Photo credits: MotoHead Mag and summit_moto
There’s never a dull moment in the world of SR75 SUZUKI….
The first race of 2025 was amazing in many ways and the buzz is real as the dust settles on this one.
The Arenacross World Tour consists of 2 rounds in the UK at Birmingham and Manchester followed by the tour Finale in Abu Dhabi.
Our 3 time champ Thomas ‘TR6’ Ramette has been buzzing to get back to Arenacross in the UK and as one of the invited international racers on the tour he has been putting in the work to come out firing and having fun on the epic RM450 SR machine.
Prep went well and the bikes rolled into the arena looking amazing dressed in our new ‘RETRO OG’ and ‘RETRO RED’ colour schemes from our GP GRAFIX crew. TR was arriving from Paris on Friday evening during set up with our HRS race suspension and a few extra parts to complete the race machine and our epic crew of Sammy D, Paul C and WD prepped for the build…. TR arrived, the bags with the parts and his gear unfortunately did not…. What followed next was not the ideal preparation for any race…. Basically it was a ‘no sleep’ night for GW and TR as we tried to locate the bags and track them down. Walking to the airport in the middle of the night wasn’t much fun but eventually we got the bags, ran back to the arena with minutes to spare before first morning qualifying session and built the bike as TR got his gear on…. That was pretty wild but fun as always….
Qualifying works like this…
Two groups of Pros and two timed qualifying sessions with the order of grouo 1-2 reversed fur the second sessions.
TR was group 1 so session 1 and session 4
Our man was straight on it out there on a great track and it was great to see the bike operating and handling perfectly….
The man was BACK and firing…. Thomas was riding with a class and style that was just a little different.
TR went P1 in both of his qualifying sessions to set him up for a great night.
Opening ceremonies are cool at AX and it was great to see TR and the RM up there again in the flames….
The field is filled with of great riders on this tour and there are no easy rides in AX World Tour.
Thomas was quiet and very focussed on the job as he tried to keep his energy after what was obviously a wild night of pretty much zero sleep for us all.
Heat 1
TR smashed the start from the inside squeezing Cedric Souberas out and taking the holeshot… The next few minutes were sublime as Thomas showed his speed, class and style as he put together smooth fast calculated laps to take an epic and dominate victory to start our night off in amazing style…..
Heat 2 and it was another fantastic start and holeshot from TR using the perfect power from the Suzuki to hold out the rest of the pack. The laps that followed were once again testament to Thomas’ professional nature and focus to dominate once again and move around the track trying different lines etc going into the main….
First gate choice for the main as the only unbeaten racer of the night set Thomas up for what we knew would be another tough race. TR blasted out of the gate again and just got tangled for a fraction allowing Zaragoza to sneak alongside in the first rhythm section. TR went for the inside line to make an early pass for the lead but the guy defended with a ‘cross’ jump causing TR to hit a tough block and almost go down… Thomas pushed to get the pass done as his insane speed was taking him almost into the back of the leader as he slowed in different areas entering corners. It looked like it was only a matter of time before TR could make the pass stick but this is racing and unfortunately TR just had to brake a little harder than usual on the finish line jump landing to avoid getting into the back of the leader and went down hard…. The man slammed hard, got up, checked himself and get back on to try to rescue a result…. Thomas fought back from last while dazed from the impact to get to the finish with an amazing 6th place….
What a night…..!
Thomas Ramette
“What can I say, this weekend has been a big experience. I know I’m feeling good and I know my guys make for me a perfect bike every time for Arenacross. I felt great on the track and tonight I felt I could take the victory. My times, my heat races and for the first couple of laps in the main I felt amazing and I know when I have the speed to have fun, to entertain the fans and to win. It is unfortunate to take this crash and it is disappointing but I gave everthing for myself and the team to make a good result and I have to be happy with my victories and feeling with my amazing bike and team. All the guys work hard for me and I give my best. Thanks to the Arenacross Fans and everyone who supports me personally and SR75 Suzuki”
Geoff Walker
“Wow, what a 24 hours it’s been. Fun, challenging, wild, testing, stressful and then just add in some breathtaking speed and style from our main man and it’s a perfect SR75 Suzuki kind of race weekend…. 🙂
Thomas was total class tonight and I have zero negatives. The man showed his class and just how good he is. He was unwilling to be beaten and if you go down while pushing for victory then you get my full backing…. I love that shizz…
Thomas, our race bikes and our amazing crew all worked like a dream and it is cool to be involved in this new 3 race AX World Tour.
I would like to say a big thank-you to the AX Crew for putting on a cool event and to everyone who supports and helps us to go racing in these times… The appreciation is high, the good vibes level is off the scale and 2025 is shaping up to be seriously FUN….”
Photo credits: MotoHead Mag and summit_moto
