Report: UK Arenacross Tour - Rd 1, Manchester
By Team TMX on 11th Jan 17
With the largest and definitely most vocal crowd ever assembled for an Arenacross season-opener, the 2017 AX Tour burst into life in fine style at Manchester Arena on Saturday night.
And despite all six of the major manufacturers fielding riders in the Pro Class – this year's rider roster being the strongest line-up in the history of the series – it was Suzuki racers who dominated.
As is the norm for the AX Tour the Pro Class heats opened the show.
And it was business as usual for reigning champion Thomas Ramette as he powered to a win in heat one aboard his SR75 World Suzuki, emphatically beating Team RFX St Blazey MX's Cedric Soubeyras, Keystone Honda's Florent Richier and top Brit Matt Bayliss (Buildbase Honda Racing) across the line.
Heat two saw Ramette's team-mate Cyrille Coulon grab a win ahead of Angelo Pellegrini (Team RFX St Blazey MX) and Buildbase Honda Racing's Adam Chatfield who edged out his replacement at Fro Systems PAR Elite – Gaeten Le Hir.
The third of the qualifiers saw a second win for Ramette who this time bested Team Green Kawasaki's Jack Brunell, Pellegrini and Richier while the fourth and final heat delivered a fourth win from four starts for the SR75 World Suzuki squadron, as Coulon aced it ahead of Chatfield, Soubeyras and MVR-D Husqvarna's hired gun Adrien Escoffier.
With all the scores in, the top eight qualifiers were soon figured out with Ramette, Coulon, Chatfield, Soubeyras, Pellegrini, Brunell, Richier and Bayliss all making the cut.
Escoffier, Team Green Kawasaki's Hugo Basaula, Le Hir, Aussie Jay Wilson, Fro Systems PAR Elite runner Ashley Greedy, Sulivan Jaulin (KTM) and Keystone Honda's Alex Snow were all pencilled in for the head-to-heads – which now act as the LCQ – along with Pro Lites victor Yannis Irsuti.
Before the final two qualifiers could be decided though came the Hot Lap for the night's top eight.
Running in reverse order – last qualifier through to first – Matt Bayliss put in a scorching 24.135 to set the pace which Richier simply could not match.
Brunell however did go just the tiniest bit faster but that didn't remain as the time to beat for long as Pellegrini threw down a scorcher going almost a whole second faster than the 27-year-old from Windsor.
Angelo's team-mate Soubeyras ran next but failed to better the Italian's time – could Chatfield with the 7,500 strong crowd behind him do any better?
Despite absolutely riding the wheels off his CRF450R the 2014 tour champ fell a good way short of his target and was actually 0.02 seconds slower than his countryman Brunell and almost a second behind the Italian.
Surely, the SR75 boys would smash it?
Apparently not as Coulon's 23.558 and Ramette's 23.493 left them third and fourth behind both RFX St Blazey MX speedsters.
With championship points awarded to the fastest three it was Pellegrini who took the series lead with three, Soubeyras slotted into second with two leaving the No.1 third on one and everything still to play for in the 14-lap Main Event.
But before that epic battle we had the little matter of filling the two final gates to sort out with the head-to-heads.
First out in the two-lap sprints were Escoffier and Irsuti. The Husqvarna ace made light work of his 250F-mounted countryman and transferred to the Semis.
Snow and Basaula traded places several times in the second hard-fought encounter before the Portuguese ace made a move stick and booked his place into the next round.
French wildcard Sulivan Jaulin crashed out of contention – flipping right over the bars – after running into Le Hir's rear wheel in the third bash much to the delight of the huge crowd and Fro Systems boss Mark McCann who was also watching on from the stands.
There was even more carnage – and more for McCann to smile about as well come to think of it – in the fourth and final match-up of the first round as JK Yamaha's Jay Wilson was put on his ass by Ash Greedy in the final turn.
Like we'd expect anything different from the wide-open Welshman...
Despite a strong showing in the opening round, the Fro Systems PAR Elite pairing were knocked out of the competition in the Semis with Escoffier taking care of Le Hir in the first and Basaula powering clear – and staying out of reach of Greedy's attack – in the second.
