belfast SX - Craic troops!
By TMX Archives on 15th Dec 05
A pair of action-packed nights at Belfast's Odyssey Arena show just how frickin' good UK supercross can be
It's little wonder that ex AMA National champ Mike Brown calls it "the best supercross in Europe" as once again Events 22's Belfast International Supercross does its bit to remind us just how frickin' great indoor scrambly bike racing in the UK has the potential to be!
And for once it's not all the glitz and glamour that have us salivating for more. The dancing girls are done away with and instead it's action all the way as seven salacious scraps filled with bar-banging, brain-blitzing and, at times, ball-bruising racing are backed up by four high-flying freestylers, a cast of celebrity minibikers, 12 ten-year olds on 65s and even a four-lap demo by Ireland's leading quad god! Amazing stuff!
Matt Bates and his crew once again pull out all the stops - as well as the hammered Events 22 cheque book - to ensure an international entry of note are present in the Odyssey. Ex-world champ Sebastien Tortelli leads the entry list in SX2 while transatlantic challengers Marco Dube and Ironman Jacob Saylor battle it out with GP winners Billy Mac and Carl Nunn and future stars Tommy Searle and Neville Bradshaw for second spot behind the flying Frenchman who goes six for six in the two nights' SX2 heats.
Downtown Mike Brown does a similar job of destroying the opposition in SX1 as the resident of Piney Flats, Tennessee, dominates proceedings ahead of current Bookoo Arenacross series leader Josh Woods, Saylor and a brand new Belfast hero in the shape of Martin Barr. Barr's awesome all weekend and the local phenomenon shows little fear as he battles his way into the hearts of the crowd. Meanwhile, Martin's Bike-It Dixon Yamaha team-mate and former Odyssey winner Gordon Crockard is struggling and the Ulsterman gets taken down more than once by other riders before managing to crash all on his own while leading one of Saturday's heats - d'oh!
While there's plenty of action in the heats it's the mixed-capacity Main Events that really matter as the top six from SX1 and SX2 battle it out in two 15-lap finals. While 15 laps might sound like a fair few you've gotta remember that with a 25-second lap it's gonna be a done deal in less than seven minutes and that makes for some intense action.
Mike Brown snaps from the gate and into an early lead in Friday's Main while Woods and former British supercross champ Neil Prince separate Brown from the leading SX2 riders Saylor and Searle. Tortelli's mired midpack but Dyno's on the move as he blows by Saylor and Woods to catch up with Brownie.
The Bike-It Dixon boys are battling over fifth with Searle until Crockard and Tommy play pinball. "Gordon came past me but I went up the inside in the turn before the finish," reckons Tommy. "He was on the outside line and I thought he was gonna stay there but he turned back in and we hit pretty hard."
The impact's enough to kill the radiator on Gordy's bike so that just leaves Barr and Billy to battle it out for best Bike-It rider home and there are no holds barred as a personal bet between the two needs to be settled. "I bet Martin a Mars bar I could beat him," laughs Billy. "He was right in front of me and I thought right I'm gonna go for it then I came into the finish line corner and lost the front end."
Tortelli's finally caught Brown at the front and all eyes are firmly focussed on the leading pair as Sebastien simply powers past the American Rockstar Suzuki rider on the factory KTM. "It was pretty tough to catch Mike," reckons Tortelli. "It must have been pretty exciting for the public though." And if the ever increasing volume of the Odyssey crowd is anything to go by then Sebastien's not wrong!
Woods is pleased to finish third on his 450 Suzuki on Friday but there's better to come from the man from Michigan as he'll go one better the next night. Again it's Brown who nails the start in Saturday's Main Event and once more Sebastien has to do his bit to catch up. This time it takes the Frenchman a little longer to get to the front as less than 0.1 of a second separates the leading pair's lap times! But even though there's a battle raging for first most of the partisan crowd's attention is with homeboy Barr who's been more entertaining tonight than he has all year! And Martin's increased form is doing his teeth and Billy Mac's wallet no good as there's yet another wager in place between the pair. "I bet him another Mars bar - double or quits," jokes Billy who can do no better than eighth tonight as he provides the filling in a Crockard/Glen Phillips sandwich. "I guess I owe him two Mars bars now."
That chocolatey bar of nougat and caramel goodness probably tastes all the sweeter to Martin as he also pockets the third and final podium spot with just two corners to go as he passes a stricken Brown who's gone down all by himself in the next to last left hander. It's Woods who stands one step above Barr on the podium and he's pretty pleased with his first trip to Ireland even though it took him a damn sight longer than he anticipated to get here. "I got here late after missing my connecting flight in New York," admits Josh. "It took me too long to get going in the Main but once I did I had the speed to be up front. I'm happy - I stayed safe, avoided the big crashes and had a lot of fun."
And that sentiment of having fun is something that each and every race fan who attended either - or even both - night's action will savour until the next one. It's just a damn shame we've got to wait another 12 months! So come on Matt, how about bringing us a full on UK supercross series just like in the good old days...
And what about... The nippers
If it weren't for the Crazy Frog soundtrack that accompanies the 65cc races they'd be absolutely corking. Local lad Simon Reid beats British interlopers James Dunne and Malachi Mitchell-Thomas to the overall with some good consistent riding.
The freestylers
The Skin Industries/Freestylextreme.com supported UKFMX team featuring Disco Dave Wiggins, Chris Brock, Danny Veale and the glamour-boy Gary Taylor himself play an absolute blinder in showing us what FMX is all about and Brock even throws down the first back-flip ever seen live in the Odyssey Arena.
The celebrities
Two bona fide TV stars, a rapidly expanding ex-world champion MX racer and a whole bunch of motorcycle celebrities take to the track on both nights in the entirely entertaining minibike races. Derby's Jamie Dobb wins both races outright but in the much hyped battle of the soap stars it's Coronation Street's Ryan Thomas who beats off Emmerdale's Kelvin Fletcher in a battle royale with cheese. In case you're wondering who the hell they are then here's the lowdown... Kelvin plays the part of Andy Sugden in Emmerdale - he's a farmer or something - while Jason plays the part of a builder named Todd who's currently having it away with both Sarah Platt (I'd hit that three times) and Violet Wilson (yep and her too). Lucky bar-steward!
Justin Reid
Some Irish dude with two extra wheels and a thumb throttle invades the Odyssey come Saturday night and proceeds to nail the big finish line double - good work crazy four-wheeled, fumb-frottling fella!
The fans
Supercross is nothing without spectators who are having a good time and the Odyssey is full of them for two nights running. Plenty of pre-event advertising and sensibly priced tickets help make that a reality and we're sure a world-class line-up that includes a whole host of talented locals does no harm either. See you there next year!