Soubeyras dominates Monster Energy Arenacross in Newcastle

The hotly contested 2016 Monster Energy Arenacross Tour, powered by Ford Ranger, completed its run of double-headers today when it closed the doors on the ninth round of the championship at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.

Intense racing and Brits on the podium gave the North East crowd something to cheer about as they took shelter from the wet outdoors.

An impressive Cedric Soubeyras topped off his incredible weekend of AX racing with virtually a full-house of wins on his Geartec Yamaha.

The only one to slip through the Frenchman’s hands was the dash-for-cash head-to-head in which SR75 Molson Racing Suzuki’s Thomas Ramette was victorious.

‘Soubs’ gave a masterful display of Arenacross racing and left the pack in his wake in the Main Event.

Ramette took the holeshot but had to settle for second behind ‘Soubs’. While a battle of two Brits unravelled behind him.

Buildbase Honda’s Adam Chatfield emerged the victor of that tussle ahead of last night’s podium finisher, SJR Kawasaki’s Jack Brunell.

“It’s a brilliant feeling to be back on the podium,” said an elated Chatfield. “It was an all-round better weekend and I started to believe in myself again.

“I did benefit from my team-mate Angelo [Pellegrini] crashing out of the race but you have to be there to take it. It was a boost not to end up in the Last Chance Qualifier and I had a far better gate pick.”

Youth and Pro Lites

Joe Clayton and George Clarke diced their way through backmarkers to finish first and second in the Pro Lites main and in the Superminis, runaway series leader Harry Kimber won by a healthy margin over Kacey Hird who fended off a last minute attack from Ben Clayton.

The front runners in the Junior 65 class had the full support of the crowd, particularly Ollie Colmer who was riding in front of his home town.

Colmer had the rhythm sections dialled in on his little KTM but, on the last lap, he had to dig deep to keep current leader Kiean Boughen at bay.

The mini racing gladiators had the Newcastle spectators ready to bring the roof down as they both gave it their all. Colmer held his nerve and lunged across the finish line to take the win and then threw his bike to the ground to accept the well-deserve applause to the delight of his family and friends. “That was awesome,” said a beaming Ollie, “I think I’ve made my mum, dad and school proud.”

The Monster Energy Arenacross Tour takes a break until it travels to the Sheffield Arena for the penultimate round of the 2016 series on Saturday, February 13.