The final British round of the Arenacross was to be the Apico Honda Racing Teams home venue of the series, the AO Arena in Manchester. With Tom having shoulder surgery on Friday, he was unable to come and support Martin, who was pushing for a place in the final at Abu Dhabi in July. The set-up was relatively easy and only 25 minutes from Apico HQ, it was an early Saturday start to qualify and get a good gate pick.
Martin was in the tougher group, with most of the French riders from round 1 being back for Manchester as it was one of the World rounds of the series. Martin put in a solid first practice securing 7th following that up with a 5th in the second practice to receive the calculated average of 12th gate pick for the evening heats.
Martin knew this result was going to make it hard to automatically qualify for the main event, especially with the influx of World Championship riders. Regardless and ever the professional, Martin went into the final heat with his head held high. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the jump out of the gate he needed and was in 8th position as the riders crossed the finish line going into the head-to-head rounds.
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As the gate dropped in the first head-to-head, Martin launched into the lead over the first jump in front of Yannis Irsuti. He maintained the lead until the halfway point where Irsuti turned tight and then tripled the second set of jumps to Martin’s double. Irsuti then rode hard and defensively to knock Martin out of the head-to-head stages and into the LCQ.
Unlike the British rounds where 3 riders went through from the LCQ, only the winner would progress into the main event in this World round. Martin went into the first corner of the LCQ with Chris Bayliss and Yannis Irsuti just in front of him. Chris Bayliss was letting it all hang out tripling the jumps section and pushing hard with Irsuti. Martin was just behind the battling riders, hoping for a double mistake with their wild antics so he could then get the win. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and that was the end of the night for Martin.
Martin: “I was excited about the team’s home race and we had a lot of support for the team. I had good momentum coming from the podium in Belfast and a 5th in Aberdeen, so wanted to finish the British round on a high. I had solid times in the qualifying and felt good going into the night races. After a good start in the first race and settling into 5th position for most of the race, I made a mistake and stalled the bike. I wasn’t able to get it started quickly and a few riders passed me with only a lap to go, so there wasn’t a chance of a recovery. I knew that the first heat left me a difficult task for the rest of the evening and the racing just didn’t go my way.
“Looking at the positives, I’m fit and healthy for the outdoors and finished 8th in the British Arenacross Championship and 15th in the World Tour, which means I qualify for Abu Dhabi. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Dylan, Anna and the team at Apico Honda, my friends who have helped me at a couple of the rounds, personal sponsors and race fans for all the help and support you’ve shown me over the past couple of months”
Dylan: “Most of these events have been down to Martin & Tom to organise with support from me and members of the team at the majority of the rounds. Fairplay to them both doing a good job for Apico and Honda. Tom was finding his feet and doing well before the injury and had successful surgery on Friday to fix his separated shoulder. Tom will miss some of the outdoor season for us as part of his recovery though will be back under the awning with us soon.
“Having attended all the rounds up until Belfast, where Anna and I had commitments and were unable to attend, it would have been the one where Martin was on the podium! Again, for Aberdeen, I was supporting Martin at Hawkstone International the next day, so couldn’t be at the Arenacross. We had to split the team so he was able to do both events, where he came 5th in the Arenacross and DNF’d Hawkstone!
“For a 37-year-old in our sport, you must take your hat off to Martin. He’s still competing at the highest level and qualifying for the finals of the Arenacross in July whilst running his track, training, looking after his family and no doubt spinning a couple more plates, that’s no easy feat. Thanks to all the sponsors and people who have made Arenacross possible this year.
“We now look to the Motul British Motocross Championship at the end of March for the start of the 2025 outdoor season”.
