Photo credits: AX World Tour and Sutty
Coming into this event Thomas was fired up after the disappointment of round one in Birmingham where we had the speed and style to push for victory.
With the other racers having raced a few more of the British only rounds the atmosphere was awesome inside the Arena Pit area and the track looked great.
Quali went well with TR topping group 1 as he got back into the AX groove. The man and his machine were looking comfortable and solid on track finding lines and having fun… After the second session of qualifying Thomas ended up 2nd overall to the flying Scotsman Dean Wilson who topped his Quali group.
With this being the 100th night of Arenacross UK and the fact we stood in the venue where Thomas raced, and won his first ever race for SR75 Suzuki just over TEN years ago we were all buzzing for a great night of action and quality racing….
Thomas’ first heat race was ‘heat 2’ and as always the start was critical to carry a solid result towards a direct transfer to the final. TR just missed the holeshot and had to battle to 3rd on lap one… Solid laps checking lines and racing forwards TR ended up taking a solid 2nd place.
We were up again in heat 3 (of 4) so a quick turnaround with the bike in the pits and TR was fired up for a better start.
With Wilson in this heat it was going to be good to get a gauge of race pace from the top two fastest qualifiers. TR absolutely smashed the start taking the holeshot which was great and took off putting in some epic laps before settling in and trying some alternative lines for the main. Wilson made the pass for the lead and Thomas was able to follow for the final coupe of laps to see if he could learn and try any different lines. This was a great heat race seeing these guys riding so well and having a tonne of fun.
The Final
With the TR6 RM-Z prepped and ready thanks to our man in the pits Dean (Spode) we were ready and our fourth gate pick was going to make the task of getting the perfect start slightly more difficult…. We have worked with Thomas for years and the guy wanted that start bad. We could see it in his manner….
TR absolutely nailed the perfect start to take the lead going into the first rhythm section with Wilson and American Hicks in his early wake. Thomas tightened up a little as Dean pushed him hard in the first couple of laps of the main and it was a battle for TR to relax and start to ride to his maximum. Having dropped to 3rd TR got his shizz together and started to reel second place back in with some great line choices eventually coming up just short of making a re-pass for 2nd after losing time with some lappers in the latter stages of the main.
P3 on the night and that epic podium feeling was superb and we could all see what it meant to Thomas and everyone involved in our team.
Thomas Ramette:
“It is great to be back here in Manchester and it is amazing to be back on the AX World Tour podium. I am a little disappointed with the main event as I found my pace and wanted that 2nd place back. I am so happy for my team and as always we are having some serious fun out there on my bike which as always works perfectly. This feels great and thanks to everyone involved with SR75 Suzuki for the many years of support. So cool, I’m going to get a Guinness!”
Geoff Walker:
“Well that was pretty epic! Hats off to Thomas, he absolutely smashed it tonight. The pressure was on to get back into the championship before we head to the Abu Dhabi finale and he got some points back. That was the mission and Thomas stepped up. A massive thanks to Dean in the pits for being awesome and of course we can’t do this without our amazing sponsors and supporters from all over the planet. Absolutely buzzing with this podium performance and we have so much to look forward too moving forward in 2025…. Thanks Arenacross World Tour for the 100th night event…. It was RAD….”
Photo credits: AX World Tour and Sutty
