Patricia Weston reports on the Supercross show at the Point last weekend.
Dublin's Port Tunnel may be disrupting traffic for Dubliners, but for two nights last weekend earth from the excavation was put to very good use. Dirt from the tunnel was moulded into a track of hills, jumps and obstacles that filled the Point Depot for the International Supercross Championships.
"Eighty lorry-loads of clay were used to shape the race-track," according to Eurosport commentator and MC Jack Burnicle.
The audience was treated to an evening of full-throttle, action-packed, close contact racing. The Point Arena staged the Supercross championships for the first time. Talented riders Gordon Crockard, David Coates, Neil 'Prince of Wales' Prince and Stuart Edmonds battled it out on the track. The heady scent of motorbike mineral oil filled the air of the arena as noisy, raspy-sounding motorbikes roared through the stadium. Colourful orange, green and yellow fluorescent KTM, Kawasaki and Honda bikes raced across the clay dirt and shale track.
The bikes used for this supercross racing are mainly four-stroke engines. Suspension is stronger on a supercross bike than on a road bike so the wheels can soak up the bumps. "It was a very entertaining night. The arena was small but the racing was good, and exciting," said spectator Jason McGee.
Supercross is the indoor version of Motocross. Motocross involves motorbike racing on an off-road or dirt surface.
The constructed circuit was the size of a tennis court. "The track was too small and there should have been more high jumps and a powered straight but it was still a class night's racing," said Philip Peters.
According to Gordon Crockard the "dirt was terrible, there was more stone than soil on the track. At the Belfast Odyssey arena the organisers buy and store the dirt so it doesn't break up and rocks are not thrown up in your face as you race."
Spectators who managed to obtain balcony seats were treated to a full view of the show, but those who were seated on the ground-floor tiered seats missed out on a lot of the action. "The view was limited, I could only see one jump from where I was sitting," said one spectator in the tiered area.
Tom O'Hare brought his son Ryan to the event. "It was very good and it took a lot to bring an event like this to Dublin. They're very talented young kids." he added.
An international line-up of skilled racers from Wales, Australia, Britain and Ireland gave the spectators an action-packed show. Ireland's Ross Brown, who came second in 125cc Championship in Southern Ireland this year, and Jason Rennie - current Guinness World Record Holder for the longest jump entertained the audience.
Newtownards man Gordon Crockard, and current British Champion holder, won the final 250cc race on Friday night. He described the win as a "fairytale story". Crockard has numerous championship titles to his name and has been Ireland's top racer in Motorcross and Supercross for the past 10 years, winning GPs and national titles.
He came second in Saturday nights race but said he "didn't care too much", he had good crack, the support was fantastic and he hoped the event could become an annual one. When the racing was over the track was deconstructed to make way for freestyle rider Ollie Hegarty. It took almost 20 minutes for the bumpy track to be bulldozed to form a high mound so that 16-year-old Ollie could perform some amazing feats in mid-air. He wowed the audience on his 125 Yamaha performing acrobatic heel clickers and superman stunts 40 feet in the air.
Eight-year-old Liam McGavish from Skerries said he would like to have seen more stunts on the night but he thought it was "really good."
Race promoters Future West are currently in negotiations to try and get the show back to Dublin next year. Last weekend saw Dublin hold round six of the International Supercross championship, with most races usually staged in Britain and Northern Ireland. The event's organiser, John Hellam said: "We'll be back next year, it was the best received event." Highlights from the event will be shown on Network 2 on February 7th.