3800 m3 of earth, 300 rotations of trucks and bulldozers: the Supercross, a funny show in Nanterre

From rugby to motorcycling.

This is the challenge that has imposed itself in recent days on the organizers of the Paris Supercross, which begins this Saturday (at 7 p.m.), and which continues the next day (3 p.m.).

In four days (and nights), a whole team radically transformed the room at La Défense Arena, as it has for five years.

A well-rehearsed performance that leaves no room for chance.

Last Saturday, the Racing rugby players took the measure of Perpignan (44-20).

Definitely a souvenir for those who plan to come back this weekend.

“We take possession of the room on Monday, says Romain Nicolas, the deputy director of Larivière Organizations.

The operation begins with the covering of the synthetic ground with a tarpaulin, then wooden plates of 3 meters by 3, and finally new plastic plates.

It is then the turn of the track itself.

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The 7,000 m² surface area is covered by 3,800 m3 of earth, i.e. 8,000 tons.

This earth, stored year-round somewhere in Ile-de-France and which belongs to the organizer, has been the same used since 2017. There are nearly 300 truck rotations to transport it in full: "The first shot on Tuesday at the end of the day, then all night”, continues Romain Nicolas.

The machines return each time to the enclosure in order to dump their load there.

On site, a dozen "bobcats" (a sort of mini-bulldozer) work to pull out to shape the 700 meters in length of the circuit, which will be covered in 45 seconds by the best riders, and which has been drawn since the 1st edition in 1984 by the same track tracer.

At Bercy (1984-2013), the pilots had a playground 50 meters wide by 75 meters long.

At the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille (2014-2017), they played on an area of ​​81 x 64. This weekend, the track designed for the U-Arena was designed with a width of 80 meters and a length of 110 meters!