Aust Classic MX
13 July, 2019 – Harrisville, Qld.
Beautiful weather and a great track greeted riders from all states to contest the 2019 Classic titles. WA as always provided a strong contingent bringing over twenty bikes by container. Rider numbers entered was 130 being the biggest for some years, although unfortunately diminished by the withdrawal of the sidecar contingent. All classes were hotly contested with Pre75 and Evolution having full grids. A highlight was the battles between the fast teenage hot shots Tom Casey, Sam Noonan, Jake Grimmbacher, Ciaron McKeown and others who fought out several classes. At the other end of the spectrum ten Superseniors (riders over 70 years) went at it with honours going to evergreen Jens Olsen. Fastest lap of the meeting went to Brendan Richards on a 490 Maico. An award, Champion of Champions, decided by the highest points scorer over the Post Classic Championship hosted by Heaven VMX at Cessnock two weeks before, and this event, saw a runaway win by iron man Brad Van Barrelo. The annual “Spirit of Vintage” award went to Phil Scott from Victoria who brought up a truckload of bikes for others to ride. A feature fun event was the Family Bragging Rights relay with handicaps calculated on combined father/son (or daughter) ages, with Bill and Brian Watson combined age of 150 years down to Nigel and Tom Casey at 60 (do the math). Honours went to Alan and Daryle Mitchell from Colin and Peter Metcher and Bert and Tony Cavell. Full results can be seen at: www.speedhive.mylaps.com/ Events/1692463.
Just to show there is no justice, the two main injuries were suffered by Bill Watson and Greg Mitchell. Bill is the oldest entrant at 90 years and travelled from Perth WA for the event. Bill suffered a broken leg and a forced holiday at Ipswich Hospital. Greg created the Harrisville track enjoyed by many over several years and put in countless hours in track preparation for this event. Greg was fast but came unstuck in a big way with rib and back injuries. Both are on the road to recovery. Social aspects were well covered with a visit to Greg Mitchell’s collection followed by dinner at the Harrisville Hotel Friday night, dinner at Peak Pub Saturday evening followed by a trivia quiz at which about $1,000 in prizes were handed out, and presentation with free food and drinks Sunday afternoon. All in all another successful National – bring on the next one.