Report: Monster Energy Arenacross Series – Rds 2/3, Glasgow
By Team TMX on 13th Jan 16
It's Hydro-matic - Arenacross stars are greased lightning
The Monster Energy Arenacross circus descended on the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow for another spectacular double-header weekend of great bar-banging action.
The weekend started strongly for the French contingent as the trio of Cyrille Coulon, Florent Richier and Cedric Soubeyras mounted the podium in the first Pro heat on Saturday evening.
In heat two Fabien Izoird took the win in front of Collin Jurin and Chris Bayliss.
Saturday night didn't start well for three of the most talked-about riders as Thomas Ramette and Josh Hansen found
themselves on the deck in heat two, while Matt Bayliss found himself caught up in yet more drama as he was involved in a last-corner collision with fellow Brit Jack Brunell.
The Youth racing again provided some great moments on Saturday as in the Super-mini class Harry Kimber again dominated with two wins, bravely leaping the huge finish-line double lap after lap.
The 65 class produced another showdown between Kiean Boughen and Ollie Colmer.
Boughen had won the first moto earlier in the day after a great battle between the pair so it was all to play for in the night show.
As the gates dropped things didn't start out great for Boughen as he hit the deck on the first lap and Colmer took full advantage to stretch out a comfortable gap at the front and take the win.
Boughen tried his hardest to make up the ground but he was only able to climb back to seventh in the short race.
Colmer was joined on the podium in moto two by Jak Taylor and Tye Jones.
The Pro Lites class provided some close racing but nobody was able to match pace of Joe Clayton.
The lad from Devon maintained his perfect record, winning both motos on Saturday with ease, trailed home by Jordan Moxey and new-boy Edward Briscoe.
After his mishaps in his first heat Josh Hansen was looking to bounce back in the third – and his final – heat race.
Things started well for the American as he took the early race lead but what appeared to be a bike malfunction – or maybe just a rookie mistake – saw him stall the bike, taking him out of the race.
Either way Hansen was heading to the LCQ.
Hansen's misfortune allowed Matt Bayliss to inherit the lead and it looked as though we were set for a repeat of heat three from Manchester, as Bayliss led while trying to fend off attacks from a Frenchmen – although this time it was Coulon and not Izoird.
In what was almost a replay of last weekend Bayliss fended off a last corner attack to take the win in heat three by a hair's breadth.
Heat four was red-flagged after Aussie Daniel McCoy had a nasty crash at the end of the whoops section.
Thomas Ramette capitalised on this chance, trading in his first-corner crash in the first run for a holeshot and a runaway win after the restart.
Behind him Izoird and Richier again made it a French one-two-three.
Josh Hansen had to make it through a stacked LCQ in either first or second place in order to make the main, which is no mean feat in Arenacross racing – but Hansen was able to get away with an early lead in the LCQ and leave the chaos behind him.
Angelo Pellegrini followed Hansen into the main after making a last-lap pass on Jordan Booker.
That was only the start of Booker's last-lap woes as he later found himself in a heap on the floor along with young Gradie Featherstone.
Before the Main event qualified riders had to take on the head-to-head gauntlet and again the French boys dominated.
Izoird beat Coulon in the race for third and Soubeyras held off Richier to take the ultimate head-to-head honours.
Once the main event finally came around Fabien Izoird continued his great form from earlier in the night by taking the holeshot and the race lead.
Last week's winner Thomas Ramette went down early to continue his night of woes and the same went for Josh Hansen, who was fighting his way back through the field after a poor start when when he came together with Matt Bayliss, resulting in both riders eating dirt and exiting the scrap.
As Izoird led comfortably Soubeyras fought hard in second trying to close the gap on Richier desperately tried to fend off attacks from Coulon.
At the start of the final lap Coulon attempted to strike but the Frenchman went down allowing Richier to take third behind Soubeyras and Izoird.
Izoird was satisfied with the race but wasn't happy with his riding: "I feel happy of course, not to just be on the box but to be first place,” he said.
"I didn't have the perfect weekend last week in Manchester, but I had good speed.
"I haven't been happy with my riding but I had a good start tonight and hopefully I will ride better for round three tomorrow.
