Bert the legend

Congratulations on a very good article on Bert Flood, he was indeed a genius on 2 strokes especially. I was fortunate to be sponsored riding Bultacos in the sixties, and was often there in his shop in South Melbourne and later in Box Hill. What was amazing is how he lived to 79 judging by the risks he took. I remember when he bought the Ferrari Daytona in the early ‘70s he called around to my shop in Dandenong with his pride and joy, handed me the keys, jumped in the passenger seat and we took off down Monash Freeway. He urged me to “get into it” when we were already doing around 200 km/h! I resisted as I was starting to feel uncomfortable – I think he thought I was a bit weak! Later he had a modified Ford Falcon GT and gave me a drive around the side streets of Box Hill. He urged me to “get on the second barrels” when there were numerous cross roads. Again, I resisted, but I wanted to live a bit longer! Another time he arrived at a Supercross at Heathcote in an ultralight aircraft – he had got lost on the way and was nearly out of petrol! I bet there are many similar stories about a true legend. Geoff Taylor Sandhurst, Melbourne, Vic.