Surprising Qualifying results at London Arenacross

Aussie Dan Reardon (I-Fly JK Yamaha) bounced back from a flu-induced set-back at last weekend’s round of the 2018 Power Maxed Arenacross Tour, to top this morning’s qualifying at Wembley, London.

Reardon’s average of 25.404 was enough to earn him the all-important first pick of the gate for this evening’s AX London Pro heats. Reigning champ Thomas Ramette (SR75 World Suzuki) posted the second fastest combined time with 25.572, and a superhuman effort from Team FRO Systems’ Ashley Greedy saw the popular Welshman take third fastest qualifying with 25.843.

Current series leader Cedric Soubeyras (FRO Systems) was caught out by the newly-introduced rhythm section but recovered to finish sixth fastest on his Suzuki, with 25.901.

He appeared unfazed by his “small mistake” and, along with the other leading Pros, added that he enjoyed the redesigned and technically challenging London Wembley AX track and welcomed the fact that passing places had been incorporated.

With just three points separating the leading AX challengers, only a handful covering the following six, and double points up for grabs on the Pro Hot Lap and Main Event – the scene is set for tonight’s London finale of the 2018 Arenacross Tour to be intense.

Over in the Pro Lites camp, Chris Bayliss (Wooldridge Demolition) and Joe Clayton (Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki) were just under a second ahead of the rest of the pack in their final morning class qualifying session.

Bayliss collected an average time of 26.918, and Joe 26.982, and next up was apprentice-jockey Harry Kimber, followed by I-Fly JK Yamaha’s Jason Meara. Heading into this evening’s two races, Clayton leads with 236 points ahead of Bayliss on 209 and Meara 189. It’s still all to play for!

Elsewhere, the youth riders head to the final round of the 2018 Tour with Shaun Mahoney topping the bill in the 65cc class and Carl Osterman the Supermini. Both groups completed their penultimate races behind closed doors this morning and are now fired up and ready for the big one, and their last chance to shine in front of thousands of cheering fans and claim AX glory.

A small handful of points separate the 65cc youngsters, while in the Superminis Osterman has a pretty comfortable margin over Newcastle’s Buster Hart, however, as has been proved time and time again in Arenacross, nothing is certain until the final flag falls.

This evening’s final round of the 2018 Power Maxed Arenacross Tour gets underway at 7.30pm at Wembley, London.

AX Pro Qualifying Top 10 – London

1. Dan Reardon 25.404
2. Thomas Ramette, 25.572
3. Ashley Greedy, 25.843
4. Julien Lebeau, I-Fly JK Yamaha, 25.878
5. Charles Lefrancois, Buildbase Honda, 25.887
6. Cedric Soubeyras, 25.901
7. Fabien Izoird, Buildbase Honda, 25.949
8. Jack Brunell, Team Green Holeshot Kawasaki, 26.093
9. Evgeny Bobryshev, RFX Suzuki, 26.247
10. Adrien Escoffier, MBR-D St Blazey Husqvarna, 26.270