The 2026 Arenacross Tour saw a dramatic night of racing in front of a packed crowd at the BP Pulse Arena in Birmingham, as the opening round of the series saw even more thrills and spills than usual as part of a stunning night show that had the fans in raptures!

The night started with an extremely busy Fan Zone, as the new pit area within the welcome lobby of the arena itself allowed ticket holders to run straight to the stars of the show, with big queues especially for reigning Champion Dean Wilson, and for the Dirt Store Triumph pit area where former Champion Tommy Searle and MXGP star Ben Watson also greeted the fans with selfies, autographs and posters.  The Phoenix Tools Fantic boys allowed some kids to come in and sit on their bikes, while the cheerful Bayliss brothers gave out Shocktech stickers from a huge bucket of fun!  The Dirt Store Fan Zone was definitely a big hit.

After each Pro rider was given a tumultuous greeting from the packed grandstands, and the Freestyle boys had whipped the crowd up with their amazing antics, it was time for the first on-track action with the Pro Rider Hot Laps. Giving their all in a one-lap scramble against the clock, each rider knew how important a good gate pick was, and local ace Steven Clarke put his Stark Future machine into the lead with the very first attempt after having technical issues in Practice.  He held on to the top spot until his teammate Jack Brunell came through, holding up proceedings somewhat by snagging a tuff block on landing.

Matt Bayliss looked like he might have taken pole when Dylan Woodcock just missed his timing, but that man Wilson came through with a unique combination through a rhythm section that set the best time by two-tenths of a second.

In the first Pro Main Event, the Holeshot was taken by John Adamson on his Phoenix Tools Fantic, but as Adam Chatfield drew level, the fiery Scotsman took him to the top of the corner, and both men went down “It was like a landmine had gone off!”, said Wilson later to describe the carnage as he went through in sixth position, having mis-timed the gate.

Eddie Jay Wade picked up at the front from the battling Clarke, with Matt Bayliss, Martin Barr, and Dylan Woodcock all between Wilson and the leader.  The Champ started to pick off a rider per lap, either with his incredible speed in the whoops, or through a triple-triple combination that took him past Clarke.  He was able to claw back the gap to Wade and take the lead from the Dirt Store Triumph man on lap 7 of 12, while Clarke boxed off an attack from Matt Bayliss for third, leaving the J3M Shocktech Racing man to fight back from seventh. Woodcock fought through to third behind Wilson and Wade, with Clarkey a fine fifth ahead of Barr, meaning that Armor Vision Powered by St Blazey were on equal points with Dirt Store Triumph Racing in the team contest.

After taking just ninth in race one, Stark Future’s former Champion Jack Brunell, campaigning an updated machine from the WSX squad, shot into the lead at the start of the second Pro Main Event, with Matt Bayliss and Clarke snapping at his heels.  Wilson had to get past his Armor Vision powered by St Blazey teammate Martin Barr to get into fourth place early on.  The Champ found a unique passing spot on the exit of the corner after the finish jump, and used it to get past arguably his biggest opposition, Woodcock first and finally Brunell on lap 8 of the 14-lap race.

Woodcock, fighting back from ninth on the first lap, demoted Matt Bayliss for third on lap 9, but couldn’t get close enough to Brunell.  With Wade claiming only seventh place, it left both the Triumph boys and Brunell covered by just two points going into the Head-to-Heads.

Those Head-to-Heads, like the entire night’s format, took a brand new twist with 12 racers working their way down to a three-way final. Wilson had to fend off a typically hefty challenge from Adamson, before easing away from a fallen Wade to get to his final.  Brunell joined him there after easing past Barr, then surviving a close contest with Woodcock.

The star of the Head-to-Heads, at least for his local fans, was Steven Clarke. A late block pass on AJP Racing’s Adam Chatfield, then a narrow victory over Matt Bayliss, left him in-between the last two AX Champions, and still thinking “I could win this!”  He gave it maximum effort but crashed in the whoops while right amongst them, then the crowd went wild as Wilson drew alongside Brunell through the whoops and by the slimmest of margins squeezed around the outside of the Londoner.“I could have put him off the track, but we’re not here to hurt each other,” said the Stark man after being edged out by just 0.005 seconds!

It was the closest that anyone came to beating Wilson all night. With the longer third and final Pro Main of the night, the gate pick ran in reverse order, giving Deano his first ever second-row start. “I actually got the best jump of my whole night!” Sixth as the pack emerged from turn two, he was soon on the march, but his fellow Scotsman Adamson had claimed a flying Syntol Lubricants Holeshot and held on at the front for four entire laps, holding off challenges from first Barr, and then Clarke.

