Comber quarry supplying tonnes of soil to SSE Arena in Belfast for motocross event

For one weekend each year the SSE Arena in Belfast is transformed into a dirt track.

Tonnes of the stuff is transported from a local quarry so as it can be used for Arenacross, a mixture of Motorcross and freestyle racing.

The event takes place on Friday and Saturday.

The events organiser Matt Bates explains how the soil is transported in and out: "We use 2,500 tonnes of dirt that we have stored just in Comber.

"We have had it there for seven or eight years, it's the sort of soil that drains quite well because at this time of year dirt can get too wet and we don't want it wet.

"What we build here takes about 24 to 48 hours depending on what it is but the dirt takes us about 10 hours to bring in and about the same to get out.

"It's mad, we own pockets of dirt all over the country and we have them really close to venues so that you don't have these big transport costs."

Some of the competitors including Harry Graham and Mason Shields, are as young as nine, but as they explained, they have never known any different.

Mason started the sport about five or six years ago when he was three. He says "I got an electric bike and I loved it, my dad got me a wee mini auto and I just started loving it."

Harry was slightly younger when he started: "When I was two, I just started playing about on a bike and then I started racing when I was six."

The sport was also the first love of a Northern Ireland sporting hero in six time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea: " I love motocross, it was my first love and here at Arenacross, I remember being 15, 16 years old rolling out at the Odyssey Arena back then on a 125 motocross bike and you know that feeling is incredible."

Arenacross takes place at the SSE Arena on Friday 19 January and Saturday 20 January.

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