Monster Energy Arenacross pulls in the crowds at Sheffield Arena

The Monster Energy Arenacross Tour, powered by Ford Ranger, once again pulled out all the stops to put on an extraordinary show for the penultimate round of the 2016 action-packed series.

The thousands and thousands of AX fans who packed the Sheffield Arena to the rafters witnessed SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki’s Thomas Ramette reeling in the Pro class points deficit to just three points behind current leader, Geartec Yahama’s Cedric Soubeyras.

The Pro heats were largely incident-free with American Collin Jurin (XBladez Husqvarna) the single casualty. While in a strong position and vying for third, he and Jack Brunell (SJR Kawasaki) clipped and the resultant tumble saw Jurin injuring his shoulder, and leaving the race.

The challenging track made traction difficult for the younger groups. At around two-thirds race-distance Preston Williams slipped on one of the fast jumps, face planted into the packed soil and damaged a previously injured wrist.

The medics attended to Williams while the race continued for a couple of laps before being red-flagged. Harry Kimber took the race win, overall on the day and the championship itself.

Local hero Bailey Johnston was dominant in the Junior 65 class. He raced off the start line with Kiean Boughen and quickly moved into the lead. He was never bettered and stayed out front right to the chequered flag. Behind him, title contenders Boughen and Ollie Colmer didn’t fare so well. Colmer finished tenth and Boughen 12th which has closed up the points gap between first and second to just one point. It’s all to play for at the final round.

Having sewn up the Pro Lites championship earlier in the day, Joe Clayton fought through to win the final race of the day ahead of George Clarke and Edward Briscoe. Clarke is currently second in the championship and Jordan Moxey third.

The Main Event was something of a Ramette masterclass. He fended off a valiant attack from Adam Chatfield of Buildbase Honda, who simply never gave up while behind him in third, Ramette’s team-mate Cyrille Coulon completed the SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki sandwich.

Hitachi Revo Husqvarna’s James Dunn enjoyed his best-ever Arenacross result. He had an incredible race and held a solid fourth from start to finish, keeping the likes of championship leader Soubeyras, and top British contender Brunell at bay.

The result means that the Pro class championship is uber-close and will most definitely go to the wire. Soubeyras sits on 189 points and Ramette 186, it’s a safe bet that there’ll be fireworks at the Grand Final in Wembley at the end of the month.

Thomas Ramette commented: “This was a really important round for me – like a final really. I had great starts which was vital, as the lap times are all so close.

“My goal was to close down on Soubeyras as, if he had got away from me this weekend, it could have all been over. Now with just three points in it, everything is on London and it’s going to be really intense and close racing.

“I’ve got two weeks to get prepared and I don’t intend to lose. I’m focussed on being the first back-to-back Arenacross Pro Champ!”

An elated Adam Chatfield said; “Everything seems to be working well for me now. I’m really happy with that race and I like the technical track. I was third at round eight in Newcastle and now second today, so if I continue along that track, I should move up to the top step at the final in London. I’ll be training hard in the next two weeks and will give it my all.”

The Monster Energy Arenacross Tour finale hits the SSE Arena, Wembley, London on Sunday February 27. Doors open at 6pm with the evening performance starting at 7pm.