Chat’s Mersey mission
By TMX Archives on 15th Feb 13
Adam Chatfield lifted the 2013 Arenacross Pro crown at the Echo Arena on Sunday afternoon in front of 6,000 fans, after fighting back from a shocking start and keeping his cool to survive a crash-filled Main Event.
It was Adam's worst finish of the season, but the vital points he picked up for fourth were enough to back up his 1-1-2 card going into the Liverpool showdown and keep him ahead of closest rival Jack Brunell, who crashed out of the lead on the final lap.
"That was such hard work – I had a terrible start and the track's so technical,” admitted the Buildbase Honda rider.
"On the first lap someone landed on me and I thought I'd done my wrist. I saw Jack in front and I panicked a bit – I didn't even know what place I was in.
"And then Jack crashed, which was a shame, but I just did what had to do and brought it on home.”
The final round of the 2013 Arenacross tour was shaping up to be a stunning showdown as soon as the chequered flag came out on the Main Event at round three in Birmingham. With Chatfield, Jack Brunell and Neville Bradshaw all in the hunt heading into Liverpool the title was going to go down to the wire on Merseyside – but no-one could have predicted how the drama would unfold.
With an eight-point lead over Maxxis Kawasaki by LPE rider Brunell, Chatfield was in a commanding position and while his rival seemed to struggle in quali the series pace-setter looked cool and composed.
But all that changed when the gate dropped on the Main Event, as he got seriously squeezed into the opening
left-hander while SR75 Molson KTM's Carl Nunn yanked the holeshot.
Bradshaw, a further three points off the pace after a below-par performance at the LG Arena, wasted no time in
firing his super-quick 250F Putoline Honda into the lead and he stayed there until almost half- distance when Brunell blew by on the 450F.
Chatfield, a lowly 10th after the opening lap, slipped back to 11th on lap two before regrouping and beginning a push through the pack that would land him the title.
By the time Brunell hit the front Chatfield was up to sixth and a couple of laps later he made a move on Nunny, then passed a crashed Tom Church to slide through to fourth – good enough for the title.
Then, with just two turns to go, Brunell made a mistake and went down to hand the win to Bradshaw.
Frenchman Cyrille Coulon moved up an incredible three places on the final lap for second ahead of Martin Barr as Chatfield crossed the line in fourth to seal the deal.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX FEBRUARY 15
JUNIOR 65cc FINAL: 1 Rossi Beard (NMA KTM), 2 Ike Carter (KTM), 3 Bobby Bruce (Offroad SouthEast KTM), 4 Kurtis Griffiths (MJW KTM), 5 Preston Williams (TG Kawasaki), 6 Liam Brosnan (Solent Excavations KTM), 7 Buster Hart (NT Haulage KTM), 8 Ben White (Whites Transport KTM), 9 Adam Wells (MX 500 KTM), 10 Oliver Woods (MJW KTM), 11 Myles Taylor (Banbury Marquee Hire KTM), 12 Jack Grayshon (???).
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 4 rounds: 1 Rossi Beard 60 points (CHAMPION), 2 Preston Williams 47, 3 Ben White 33, 4 Ike Carter 32, 5 Bobby Bruce 28, 6 Kurtis Griffiths 27,...
SW 85cc FINAL: 1 Dylan Woodcock (Kawasaki), 2 Callum Gasson (Moto Xtreme Kawasaki), 3 Jed Etchells (MX500 KTM), 4 Callum Beeken (???), 5 Ben Burridge (MJW Honda), 6 Adam Collings (Vega Solutions KTM), 7 Tommy Clark (Connect 4 Recruitment KTM), 8 Callum Mitchell (Hardcore KTM), 9 Troy Jones (???), 10 Daniel Fisher (Signfit Signs KTM).11 Ben Richards (KTM).12 Warren Benner (KTM).
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 4 rounds: 1 Dylan Woodcock 60 points (CHAMPION), 2 Tommy Clark 47, 3 Ben Burridge 45, 4 Adam Collings 41, 5 Callum Gasson 40, 6 Harry Kimber 36,...
BW 85cc FINAL: 1 Mitchell Lewis (MX World Honda), 2 Joe Jefferies (MX500 KTM), 3 Billy King (Team Green), 4 Myles Jones (???), 5 Luke Reading (MX500 KTM), 6 Joele Hart (KTM), 7 Myles Saunders (MX Moto Graphics KTM), 8 Jake Ryan (Honda), 9 Taylor Hammal (Pope Racing KTM), 10 Kevin Maguerre (???), 11 Luke Fisher (Signfit Signs Honda).
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 4 rounds: 1 Mitchell Lewis 60 points (CHAMPION), 2 Joe Jefferies 56, 3 Billy King 48, 4 Taylor Hammal 44, 5 Myles Jones 40, 6 Luke Reading 40,...
ROOKIE FINAL: 1 James Harrison (iFlyLanes Kawasaki), 2 Ben Putnam (iFly Lanes Kawasaki), 3 George Clarke (Cabscreens Honda), 4 Christopher Bayliss (Whynotcompair Honda), 5 Tony Saunders (CMP Yamaha), 6 Aurelien Declercq (F - ???), 7 Malachi Mitchell Thomas (SHR TM), 8 Luke Dean (GL12 Racing Yamaha), 9 Jack May (Suzuki).
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 4 rounds: 1 James Harrison 60 points (CHAMPION), 2 Ben Putnam 50, 3 George Clarke 46, 4 Christopher Bayliss 46, 5 Luke Dean 45, 6 Tony Saunders 39,...
