The first two rounds of the Arenacross Tour proved to be a box-office-busting sell out showdown at The SSE Arena, Belfast this weekend with capacity crowds filling the arena on both Friday and Saturday evening.
The gathered audience were treated to world-class racing from the aggressively competitive Pro 450 and Pro Lites, with French racers Greg Aranda and Cedric Soubeyras giving a master class of Arenacross racing. The youth classes and, exclusive-to-Belfast All-Ireland Cup, also provided non-stop entertainment with some early championship contenders emerging across the groups.
Arenacross round 2 Main Event Super Final podium [l-r] Valentin Teillet, Greg Aranda, Cedric Soubeyras
The Fix Auto FMX crew were as skilful and flamboyant as ever in their endeavour to win the adoration of the excitable fans, with Arran Powley, recovering seemingly unscathed from a hard backflip landing crash, winning the biggest cheer of the night. These guys are clearly made of the hard stuff as he was back out in the next set with his FMX AX family of Dan Whitby, Samson Eaton, Nez Parker and Petr Pilat.
Fix Auto FMX with Samson Eaton
Not only did Arenacross break box office records, but it also set the bar for the longest flowing Mexican wave as when, egged on by hosts Matt Crowhurst and Jeff Perrett, the Belfast fans simply couldn’t sit back down.
On the racing front, the Pro 450s was all about Aranda. The uber-smooth Team Green Kawasaki rider remained unbeaten all day, from free practice right through to the Main Event Super Final. He had to work for his living in the final though as FRO Systems’ Cedric Soubeyras tore off the start line, grabbing the holeshot and leading the race right up until two-thirds race distance. Back in fourth Aranda first picked off Buildbase Honda’s Adrien Escoffier and then SR75 Suzuki’s Valentin Teillet in his charge to the front. He closed on Soubeyras and then charged through to the front. Behind him Soubeyras kept his cool to take second and with Teillet in third, placed two 250s on the podium. Brit Jack Brunell (Team Green Kawasaki) had a storming ride to finish fourth. Northern Ireland's Martin Barr crashed earlier in the evening and sadly, a broken hand ruled him out of continuing through to the final, he promised to be back at Birmingham and added; “despite the injury, I really enjoyed the whole evening. The crowd were unbelievable and I’m now concentrating on getting fit in time for Birmingham.”
In the Youth classes, it was repeat business in all three classes with Ben Clayton powering past Josh Greedy in the Rookies to take maximum points, and the championship lead. Alfie Jones performed the same feat in the Team Green Supermini Cup, as did Freddie Bartlett in the Youth 65. James Mackrel was again dominant in the All-Ireland Cup.
Alfie Jones, put in a flawless Team Green Supermini performance
PRO MAIN EVENT SUPER FINAL
1. #20 Greg Aranda, Team Green Kawasaki, 15 points
2. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, FRO Systems, Husqvarna,13 points
3. #373 Valentin Teillet, SR75 Suzuki, 11 points
4. #10 Jack Brunell, Team Green Kawasaki, 9 points
5. #6 Adrien Escoffier, Buildbase Honda, 8 points
6. #4 Fabien Izoird, Shocktech Kawasaki, 6 points
7. #64 Nique Thury, FRO Systems, 7 points
8. #3 Charles Le Francois, SR75 Suzuki, 5 points
9. #744 Diogo Graca, Castrol Power1 Suzuki, 4 points
10. #17 Matt Bayliss, Wooldridge Demolition, Honda, 3 points
PRO LITES OVERALL
1. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, 43 points
2. #737 Valentin Teillet, 37 points
3. #6 Adrien Escoffier, 26 points
4. #744 Diogo Graca, 21 points
5. #259 Julien Lebeau, 21 points
6. #1x Joe Clayton 15 points
PRO 45O OVERALL
1. #20 Greg Aranda, 45 points
2. #3 Charles Lefrancois, 31 points
3. #10 Jack Brunell, 28 points
4. #64 Nique Thury, 27 points
5. #4 Fabien Izoird, 19 points
6. #8 Hugo Basaula, 18 points
PRO LITES CHAMPIONSHIP
1. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, 82 points
2. #6 Adrien Escoffier, 56 points
3. #259 Julien Lebeau, 54 points
4. #737 Valentin Teillet, 48 points
5. #1x Joe Clayton, 35 points
6. #744 Diogo Graca, 31 points
PRO 450 CHAMPIONSHIP
1. #20 Greg Aranda, 90 points
2. #3 Charles Lefrancois, 58 points
3. #4 Fabien Izoird, 56 points
4. #64 Nique Thury, 49 points
5. #10 Jack Brunell, 45 points
6. #8 Hugo Basaula, 42 points
ROOKIE CUP OVERALL
1. #11 Ben Clayton, 30 points
2. #33 Josh Greedy, 22 points
3. #10 Carl Ostermann, 22 points
ROOKIE CHAMPIONSHIP
1. #11 Ben Clayton, 56 points
2. #33 Josh Greedy, 50 points
3. #48 Adam Collings, 43 points
TEAM GREEN SUPERMINI CUP OVERALL
1. #4 Alfie Jones, 30 points
2. #7 Tom Harris, 22 points
3. #Charlie Palmer, 19 points
TEAM GREEN SUPERMINI CUP
1. #4 Alfie Jones, 30 points
2. #7 Tom Harris, 22 points
3. #10 Charlie Palmer, 19 points
TEAM GREEN SUPERMINI CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
1. #4 Alfie Jones, 52 points
2. #9 Raife Broadley, 47 points
3. #11 Ethan Sills, 42 points
YOUTH 65 CUP OVERALL
1. #292 Freddie Bartlett, 30 points
2. #80 Zane Stephens, 26 points
3. #100 Issac Ash, 22 points
YOUTH 65 CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
1. #292 Freddie Bartlett, 56 points
2. #80 Zane Stephens, 56 points
3. #100 Isaac Ash, 42 points
ALL-IRELAND CUP
1. #65 James Mackrel, 30 points
2. #14 Lindsay Newell, 26 points
3. #519 Cameron Turley, 22 points
ALL-IRELAND CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
1. #65 James Mackrel, 60 points
2. #14 Lindsay Newell, 52 points
3. #24 Phil Harris, 38 points
Arenacross now heads back to the mainland for the third and fourth round of the Tour at The Resorts World Arena, Birmingham on Friday the 1st and Saturday the 2nd of February 2019. Doors open at 6pm and the evening’s entertainment gets underway at 7.00pm. Tickets are available directly from the Arena Box Office on 028 9073 9074 or on the door.
Arenacross Tour dates;
18th January – The SSE Arena, Belfast
19th January – The SSE Arena, Belfast
1st February – Resorts World Arena, Birmingham
2nd February – Resorts World Arena, Birmingham
15th February – The Fly DSA Arena, Sheffield
16th February – The Fly DSA Arena, Sheffield
Visit www.arenacrossuk.com for 2019 Tour information.
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