French rider Greg Aranda steals show at Arenacross UK in Belfast

In two superb Pro Main Event Super Finals over Friday and Saturday night in front of packed houses, the 29-year-old, who had never raced in the UK before the event was unstoppable as he came from behind in both 15 lap races, to win in style.

For local rider Martin Barr it was a weekend of highs and lows. The Ballyclare rider was voted the ‘Off Road Rider of the Year’ for 2019 and he proved why with a superb performance on the opening night, finishing eighth overall in the Super Final before rushing away straight after, crossing the finish line to collect his award at the Cornmarket Motorcycle Awards.

Unfortunately Saturday’s racing did not go to plan with the Crescent Yamaha man crashing out of the opening Pro Lites race and he was side-lined for the rest of the meeting through injury.

Still upbeat but disappointed, Martin reflected on his weekend.

“Yeah I’m really happy at winning the award. It’s been a few years since I last won and it’s nice to get recognised again. Looking back I had a good year but it could have been better,” he said.

“I was leading the European championship early on in the season and ended up fourth. I was also fifth in the British MX2. It wasn’t a spectacular year but I think everyone saw the effort I was putting in.

“I had a lot of bad luck along the way but that’s the joys of motocross. It was really nice to pick up the award on Friday night but it was certainly busy as straight after the Super Final in the SSE Arena I basically got changed into the tux in the car park got a bit of a wipe down and wash and went round to the Cornmarket Motorcycle Awards.

“It was a fantastic night, very busy, but really worthwhile. On the racing front Friday night was really good. It was my first Arenacross in five years and to make the Super final straight away was pretty special.

“It is one of those times when I took it step by step and got faster as the night went on. Two fifth positions in my heat races qualified me straight into the final where I finished eighth and the third Pro Lites rider. I was over the moon.

“After such a long lay off from arenacross things have changed so much. Riders have got so much better and to be in the mix was realty good. I was looking forward to Saturday but unfortunately it didn’t last too long. In the first final I got caught up off the start and nearly went down.

“I was coming through the pack but I was tightening up a little bit and wasn’t riding the best. My timing wasn’t perfect and with three laps to go me and another rider came together and I went down pretty hard and broke my little finger.

“It is nothing serious and I probably could have ridden if I had needed to but against the riders I’m racing against you need to be 100 per-cent and you need full grip, so it was a tough call to call it a night.”

“I have broken my wee finger and done some tendon damage, so it’s nothing too serious. With the next round in a couple of weeks I will be back at it soon.”

Glenn McCormick rode his heart out but did not have the best of luck. The Unique Fit Out Husqvarna rider didn’t join his fellow countryman Barr in the final but did finish seventh in Friday’s opening Pro Lites race and ninth in race two.

On Saturday a sixth in the opening race was looking promising for race two when another rider took the Glenoe man out.

“I enjoyed the whole atmosphere in Belfast and it will be something I will remember the rest of my career,” he said.