The fourth and fifth rounds of the 2025-26 AMA/FIM Arenacross Championship visited the International Center in Toronto, Canada, on January 9-10 for two exciting nights of racing, featuring three main events in a unique triple-crown format.
Drama in the AX Pro division was at an all-time high after last week’s action with Ryan Breece and Cole Thompson, the top two in the championship points, and both riders were ready to duke it out on track. In the end, though, Breece swept all six main events and further extended his points lead.
On Friday night, the MotoConcepts Racing Honda machines of Austin Politelli and Breece ran up front early in main number one. Politelli grabbed the holeshot and led the opening laps before Breece powered past him through the whoop section. Breece looked strong in the whoops all night long and used the same area to make the most of his passes. After he made his way around teammate Politelli, Breece cruised off to the opening win of the night, with Politelli and Thompson rounding out the podium.
Politelli started up front with another holeshot in race two, but once again his teammate Breece forced the issue with a fast run through the whoops early on in the race. This put Breece into the top spot, where he was untouchable for the remaining laps. Politelli and Breece held on to the final two spots on the podium.
Race three proved to be the best one of Friday night’s action. Canadian native Julien Benek took the holeshot and put up a strong fight against Breece and Thompson at the front of the field. The Kawasaki-mounted rider went toe-to-toe with the series’ top two racers. After multiple block passes, Breece finally made his bid for the lead and earned a clean sweep of all three main events. Politelli snuck his way past both Thompson and Benek and went 2-2-2 on the night. Thompson’s 4-3-4 results still put him third overall.
Saturday night’s round five proved to be nearly a carbon copy of round four as Breece again swept all three main events. His 1-1-1 finishes made it a clean sweep of all six races and further extended his points lead to 16 over Thompson.
“The game has been elevated,” Breece said. “We were at the test track last week with the Honda boys, having Hunter [Lawrence] and Chance [Hymas] there. It feels good. I actually like the pressure on me. It’s making me adapt a little harder and making me focus in. I just want to keep it going.”
Politelli stayed consistent on night two with three second-place finishes. Good starts put the Honda rider up front, and he took second each time, behind his MCR teammate.
“I straight up got beat this weekend,” Politelli said. “He [Breece] was better than I was this weekend, and I need to be faster—that’s really all there is to say. At least I was consistent. The last few rounds, I seem to have a crash in there, and I didn’t do that this weekend, so that’s a plus.”
Cole Thompson still took third overall on Saturday night by taking third in all three main events. A run-in with Kyle Bitterman during the main two damaged Thompson’s bike, and he was forced to make a bike change during the short intermission. He finished swapping wheels as the other competitors were lining up but managed to get to the gate in time and click off another podium result.
“Anyone who’s done that [bike work] knows how stressful it is to hear your race going off for the sight lap.” Thompson said. “I’m just bummed I didn’t make the most of the speed I had today. I can’t really say too much; especially when you get beat, you can’t really talk.”
The next round of Arenacross takes place in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 24.CN
2025-26 AMA/FIM Arenacross Toronto Results
Round 4 (Top 5)
- Ryan Breece (Hon) 1-1-1
- Austin Politelli (Hon) 2-2-2
- Cole Thompson (Yam) 4-3-4
- Kyle Bitterman (Hon) 3-5-5
- Julien Benek (Kaw) 10-4-3
Round 5 (Top 5)
- Ryan Breece (Hon) 1-1-1
- Austin Politelli (Hon) 2-2-2
- Cole Thompson (Yam) 3-3-3
- Steve Mages (Kaw) 6-5-5
- Julien Benek (Kaw) 4-9-4
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