Evgeny Bobryshev making progress

The Power Maxed Arenacross tour travelled north to the city of Newcastle for round two of the 2018 championship. After a baptism of fire at round one in Manchester Evgeny Bobryshev looked to improve upon his debut performance in the high-octane race series on board his RFX Suzuki.

The Russian MXGP star has had very limited time to master the art of Arenacross whilst also trying to get to grips with his new RMZ 450. A weeks’ worth of work at the track with team manager Neil Prince allowed Evgeny to familiarise himself with his new steed ahead of the second round of the AX UK series.

Bobryshev’s new-found bike-confidence showed from lap one of qualifying. A combination of more bike time and a firmer track surface allowed the Russian to display his true colours and log some solid laps in timed qualifying, despite taking a soil sample or two along the way. However, those spills didn’t dampen Evgeny’s enthusiasm. It was clear to see that Bobryshev was enjoying his time riding inside of Newcastle’s Metro Arena. This became even more apparent once the gates finally dropped for the night show.

In the first heat race of the night Evgeny was able to avoid some early first lap carnage to start the race in fourth position. The RFX Suzuki rider proved that he’s picking up the Arenacross game quickly. Some hard – yet fair- race craft saw the Russian exchange back and forth passes with former main event winner Adrien Escoffier before a mistake from the Frenchmen allowed Bobryshev to take over third position permanently. Evgeny then settled into a good pace to bring it home in third place behind Cedric Soubeyras and Hugo Basaula. This was the Russian’s first taste of the Arenacross podium.

Bobryshev showed consistency in his second heat race as he scored yet another third place behind veteran’s of the indoor racing scene; three-time AX UK champion Thomas Ramette and four-time Australian Supercross champion Dan Reardon. This meant that, unlike the previous weekend in Manchester, Bobryshev had booked himself a spot directly into the main event. A clear sign of improvement for the Russian on board his RFX machine.

The #777 got off to a flying start in the main event, completing the first lap in third position behind former title combatants Thomas Ramette and Cedric Soubeyras. The frantic pace of the Arenacross Main Event saw Bobryshev quickly lose a place to the hard-charging Hugo Basaula.

But as the laps clicked off, Bobryshev was able to find his composure and fend off constant attacks from former series champion Fabien Izoird and the Aussie Dan Reardon. A stray tuff block allowed Izoird to make a pass stick on Bobryshev to take fourth place away from the RFX pilot.

At the halfway point of the race, Thomas Ramette crashed out of the lead, moving Bobryshev up a position on the leaderboard. This, together with the added pressure of a pursuing Charles Le Francois, inspired Bobryshev to put on a charge to the rear wheel of third place man Hugo Basaula. A heart in mouth moment as Bobryshev made a mistake through the first rhythm lane allowed Charles Le Francois to capitalise and take over Bobby’s fourth-place position. With just two laps to go the Russian refused to roll over and give up so easily. As the chequered flag came out Cedric Soubeyras took the win and Fabien Izoird claimed a comfortable second place. Hugo Basaula, Charles Le Francois and Evgeny Bobryshev crossed the line in that order, wheel to wheel to wheel.

“I feel much better about the night compared to the first round in Manchester,” said Evgeny Bobryshev. “We did lots of work with Neil Prince in the week leading up to Newcastle so I feel more comfortable on the bike, I have a lot more flow.

“I was really happy to qualify straight into the Main and I was pleased to finish with a fifth place. I made a few mistakes but I think I just need a bit more time to learn this type of racing. I enjoyed the racing this week way more than the first round in Manchester.

“I have more work to do to get stronger and more comfortable on the bike, but I’m looking forward to that and looking forward to more racing.”

RFX Suzuki team manager, Neil Prince, commented: “I’m pretty pumped after the week of work we’ve had. We put nine hours on the hour meter in the roughest conditions we could find. So overall I’m really happy. We just need to keep working.”

Arenacross Pro Main Event Newcastle

1. Cedric Soubeyras
2. Fabien Izoird
3. Hugo Basaula
4. Charles Lefrancois
5. Evgeny Bobryshev
6. Jack Brunell
7. James Dunn
8. Cyrille Coulon
9. Ashley Greedy
10. Dan Reardon

Arenacross Pro Overall Results Newcastle

1. Cedric Soubeyras, 23 points
2. Fabien Izoird, 20
3. Hugo Basaula, 17
4. Charles Lefrancois, 15
5. Evgeny Bobryshev, 14
6. Jack Brunell, 13
7. James Dunn, 12
8. Cyrille Coulon, 11
9. Ashley Greedy, 10
10. Dan Reardon, 9

2018 Arenacross Pro Championship

1. Cedric Soubeyras, Team FRO Systems, 38 points
2. Charles Lefrancois, Buildbase Honda, 38
3. Fabien Izoird, Buildbase Honda, 34
4. Hugo Basaula, Shocktech Kawasaki, 30
5. Cyrille Coulon, SR75 World Suzuki, 29
6. Jack Brunell, Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki, 25
7. Thomas Ramette, SR75 World Suzuki, 23
8. Ashley Greedy, Team FRO Systems, 18
9. Dan Reardon, JK I-Fly Yamaha Racing, 18
10. Evgeny Bobryshev, RFX Suzuki, 14