With Brunell in tow, Wilson moved forward with his impressive whoop speed, then closed in on Adamson. The Fantic man stalled briefly before the face of the finish line jump and couldn’t double it, giving his countryman an easy pass for the lead.  Brunell got to second through the whoops, then Chatfield, in his best race of the night, block-passed Adamson for third.  Woodcock used a triple-triple combination to get to fourth, before attacking Chatfield in a thrilling last lap battle. The 2013 Champ just won that scrap in the final corner, but Dylan had done enough to secure second overall, with Brunell taking third on the night.

Wilson looked impeccable with his perfect night’s work, and left Birmingham 20 points clear of Woodcock. The battle for second could not be tighter, as Brunell’s Head-to-Head points drew him level with the Triumph man as they head to Belfast for rounds two and three – not to be missed.

Pro-Am

The opening Pro-Am race repeated the morning heat race battle between Louis Brookes and Josh Greedy, but Stark rider Brookes took the Holeshot, and an out-of-control Greedy somehow survived the first rhythm section, clipping Josh Taylor as he did so and sending the Yamaha man to the canvas. The Welshman salvaged third place behind the flying Brookes and Neville Bradshaw, and that’s how it stayed while teenager Harry Lee fought up to fourth from a bad start, helped by an unfortunate blow-up for Ross Clarke, as Callum McCaul took fifth.

McCaul bolted out of the gate in the second race to claim the Holeshot Award, but Greedy moved immediately to the lead and proceeded to pull away.  Brookes got a little mired in the pack as he fell in a bowl turn at the start of lap two, leaving Lee to chase down Greedy, which he started to do! As Brookes caught back up to third-placed Bradshaw, the top four were briefly in a thrilling freight train, and a pass from Lee would have clinched the overall win at that moment.

Brookes was not to be denied, however, and made a stunning move to pass both Lee and Bradshaw in the whoops with two laps to go. From there, Greedy cruised to the race win, but that was only good enough for second overall behind Brookes, with Bradshaw a delighted third and Lee fourth.  Only nine points cover the four of them, however, leaving us with some delicious prospects for battle in Belfast. 

Supermini

Small-Wheel rider Mason Staddon took a brilliant Syntol Lubricants Holeshot in the second Supermini outing of the day, but as before it was John Slade who quickly moved to the front and eased away with jump combinations befitting one of the Pro class riders. Staddon had a great scrap with fellow Small-Wheeler Cameron Berry, which Berry took to clinch the class win from Staddon, with a delighted Kai Benjamin taking third.

Slade kept it perfect and as usual astounded the crowd with his skills, while Mason Brown took second in the Big Wheel class, and Frank Bishop just held on to third overall despite a crash-affected ninth in race two!

Mini

The top three from the Mini class’ earlier outing shot right to the front again in their night show race, with Finlee Pope taking the Syntol Lubricants Holeshot from first race winner Blake Marks-Bracey and Preston Killoran.  As BMB block-passed Pope at the start of lap two, Killoran thrilled the crowd by taking a wide line and double-jumping past both of them to take the lead.

In a cracking race, that move was short-lived as Killoran went too defensive in the same rhythm section a lap later, allowing both of his rivals to return the favour and put him back into third. Marks-Bracey held on to make it a perfect 1-1 for the day, and Pope took second overall on the second race tie-break from Killoran. These three, and possibly fourth-placed flyer Roy Townley, should put on a brilliant show of racing for both nights in Belfast.

E-Mini

The silent and tiny E-Minis were cheered brilliantly by the Birmingham crowd, and they responded with fantastic riding throughout. Oliver Fostun took the Syntoil Lubricants Holeshot, but he was immediately passed by first race winner Harley Patel, while Cooper Swan and Aliyas Westwick battled behind them.

Patel was able to hold on to the lead to the chequered flag, but Swan managed to shake off Westwick and gun past Fostun to claim a solid second, but Fostun’s 3-3 scoreline was good enough for second overall, while first race runner-up Maddox Knifton did just enough to take the final podium spot, just two markers ahead of Swan and Westwick.  The Championship race is still most definitely on as they prepare for Belfast.

With a packed arena and ecstatic fans throughout, this was one of the top nights of racing in recent Arenacross history.  The new format seemed to be a big hit with fans and generated an awesome spectacle throughout.  Now we cannot wait for the next one to come to Belfast in just under two weeks’ time. See you there!