With all four rounds done and dusted we celebrate the very best of the inaugural Arenacross UK 2013 championship. We’ve brought together race reports, a huge gallery of photos and all the Arenacross UK videos.
At a time when cold and wintry weather – as well as the threat of a triple dip recession – has seen our collective mojo sink to an all time low the 2013 UK Arenacross series has been a real shot in the arm for the British motocross scene. Sold-out – or near as damn it – stadiums, awesome bar to bar race action and some of the best freestyle shows ever seen above this tiny island have made this Monster backed championship a must-see series – and almost 25,000 of you did so well done you and you and you and you and you and you…
A special well done to Buildbase Honda’s Adam Chatfield too as he becomes the first ever Arenacross Pro Class champion – although the result stays in doubt right up to the wire. After winning Rd 1 at the London O2 and then Rd 2 Belfast (Odyssey Arena) – Adam followed that up with a solid second behind Jack Brunell at Rd 3 Birmingham, he only has to finish sixth or better in Liverpool’s Arenacross main event to take the title – easy right?
But a less than stellar start as the 450 spins up coming out of the gate sees Adam mired deep in the pack and for reasons unknown is being beaten about by fast Frenchman Charles Lefrancois. “Someone – I’m not sure if it was him or not – landed on my wrist on the first lap and I thought it was over right there and then,” says Adam after. “Luckily although it hurt I was able to carry on and work my way through the pack.”
While Chatfield methodically picked his way through the carnage Brunell led at the front and right up until the moment he binned it through a rhythm section on the very last lap the series result was still in doubt. “I didn’t know he’d crashed and I wasn’t sure what position I was in either,” adds Adam. “When I lost two places in the very last corner I really thought I’d lost the championship – fortunately that wasn’t the case!”
Arenacross London video
Arenacross Belfast video
Arenacross Birmingham video
Arenacross Liverpool video
Adam Chatfield chats about winning the Arenacross UK 2013 Championship
Arenacross UK 2013 Series Standings
| 12/01/ | 12/01/ | 19/01/ | 19/01/ | 02/02/ | 02/02/ | 10/02/ | 10/02/ | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | No. | Name | Total | Diff | Gap | Ra | He | Ra | He | Ra | He | Ra | He | ||
| 1 | 407 | Adam Chatfield | 74 | 0 | 0 | 20 | x | 20 | x | 18 | 1 | 15 | x | ||
| 2 | 272 | Neville Bradshaw | 68 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 16 | x | 11 | x | 20 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 155 | Jack Brunell | 64 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 18 | x | 20 | 2 | 13 | x | ||
| 4 | 50 | Martin Barr | 52 | 22 | 12 | 15 | x | 9 | x | 12 | x | 16 | x | ||
| 5 | 871 | Cyrille Coulon | 51 | 23 | 1 | x | x | 15 | 2 | 16 | x | 18 | x | ||
| 6 | 1 | Tom Church | 50 | 24 | 1 | 16 | x | 10 | x | 15 | x | 9 | x | ||
| 7 | 23 | Carl Nunn | 48 | 26 | 2 | 13 | x | 14 | 1 | 10 | x | 10 | x | ||
| 8 | 225 | Charles LeFrancois | 42 | 32 | 6 | x | x | 12 | x | 14 | x | 14 | 2 | ||
| 9 | 85 | Mickael Musquin | 37 | 37 | 5 | x | x | 13 | x | 13 | x | 11 | x | ||
| 10 | 5 | Graeme Irwin | 33 | 41 | 4 | 12 | x | x | x | 9 | x | 12 | x | ||
| 11 | 162 | Stuart Edmonds | 29 | 45 | 4 | 14 | x | 8 | x | 7 | x | x | x | ||
| 12 | 917 | Eric Sorby | 20 | 54 | 9 | 9 | x | 11 | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| 13 | 15 | Adrien Lopes | 16 | 58 | 4 | 8 | x | x | x | 8 | x | x | x | ||
| 14 | 601 | Romain Biela | 11 | 63 | 5 | 11 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| 15 | 151 | Matt Bayliss | 8 | 66 | 3 | x | x | x | x | x | x | 8 | x | ||
| 16 | 7 | Gordon Crockard | 7 | 67 | 1 | DNF | x | DNF | x | x | x | 7 | x | ||
