There’s a sense of déjà vu sweeping across the Arenacross Pro paddock as the Tour heads into its Grand Finale at the FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield on Saturday, February 16.
The main protagonists in the Pro AX championship, namely, Cedric Soubeyras (FRO Systems) and Greg Aranda (Team Green Kawasaki) line up for the 2019 Main Event Super Final tying on points, with 67 apiece and everything to go for.
Friday evening’s show swung into life with a heady mix of lights, music and enough attitude to rival a pack of argumentative teenagers. The Fix Auto FMX crew of Dan Whitby, Samson Eaton, Arran Powley, Nez Parker and Petr Pilat, set the tone for the three-hour extravaganza with a series of ‘outta sight’ tricks, flips and whips, whilst the Tour hosts Matt Crowhurst and Jeff Perrett stirred the cheering Sheffield audience into a frenzy. Mexican waves, t-shirt cannons, spot prizes, star guests and Supercross2 e-gaming all added to the festival atmosphere, prior to the Pro riders getting down to fast, and sometimes dirty, business.
The Pro 450 and Pro Lites Main Events were largely uneventful, and the usual suspects at the top of the leaderboard. The notable difference to the norm was that 18-year-old Dylan Woodcock, who flew back to the UK from America specially to join the Shocktech Kawasaki at the eleventh hour, took a hard-fought fourth place in the Pro Lites to secure a well-deserved automatic place in the Main Event Super Final. He joined fellow Brits Adam Chatfield (Buildbase Honda) and Matt Bayliss (Wooldridge Demolition) from the Pro 450 class, on the Super Final starting grid.
Prior to the Main Event Super Final, Head-to-Head supremo Ashley Greedy, left the opposition in his wake as he claimed his third H2H win. The rest of the field went into the Last Chance Qualifier to fit it out for the vital three remaining places; Portuguese Graca Diogo (Castrol Power1 Suzuki), Julien Lebeau (Wooldridge Demolition) and another Brit James Dunn (Castrol Power1 Suzuki) took the honours.
And so, to the Main Event Super Final and the battle of the titans. Firing off the start line, Valentin Teillet (SR75 Suzuki) continued his morning charge and held the lead until around half-race distance. But, with Adrien Escoffier (Buildbase Honda), Soubeyras and Aranda hot on his heels, the Suzuki man had his work cut out. Escoffier made a move to the front, swiftly followed by Soubeyras and Aranda. Aranda made quick work of getting out front, and he and Soubeyras instantly pulled away and got stuck into their own race. Aranda was driven, but the reigning AX champ wasn’t about to give up. As the race approached the last few laps, the pressure was on and Soubeyras couldn’t afford to let Aranda get away. They touched and went down on the last lap, within sight of the final corner and chequered flag. Soubeyras was the first to recover, leaving Aranda to remount behind Escoffier and finish third. That pivotal clash, means that Aranda and Soubeyras leave the penultimate round tying on points, paving the way for another tense and epic Arenacross Grand Finale.
Main Event 1 – Pro Lites
1. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, FRO Systems, 15 points
2. #737 Valentin Teillet, SR75 Suzuki, 13
3. #744 Diogo Graca, Castrol Power 1 Suzuki, 11
4. #260 Dylan Woodcock, Shocktech Kawasaki, 9
5. #6 Adrien Escoffier, Buildbase Honda, 8
6. #1 Joe Clayton, Team Green Kawasaki, 7
Pro 450
1. #20 Greg Aranda, Team Green Kawasaki, 15 points
2. #3 Charles Le Francois, SR75 Suzuki, 13
3. #9 Adam Chatfield, Buildbase Honda, 11
4. #33 Ashley Greedy, FRO Systems, 9
5. #25 Florent Richier, Shocktech Kawasaki, 8
6. #17 Matt Bayliss, Wooldridge Demolition, 7
Main Event 2 – Pro Lites
1. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, FRO Systems, 15 points
2. #737 Valentin Teillet, SR75 Suzuki, 13
3. #6 Adrien Escoffier, Buildbase Honda, 11
4. #259 Julien Lebeau, Wooldridge Demolition, 9
5. 1x Joe Clayton, Team Green Kawasaki, 8
6. #260 Dylan Woodcock, Shocktech Kawasaki, 7
Pro 450
1. #20 Greg Aranda, Team Green Kawasaki, 15 points
2. #3 Charles Le Francois, SR75 Suzuki, 13
3. #9 Adam Chatfield, Buildbase Honda, 11
4. #17 Matt Bayliss, Wooldridge Demolition, 9
5. #64 Nique Thury, FRO Systems, 8
6. #25 Florent Richier, Shocktech Kawasaki, 7
Pro AX Main Event Super Final
1. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, FRO Systems, 15 points
2. #6 Adrien Escoffier, Buildbase Honda, 13
3. #20 Greg Aranda, Team Green Kawasaki, 11
4. #737 Valentin Teillet, SR75 Suzuki, 9
5. #3 Charles Le Francois, SR75 Suzuki, 8
6, #9 Adam Chatfield, Buildbase Honda, 7
Championship – Pro Lites
1. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, 215 points
2. #737 Valentin Teillet, 157
3. #6 Adrien Escoffier, 138
4. #259 Julien Lebeau, 121
5. #10 Joe Clayton, 87
6. #744 Diogo Graca, 81
Pro 450
1. #20 Greg Aranda, 215 points
2. #3 Charles Le Francois, 159
3. #64 Nique Thury, 102
4. #4 Fabien Izoird, 93
5. #9 Adam Chatfield, 87
6. #33 Ashley Greedy, 79
Pro AX Championship
1. #1 Cedric Soubeyras, 67 points
2. #20 Greg Aranda, 67
3. #737 Valentin Teillet, 40
4. #6 Adrien Escoffier, 37
5. #3 Charles Lefrancois, 33
6. #4 Fabien Izoird, 30
7. #259 Julien Lebeau, 27
8. #64 Nique Thury, 24
9. #10 Jack Brunell, 17
10. #33 Ashley Greedy, 16
Pro Team Championship
1. Team FRO Systems, 317 points
2. SR75 Suzuki, 316
3. Team Green Kawasaki, 302
4. Buildbase Honda, 212
5. Wooldridge Demolition, 197
6. Shocktech Kawasaki, 181
7. Castrol Power 1 Suzuki, 121
The stage is set for a battle royale on Saturday the 16th of February at the final round of the 2019 Arenacross Tour. Doors open to the public at 6.00pm, with the opening ceremony powering up at 7.30pm. Tickets are available on the door, or by calling the Arena Box Office on 0114 256 56 56.
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