"Having a win after just two races is great, I'm very happy.”
The smoke had hardly settled after the fireworks of Saturday night when round three of the Arenacross tour kicked off on Sunday afternoon.
Hansen and Ramette were looking to bounce back strongly after average performances on Saturday night, while Izoird was looking to continue his good form in Scotland.
Ramette started his night well taking the holeshot in heat one while behind him Izoird went down.
Ramette also hit the deck, handing the lead to Matt Bayliss.
The French dominated day one in Glasgow but as the first heat progressed it looked as though Sunday was going to belong to the Brits, as Bayliss led from Adam Chatfield and Ashley Greedy.
It wasn't long however before Izoird was challenging Greedy and in an impressive ride after his first-lap crash Izoird displayed his blazing fast pace on the Glaswegian track, managing to cross the finish-line in third behind Chatfield and Bayliss.
Heat two saw the SR75 rider Coulon take his first of several holeshots on Sunday afternoon, although he wasn't able to hang onto the lead for long as Josh Hansen made an early move past the Suzuki rider through the first rhythm lane and never looked back.
Hansen took the flag in heat two in front of Coulon and Soubeyras.
As we saw in Saturday's races Harry Kimber has pretty much had things all his own way in the Supermini class.
Despite this Team Green riders Lewis Hall and Kacey Hird looked capable of threatening the Hardcore Racing rider in Glasgow and it was Hird who put an end to Kimber's dominance.
The lad from Barnsley grabbed the holeshot in Supermini race two with Suzuki-mounted Ben Burridge separating the Kawasaki rider from Kimber, who sat third early on.
After a tremendous battle for second Kimber was able to make a pass on Burridge but it was too little too late, as the gap to Hird was just too large and the Kawasaki rider grabbed a win after a roller-coaster weekend.
In the 65 class Kiean Boughen and Ollie Colmer were battling again, with Colmer having the edge in moto one.
Boughen fired straight back to nail race two with Colmer second from Jak Taylor.
The Pro Lites class has been owned by Joe Clayton so far and he headed into the afternoon's moto two with a race win from earlier in the day, although he had to fight hard for it.
Yamaha rider George Clark was able to grab the holeshot and early race lead with Clayton hot on his heels.
But that was only the beginning as more chaos ensued with Clayton going down twice in the race, once with a lapper and once while fending off an attack from Edward Briscoe.
The Devon rider was still able to salvage a third-place finish behind an impressive George Clark and Joran Moxey – leaving Clayton's perfect season in tatters.
Pro heat three saw Izoird really show off his speed and confidence as the LPE Kawasaki rider led from start to finish.
He was followed by Coulon, who was having a great night in Glasgow, with Jack Brunell rounding out the podium.
Heat four saw Hansen again dominat, followed over the line by Soubeyras and Ramette.
With only two spots left up for grabs in the LCQ it was all to play for and James Dunn nicked the holeshot before being passed by Angelo Pellegrini and Jordan Booker.
Pellegrini and Booker took the final two spots in the Pro Main eventand James lined up for the final race of the night as the ‘promoters' choice'.
Sunday afternoon saw some of the best head-to-head races so far this year and ultimately it boiled down to a final between Hansen and Izoird, the two most impressive riders of the night. After a close start a slight bobble from Hansen allowed Izoird to run away with things.
In the Main event Izoird shot out of the gate followed closely by Coulon, Ramette and Hansen.
Hansen eventually passed Ramette and Coulon and set his sights firmly on race leader Izoird as the Californian went on to claim his inaugural Arenacross Main Event win, with Izoird second from Coulon, who showed speed and consistency all weekend on his SR75 Molson racing Suzuki.
Coulon said: "I felt very good today on the bike, I liked the track and my team is awesome. The track was very slippery, but it was good.
The whoops were big but they were my strong point.” After a rocky start to the season so far Josh Hansen grabbed his first race win.
"I'm stoked. It's been something that I've had to get used to, with the small tracks and stuff,” said Hansen. "I think I rode patiently tonight and I didn't rush stuff like I did last week and I made passes when I needed to.
"It's all a lot of fun, the crowds are great over here and the other riders are great to race against and ride with. I'm really enjoying myself.”
