8 Cristina Palmer (Wulfsport Husqvarna), 9 Freddie Bartlett (Fro Systems KTM), 10 Charlie Hucklebridge (KTM), 11 Neo McCartney (Judd Racing KTM), 12 Ryan Lowes (JK Yamaha).
JUNIOR 65cc TWO: 1 Ashton Boughen, 2 Charley Irwin, 3 Ben Mustoe, 4 Alex Henderson, 5 Jake Davies, 6 Shaun Mahoney, 7 Harvey Shaw, 8 Cristina Palmer, 9 Freddie Bartlett, 10 Charlie Hucklebridge, 11 Neo McCartney, 12 Ryan Lowes.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 7) rounds: 1 Ashton Boughen 198 points, 2 Ben Mustoe 167, 3 Shaun Mahoney 147, 4 Freddie Bartlett 138, 5 Jake Davies 136, 6 Charley Irwin 134, 7 Neo McCartney 107, 8 Harvey Shaw 101, 9 Cristina Palmer 81, 10 Kian Knowles 61,...
SUPERMINI 85cc ONE: 1 Bobby Bruce (Team Green Kawasaki), 2 Ben Clayton (Wheeldon Off Road Honda), 3 Louie Kessell (St Blazey Husqvarna), 4 Carl Ostermann (Fox Head Europe KTM), 5 Callum Beeken (Fro Systems PAR Elite KTM), 6 Ben White (White Transport Husqvarna), 7 Cole Davis (Plymouth Motopark Kawasaki), 8 Tommy Gilbert (TGS Racing KTM), 9 Josh Jones (Dynamic Air KTM), 10 Arai Elcock (Dirt Pro Husqvarna), 11 Ben Hendre (Image MX KTM), 12 Robert Storer (Wulfsport KTM), 13 Charlie Knight (St Andrews Carpet KTM),
SUPERMINI 85cc TWO: 1 Ben Clayton, 2 Bobby Bruce, 3 Louie Kessell, 4 Carl Ostermann, 5 Callum Beeken, 6 Ben White, 7 Tommy Gilbert, 8 Cole Davis, 9 Tye Jones, 10 Arai Elcock, 11 Robert Storer, 12 Ben Hendre, 13 Charlie Knight, 14 Matthew Beattie, 15 Cory Aldridge, 16 Ezra Blackwell, 17 Josh Jones.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 7) rounds: 1 Ben Clayton 196 points, 2 Bobby Bruce 174, 3 Louie Kessell 154, 4 Callum Beeken 135, 5 Ben White 129, 6 Carl Ostermann 122, 7 Tommy Gilbert 105, 8 Cole Davis 105, 9 Josh Jones 86, 10 Arai Elcock 83,...
PRO LITES ONE: 1 Joe Clayton (Keystone Honda), 2 Chris Bayliss (Buildbase Honda Racing), 3 Frederick Hojris (DK - WD40 Xbladez Husqvarna), 4 Jason Meara (RFX St Blazey KTM), 5 Dylan Woodcock (Team Green Kawasaki).6 Chris Povey (Husqvarna), 7 Bradley Wheeler (Husqvarna), 8 Harry Kimber (Crescent Yamaha), 9 Josh Greedy (Fro Systems PAR Elite Yamaha), 10 Ben Burridge (Yamaha), 11 Luke Oldfield (SR75 World Suzuki), 12 Yannis Irsuti (F - JK Yamaha), 13 Aaron O'Mahony (Wooldridge Demolition Honda).
PRO LITES TWO: 1 Dylan Woodcock, 2 Yannis Irsuti, 3 Chris Bayliss, 4 Jason Meara, 5 Joe Clayton, 6 Frederick Hojris, 7 Chris Povey, 8 Aaron O'Mahony, 9 Josh Greedy, 10 Ben Burridge, 11 Harry Kimber, 12 Bradley Wheeler, 13 Luke Oldfield.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 7) rounds: 1 Yannis Irsuti 176 points, 2 Chris Bayliss 171, 3 Dylan Woodcock 167, 4 Joe Clayton 158, 5 Jason Meara 140, 6 Chris Povey 110, 7 Aaron O'Mahony 104, 8 Bradley Wheeler 96, 9 Josh Greedy 92, 10 Ben Burridge 91,...
NEXT ROUND: February 11 – Sheffield Arena, Broughton Lane, Sheffield (AX 2017 Tour).