After Le Hir beat his team-mate in the third place run-off, Basaula and Escoffier – both already confirmed for the final courtesy of being the last two men standing – battled it out for cash, pride and gate pick.
Escoffier took the early advantage as the pair left the new-for-17 steel start pad but Basaula barrelled by the Frenchman through the whoops and held the advantage for the next 30 seconds, even though Escoffier threw everything – including the kitchen sink – at him in an attempt to squeeze back through.
No dice, though, and Tommy Searle's replacement at Team Green became the first H2H winner of the year.
After a small break for track repairs and some FMX shenanigans the Fuel Girls warmed things up for the final ahead with their inimitable fire tricks and hypnotic dancing.
Things would get even hotter when the gate dropped for the Main Event and the 10 qualifiers roared into turn one.
It was Ramette and Chatfield who hit the first turn side-by-side at the front of the pack. However, unlike last year when Thomas snatched the lead and checked out, this time around the Frenchman slid on the first roller and rebounded right across the front of the pack while hanging off the side of his bike.
It was inevitable that at least one rider would tangle with Ramette and it was Soubeyras who had no choice but to torpedo the champ, putting both riders on the ground and straight out of contention as Chatfield powered clear of Richier, Pellegrini and Basaula – who'd somehow jumped right over the carnage – much to the delight of the cheering crowd.
Although Soubeyras was able to remount and get going again – albeit losing a lap to Chatfield almost immediately – Ramette found himself trapped under the FMX landing ramp where it took track staff two laps to free him.
There were no troubles for Chatfield, though, and riding on a wave of adrenaline he settled into a rhythm that saw him stay well clear of the chasing pack in the early going.
Pellegrini soon moved up to second while Coulon went from fifth to third with an unbelievable blast across the whoops to go around both Richier and Basaula, who after starting really strongly failed to find his rhythm and quickly dropped back behind Brunell and Escoffier.
As the laps progressed Chatfield continued to hold the lead while Soubeyras looked to be second although he was, of course, a lap down.
Pellegrini and Coulon were separated by just a single second as the pack entered lap five, with Bayliss almost landing on Brunell deep in the pack.
At the front Soubeyras continued to hound Chatfield as both Pellegrini and Coulon – who was arguably the fastest man on the track – inched their way towards the leader. Then it all went down.
Chatfield, perhaps feeling under pressure from Soubeyras, looked to tense up which allowed the No.85 to move even closer before unlapping himself.
At pretty much exactly the same time Coulon pulled the pin and made a move on Pellegrini to take second place before immediately dialling in his sights on Chatfield.
The 34-year-old Frenchman almost took the lead through the whoops but the Brit held his nerve – and the inside line in the next right-hander – to hold the advantage headed into another lap.
But Coulon was on another level and blitzed by Chatfield on the very next lap to take the lead. But Adam fought right back. As Coulon set himself up for the left-hander immediately after the finish-line double, Chatfield came in super-hot, made contact with the side of Cyrille's bike and pushed him off line while causing himself to crash in the process, gifting second to Pellegrini.
And Adam's a giver who just keeps on giving as the contact with Coulon had apparently jammed the Suzuki's gearbox into first gear.
It meant that Cyrille went from running first to struggling to jump anything at all in the blink of an eye and Pellegrini inherited the lead without even breaking a sweat – grazie mille and all that!
Although he'd remounted really quickly, an out of sorts Chatfield allowed Richier through to second just before the last-lap board and that's the way it stayed to the finish, the Italian heading home the Frenchman and the Brit while Escoffier, Brunell, Bayliss and Basaula beat Soubeyras and Coulon back to the pits.
Ramette won that race of course by pulling out at half distance...
In the series standings Pellegrini leads the way on a maximum score of 23 points some five clear of Richier who has a two point buffer on Chatfield.
The big hitters – Soubeyras, Coulon and Ramette – currently sit sixth, ninth and 10th with Soubs 10 points in arrears of his team-mate and the SR75 boys with a 13-point deficit to claw back.
The action continues in Glasgow's SSE Arena on Saturday where Flying Scotsman Billy MacKenzie will join the action as the wildest of wildcards...
