The 2024 Arenacross British Championship presented by Fix Auto kick starts this weekend at Manchester’s AO Arena, and the very top names in British Motocross will return to action with some intriguing additions that makes this year’s racing as unpredictable as ever!
Words & Images: Arenacross UK
Without doubt the rivalry on everyone’s minds is between the numbers 100 and 426 – Dirt Store Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle and Crendon Honda Racing star rider, Conrad Mewse – #1 and #2 in last year’s Championship and again now with the points from the Bolesworth AX Fest already in place! Apart from a single night in Aberdeen when Conrad & Tommy came together on-track and both hit the floor, they shared the first and second spots on the podium between themselves at the end of every night of competition.
That tangle in Aberdeen was one of the talking points of the series, and represented the clash between two men who were born ten years apart, one with the savvy racecraft and one with the blinding speed that makes this such an intriguing rivalry! Not to say that 34-year-old Searle is without a turn of pace – he is capable of hitting the front and clearing off when the mood takes him from almost every other rider on the grid – but Mewse’s M.O. was the exact opposite in 2023 with not such a great average start position usually followed by spell-binding rides through the pack with his Main Event charge from last to first in London proving this.
The contrast in styles doesn’t end there, as Mewse is the quiet Somerset guy who mostly plays things down, whilst Kent-born Searle has become known more for his YouTube Channel antics in recent years that has improved his popularity in no small measure. Both with 4 outdoor British titles to their name, the rivalry didn’t continue outdoors in 2023 as Searle got hurt early on in the season. With Tommy defending his title though, and “still wanting to be the boy”, he will be fighting harder than ever to keep the young pretender back in AX ’24.
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Their most consistent competition in 2023 came from indoor specialist Jack Brunell. After a massive crash in the very first Heat Race of the season, which saw him in hospital with bruised lungs, Jack amazingly returned to racing the very next night, and took a painful 3rd place! The 35-year-old Londoner – although his hairstyle makes him look 20 years younger – has great pace, and regularly gets a great start, but his injuries got to him all through the Tour, leaving him 3rd in every single round after that disastrous first night. Now healthy and armed with the new factory Stark Varg electric machine, he is again ready to take on the outdoor boys who have invaded his patch.
Jack will be joined on the electric machine by the intriguing Justin Bogle – the 2014 East Coast Lites AMA Supercross Champion from Okhlahoma with a gravelly voice and smooth riding style. Married to an English woman and living this side of the pond now, the Stark has given Justin a new lease of life, and if it starts as well as it did at Bolesworth, the #19 could be a serious threat.
Always hot off the gate is the smooth Estonian star Harri Kullas – unable to race AX last year due to issues getting bikes in time, Harri has been racing on these shores for years and collected multiple National titles in the process. After winning the Finnish Sampere Supercross in November, his natural talent will also make him a threat, and he knows both Conrad and Tommy very well – can he spring a surprise on his new FUS Marsh Husqvarna weaponry?
Just to really spice up proceedings, after quite simply not being permitted to race in 2023 due to a history of, shall we say, colourful riding that might have put off the bulk of the entrants to the relaunched series last year, is popular Welsh charger Ashley Greedy.
Just as comfortable in deep Beach Racing sands these days, Ash developed a fearful reputation after a series of head-to-head races went viral in years gone by. With brother Josh in the Pro-Am races, Ash wanted to be back on track himself and was allowed back for the AX Fest on the basis that he be on his best behaviour. There were no complaints after Bolesworth so now he is back on the tour with the S Briggs 10 Central Honda team, alongside Matt Bayliss. Will he get through an entire seven-night series without further incident, especially as Head-to-Head races are back again?
Throw in multi-time British Champion and AX Main Event winner, Elliott Banks Browne, Vets MXDN hero Mel Pocock and future stars Dylan Woodcock, Eddie Wade and Ben Clayton, and Arenacross is set for 7 nights of typically unpredictable indoor race action!
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