The 2026 Arenacross Tour is gearing up for its second and third rounds this weekend and Belfast, and after the biggest changes to the night show schedule since the series began in 2013, the Pros are happy with the extra bike time and the chance to build their end result through the full night of racing!

Championship leader Dean Wilson, who went unbeaten in Birmingham for Armor Vision Powered by St Blazey MX, despite never starting well, confirmed his approval whilst preparing for the next encounter: “The new format is definitely exciting, I like everything apart from the Head-to-Heads, they can be a bit risky, but I really enjoyed it at Birmingham. The main events, the Hot Laps, everything new kept it all exciting. The reverse grid definitely threw in a plot twist in the format, it actually worked out quite well for me in the first round! I started second row, it’s a lot more of a challenge, hopefully in Belfast I can pull through again and get my way to the front.”

2024 Arenacross Champion Jack Brunell, who recovered from a difficult opening race to now sit joint second in the points table, has kept himself busy by racing his Stark Future machine in Denmark in the weekend between AX rounds, was also happy with the changes to a series he’s been a part of for over a decade: “I enjoyed the new format a lot, we get a lot more riding in which is nice, obviously the Hot Laps part is great for the fans to start the night off. The heat races are now all finals, so every result counts, like I had a bad result in the first race, then went 2-2-2 including the Head-to-Heads, so it worked out well for me.”

Jack continued: “Everyone seemed to love the three-man Head-to-Head Final as well, I’ve been asked a lot about that, like just how close was it and so on. And I thought the reverse grid was a good idea, it worked well at Birmingham, because we were coming through the pack, and you had different guys at the front which is always good!”

Dylan Woodcock also liked the shake-up in the schedule as he hit the podium for Dirt Store Triumph Racing: “I’ve been doing Arenacross for many, many years, going back to being on a 65! And it’s always been heats, last chance, and a final. So now with doing Hot Laps, a ‘Triple Crown’ style format and the Head-to-Heads, I enjoyed it a lot. It’s definitely hard on the mechanics, they have to work very quickly between races. The Hot Laps are wicked, it’s just a one lap dash, and people love the intensity of that one lap, where we have to throw it down for a good time. The reverse grid was good, I liked coming through the pack, it’s great for the fans too. I’ve been working on starts a lot since then, I think it’s a bit hard to Holeshot from the second row, but I’ll give it a go, ha ha! It’s all good fun, and I’m excited for Belfast. See you guys there!”

Martin Barr welcomed the changes as yet another experience to add to his vast collection! “Really enjoyed the new format, especially the Hot Laps to start off the night. It’s good to get the heart rate up straight away! Obviously it’s a lot more riding, especially with the Main Events getting that couple of laps longer each time. The reverse grid definitely made things interesting, I had a bit of bad luck in the second race so I got on the front row which gave me a better start, it definitely gives the crowd something to keep an eye on with the likes of Wilson coming from the back row! It was good to do something new, something different, and freshen things up!”

Matt Bayliss enjoyed a solid night for J3M Shocktech Racing: “Going straight into the Hot Laps was pretty cool, a good segment of the evening. I think it all went really well, good to see a lot of people there too. The Fan Zone was great, so many people said they had never been before, so it was wicked to see so many young kids really keen for it. Hopefully it will bring some more really good people into the sport, I really want to see more young riders take this up. With the reverse grid, I think Belfast will be a different sort of game, the track is tighter and could create some issues for the top guys trying to come through. We’ll see how it works out, I’m looking forward to it!”

John Adamson was his usual cheerful self when discussing his first night of racing for Phoenix Tools Fantic Racing: “Heeere’s Johnny! Yeah, I loved the first round back in Birmingham, lots of track time for the Pros now, there was obviously plenty of carnage going on, trouble always seems to find me! The reverse grid didn’t affect me too much, I got the holeshot in all three races, so obviously my Phoenix Tools Fantic’s got plenty of power! The reverse grid’s good for the crowd, it makes it even more exciting for them. It tends to cause a little trouble for the faster guys, so it’s good, it mixes the racing up.”

Adam Chatfield of AJP Racing, and Eddie Wade of Dirt Store Triumph Racing, who currently sit fourth and fifth in the Championship, echoed the feeling of the new format being hectic and giving them a lot of bike time, with not a lot of rest!

John’s teammate Carlton Husband was impressed with his first experience of Arenacross: “It was my first time doing anything like that, it ran really smooth and it was crazy how many people were there! Enjoyed the whole thing, I gotta practice more in the whoops, but I can’t wait to get racing in Belfast!”

One thing’s for sure, the new format is being well received, so even if you’ve been to Belfast Arenacross before, it’s sure to be an even better experience in 2026!

Why not improve your experience even further by upgrading to a Track Walk pass to literally get your feet on the dirt, feel for yourself how steep the jumps go and how tight the corners are? This can be added to a regular admission ticket for under £50, and everyone has gone away from this with an extra realisation of just how incredible our riders are to be riding as fast as they do!

Arenacross 2026 in Belfast – it’s gotta be seen to be believed!