STOURBRIDGE professional dirt bike racer Steven Clarke slipped back to third place in the overall standings following a disappointing show in the Garmin Arenacross Tour which took place in front of 7,000 fans at Birmingham’s LG Arena this week.

Clarke was forced to qualify for the main event via the last chance qualifier which left him with a poor gate for the race.

A philosophical Clarke said: “Starts are everything in Arenacross. Because I had to qualify for the main event through the LCQ, I got a bad choice of starting position, so I was always going to be chasing the race.

“But I’m still in third place overall and there are four rounds of the competition to go, so I’ve got the opportunity to catch up.”

It was Frenchman Fabien Izoird who proved the big winner on the night, stretching his lead at the top of the Pro standings to 14 points, with Aussie rider Daniel McCoy moving up a place to second spot, overtaking Clarke in the process after following Izoird across the line in the final race of the night with Clarke coming home in ninth place.

Izoird now has 66 points to his tally, with McCoy on 52 while Clarke is a point adrift in third place.

The Garmin Arenacross now heads to Liverpool’s Echo Arena this Sunday, which is the fourth stop in the seven round tour.

And Clarke has every reason to try to obtain top spot as there is a £100,000 prize for the overall winner.

The competition is Europe’s biggest indoor motorcycle race series which is contested by an international field of 24 pro riders, who between them represent 10 different countries.

Clarke was holding second spot after the first two events of the series in Belfast and is determined to get back on track this week.