Jack Brunell from the ASA United Husqvarna team is one of the veterans of the Arenacross series, and has a lot of experience racing all over Europe in the German, French and other International indoor races. We caught up with him after his top 10 finish on Saturday night at the opening round of the 2020 Arenacross series, held in Belfast.

MXlarge: How did you feel coming into the first round. I saw your name on some results from Germany, but were you happy with how your preparation was?

Brunell: Obviously end of last year I decided to do the German supercross series to get race ready for the Arenacross, because otherwise January starts, and we have the Arenacross. November and December, I did the German supercross. I felt I rode good and my fitness and I made three of the six finals and I was happy with that. Just prepping for the Arenacross really.  Lee Tolan at ASA Husqvarna is a good friend for the last 10 to 12 years and he decided to put a team together and I just want to try and get on the podium as much as possible for him.

MXLarge: I noticed one of the nights you finished top Brit, which must have been nice. What is the goal coming in, these French guys are very experienced and fast, what can you do to compete with them?

Brunell: My goal was, I know I am as fast as these guys in an English track and my goal is to get on the podium. Friday night I got taken out by a guy I usually get on well with, and maybe I didn’t see him, and I went down. I had to go to the head to head and last chance and I didn’t get through. My riding was good, and I should have been in the final, so I was gutted about that. Second night I rode a lot better and in the super final I was second for like 10 laps and the Hsu passed me and Soub was behind me then, and it was I think until about 12 or 13 laps and you need to take care of your team-mates and he passed me, but then two corners later he went down and I had to go wide to pass him, and then the next corner was a deep run, which I usually come on the inside, but I had to come in a lot tighter than I normally would because I had to go around Soub and I lost the front end. I slipped off and ended up sixth, and I was gutted about that, because I had done all the hard work. I was still happy because my speed was good, and we are looking good for the coming rounds.

MXLarge: How was Belfast? The same or different from past years?

Brunell: I always like going to Belfast, they fill the stadiums up and it was pretty much the same as it always is, and I really like it.

MXlarge: If you think about the British motocross championship or the Arenacross, and obviously the British motocross championship has a big history, but you might go to a round that has 1000 people, while the Arenacross has like 8000 people for each round. What is your opinion of the two?

Brunell: It is a show isn’t it, and you can take your family or friends. I have always loved the side of bringing sponsors to the Arenacross. It is only three hours and exciting racing. I have done the British motocross championship last year and you can see it is going down a little bit. It costs so much money to race motocross and it isn’t getting easier. That is why I choose the Arenacross and luckily, I have the backing from Lee Tolan at ASA Husqvarna and that helps a lot.

MXLarge: Matt Bates, the promoter of the Arenacross mentioned on the Arenacross social media pages that he would love to see guys like Shaun Simpson, Tommy Searle or Ben Watson doing the Arenacross, but obviously they are busy with their pre-season prep for the Grand Prix’s. What is your opinion on that?

Brunell: I would love to see those guys doing Arenacross. It would be cool to have those guys ride. The problem is, it is totally different and if you have a motocross guy racing Arenacross, they might get lapped, while an Arenacross guy would probably get lapped by the motocross guys on a motocross track. As a UK rider we don’t get much support, the European guys get the better deals and that is frustrating.

MXLarge: The next round is Birmingham and many riders seem to love that round. How do you find it?

Brunell: Yes, I really like Birmingham, the soil is good there and the guys Justin and that make the tracks more technical and in Belfast the ground was slippery, but Birmingham it shows the class of rider and it is a bigger track and bigger rhythms. I always look forward to that one.

MXlarge: The Arenacross is known for the family vibe at the races. What is your experience with that?

Brunell: I mean, I have raced these guys for a long time, either in France, Germany or UK. We all have a lot of respect for each other and really only the LCQ or head to head is pretty rough, but the rest is good.

MXLarge: What about when the Arenacross finishes, what do you have going on after that?

Brunell: The AMA supercross is still going isn’t it, and I would love to get over and do some of those one times. I will just spend time with family and maybe do some motocross really. The guys from ASA Husqvarna run a team at the British championship and I might do some motocross with them.