It was time to hit the capital for the Apico Factory Racing Honda team and the second round of the 2025 Arenacross World Tour last weekend at the Wembley Arena.
With this being Tom Grimshaw’s home round, he had the support and was revved up for making the main event. Martin Barr too had his eyes on the prize of making the main and securing more points to boost his position in the series.
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Tom: “I had a good qualifying session in the morning with a brace of 4th quickest laps in the sessions. I made a small mistake and slammed into the floor, injuring my shoulder at the end of the last session. I then went into the heat races covered in deep heat with a swollen shoulder, as soon as the adrenalin was pumping, I managed to forget the pain and carry on with the racing. In heat 1 I managed to get out front with Martin, though I lost a few places riding cautiously due to my shoulder and the track had been watered quite a bit. I lost a few places due to this though soon got my focus back settling into 7th place and riding to the flag. My shoulder felt better in the second heat race, I got a good start working through the pack. My combined results from the heat races gave me 10th so I had to qualify either through the Head-to-Head or LCQ.
“I faced Martin in the Head-to-Head and he won that, so I went to the LCQ knowing this was my only way of qualifying. I had to make it count and knew it was down to the start. I got out front, gaped the field and didn’t look back, taking the win. The main event was somewhat of a learning curve, I had to gate on the outside so got an okay start making a few moves and passing some crashed riders. As I moved forward during the race I held on for a solid 7th for my home round at Wembley”.
Martin: “I had a couple of solid results in the qualifying going 4th and 5th in timed practice and I was getting quicker as the sessions wore on. This gave me a good gate pick for the heat races. I pulled the holeshot and led Tom, Matt Bayliss and Dean Wilson, with some pressure I made a mistake and went down. I remounted in 9th though that was the end of that race. This gave me a poor gate for the second heat, and I was last around the first corner. I kept my head down and pulled a few places back to finish 7th though the combined result was not good enough to make the main event.
“I went into the first Head-2-Head with my teammate Tom and won that then I met up with Joe Clayton won the second heat of the Head-to-Head and then went into the final with Matt Bayliss. As we got out of the gate, we were close and touched bikes and I hit the hay bales and went down so that was the end of that. I went into the Last Chance Qualifier, which was pretty frustrating, to say the least. I thought I would have got a good gate pick having been in the final of the Head-2-Head, though I wasn’t and had 5th pick of the gate. The first corner I got caught in a pile-up and went down snapping my clutch lever, and that was the end of Wembley for me”.
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Dylan Brown – Team Boss: “Being in the capital is somewhat of an unusual setting for most teams, this didn’t faze Tom too much. Even with the added pressure of it being his home round, he certainly performed, winning the LCQ with the riders in that race shows the level at which Tom is riding with little experience in Arenacross. It was great to see him make the main and pass riders to finish a respectable 7th for what is his second Arenacross race.
“Lady luck was not on Martin’s side, we know his starts are good, and he can get out front. He made a mistake in the first heat after a great start by losing composure, though has shown he should be at the front. Martin made a couple of other mistakes across the day, and he didn’t make the main, sometimes that’s racing, and even with experience it shows the level at which we’re competing is tough. I am sure that Martin will have better luck at his home round and the doubleheader at Belfast in a couple of weeks”.
Words and Images by Apico Factory Racing
