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The 2024 Arenacross British Championship presented by Fix Auto UK 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’ll make this year’s racing as unpredictable as ever!

Without doubt the rivalry on everyone’s minds is between Dirt Store Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle and Crendon Honda Racing’s star rider Conrad Mewse. The pair were first and second in the 2023 Championship, and lead the standings for 2024 already following AX Fest at Bolesworth last September. Aside from a single night in Aberdeen last January where Conrad and Tommy came together on-track, they shared the first and second spots on the podium between themselves at the end of every night of competition.

That tangle 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 and ‘still wanting to be the man’, he’ll be fighting harder than ever to keep the young pretender back in AX ’24!

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 lady and living on this side of the Atlantic, 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?

Through 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 – Arenacross is set for seven nights of typically unpredictable indoor race action!

More than half a million motocross and freestyle MX fans have witnessed the spectacle of Arenacross as the series celebrates 10 years of thrilling audiences.

Since debuting at the iconic O2 Arena London on 12 January 2013, over 500,000 people have experienced the series in person at venues across the UK.

Check Out These Amazing Arenacross Facts:

1. 507,000 tickets have been sold to Arenacross fans since 2013
2. 78 action-packed Arenacross nights have been staged across the UK
3. We’ve moved over half a million tons of dirt in the process (that’s 25,000 lorry loads)!
4. We’ve staged Arenacross in nine of the UK’s biggest cities: London, Belfast, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and Liverpool
5. £1.2m in prize money has been paid out to riders and teams since we’ve started
6. Adam Chatfield (UK – 2013) was the first ever Arenacross Champion
7. Tommy Searle (UK – 2023) was the first ever official Arenacross British Champion (ACU Sanctioned)
8. Thomas Ramette (France) has been the most successful rider winning three championships (2015,16 & 17) with Fabien Izoird (France – 2014), Cedric Soubeyras (France – 2018), Gregory Aranda (France – 2019) and Charles Le Francois (France – 2020) each taking a single championship before two Covid interrupted years followed by Tommy Searle dominating in 2023
9. Suzuki have been the most dominant manufacturer with five Championships followed by Kawasaki (three championships) and Honda way back in 2013 with a single championship owned by Adam Chatfield
10. The KTM Group (KTM, GASGAS and Husqvarna) have never won a Pro Main Event in the 78 nights of Arenacross
11. Jack Brunell, Adam Chatfield and Matt Bayliss are the only three Pro Racers to line up every year since Arenacross started in 2013 – and will be ready to race again in 2024
12. Adam Chatfield is the only rider to make every single Main Event since Arenacross started.
13. Joe Clayton and his brother Ben are the only two riders to have won Youth and Lites Championships and now contest in the Pro Class
14. Thomas Ramette is the all time Main Event winner (23 wins) with Cedric Soubeyras second (12 wins) with Adam Chatfield and Florent Richier tied on 7 Main event wins each
15. Jack Brunell (UK) has had more podiums finishes than any rider without making it to the top step
16. Edgar Torronteras and Dan Whitby (Freestyle MX) haven’t missed an Arenacross event in 10 years!
17. There have been 20 different nationalities, across five continents race in the Pro Class since the series began
18. Josh Hansen (USA) is the only American to win a single Main Event (2016 – Hydro Arena, Glasgow)
19. Dan Reardon is the only Australian rider to win a Main Event at his final attempt (2020 – Wembley Arena, London)
20. Arenacross crowned the first ever British Motocross Champion on an electric bike in 2023 when Austin Edwards won the e5 Class
21. 2024 will be the first time any electric dirt bike will race in the Pro Class as Stark Varg enter an all-new team
22. We’ve had some iconic show hosts including Christian Stevenson (aka DJ BBQ), BBC Olympic winter sport hosts Ed Leigh and Tim Warwood, to European Wakeboard Champ, Matt Crowhurst; all of whom have been ably-assisted by their ‘knowledge’ – the ever long standing voice of AX, Jeff Perret!

Matt Bates, Arenacross Owner said: “I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved in the 10 years of Arenacross and can’t thank our loyal fans, riders, their families and race teams enough. Arenacross has created some amazing moments for the sport of motorcycling and introduced thousands of new fans to dirt bikes and given opportunities to thousands of new bike owners.

“Along our journey we’ve worked hard to introduce brands such as Bolesworth, Garmin, Ford, Monster Energy, TomTom and so many more to connect with some amazing events – but above all, I can’t thank our incredible team of staff enough for making Saturday nights in the cold, wet winters, that much more fun!”

The Arenacross British Championship presented by Fix Auto UK returns from January to February 2024; tickets are on sale now and make the perfect Christmas gift… make it a Merry Arenacrossmas for the motocross fan in your life by visiting www.bolesworth.com/arenacross.

Take a step down memory lane to the first ever round of Arenacross on 12 January 2013 below!