The Broadford Nats were awsome yes conditions were tough at times but the rain and mud are a great equalizer Greg and Brian on Murrays 998 GRM EMl were on fire and in the first race where off the line like a scalded cat Walter and myself went in to the first corner second with Bret and Hamish on there pre 75 outfit in third and once they got that frieght train rolling I could here them coming and at times thought they were going to join us in our chair they were that close.I dont think Bret ever closed the throttle all the way round we chased Greg and Brain for about a lap and a half but the mud and the rain finally making it to hard to see and going wide on one of the corners allowing Bret and Hamish to pull a great undertaking manouver. They chased Greg and Brian hard but didn't have enough time to catch them. I have to say considering the conditions and the bike they were riding was a lot lower than the pre 85's it was a great effort.
On the Sunday we woke up to more rain and mud but at least it stopped raining for our race, it was very important to get the holeshot and after seeing the performance of the youngters the day before we knew we had our work cut out for us to get to that 1st corner, Walters experence paid off in the gate choice and once it dropped I felt like I was hanging onto a Saturn rocket We must thank Damien, Walters mechanic for his hours of painstaking work in building a fast and reliable engine, but with the muddy conditions it was more about being able to stay on line than speed the mud was so deep in places that the bike was bought to a halt at times trying to get traction Greg and Brian tried eveything to pass but in those conditions it was always going to be hard as Bret and Hamish found out, they told me later they had to get off and push up one of the hills.
So for the last race of the day we needed to win as we were still behind on points and the youngsters were fired up and wanted blood it was good to see that they were paying attention and made a much better gate choice, we had a drying track so conditions were improving. The gate dropped and we were off again this time with our rivals on the inside line again we got to the corner first which was a huge moral boost we got down to the second corner which is a hairpin and I could hear Greg screeming to us to go faster but we made sure me held the racing line as the next corner was where Bret and Hamish got past us once the race settled down we all seemed to arrive at the corners at the same time, I think Greg and Brian where so focused on trying to pass us that Bret and hamish where able to slip passed, then all I could hear again was Bret holding that bike of thiers pinned just as we went over little down hill jump into the corner we got a little hurry up nudge after that Walter raced up the hill and didn't slow down until the two step down jumps when we went off the second jump we landed at the bottom and I thought we would be po-goed right off the course but the Promax/yss shocks worked perfectly when we needed them too and I my bad knee is very greatfull and the rest as they say is history thank you Walter and all the other competitors who turned up.
The way I have been talking you would swear there was only three sidecars! There was not the Smithy brothers bought out thier late fathers immaculate norton outfit out and rode it like they stole it, they certainly gave it there best shot but in the conditons it was always going to be tough on a pre 75 bike but thier father would have been very proud off them, although I don,t know if he would have been happy when they bought it back coverd in mud, well done. Two outfits came down from QLD Ronnies EML piloted by Popeye with Vaughn as Swinger in practice they looked like poetry in motion but all to no avail as they got to the gate the biked lost its spark and no one had a spare bucket of sparks to get it going even a late run into Melbourne to get another coil didn't help, And also thanks to Can-am who striped the coil off his own Harley to try and get the boys going. Then there was Jamie and Dave on Helen and Daves RM500 which I had ridern the week before at the HBBB and was running just fine however in practice Jamie only knowing two settings for throttle on or off managed to nip it up. Might add not his fault as later discovered engine sucking in air threw a lose joint so a quick top end rebuild overnight had the bike running for the next day unfortunately Helen had forgotern to pay the electric bill before they left Mackay so their spark was cut off at the start line as well. But if enthusiasm and friendlyness got you points they are the Australian Champions.
As someone pointed out earlier us sidecar folk do shoot ourselves in the foot but we did put a good show on considering we dont talk! Imagine what we could do if worked together and put the politics to one side. Whats done is done lets all move on we are all gona die one day and no one will care. Our legacy will be be the grumpy old men who could never agree on anything.
Also thanks to Cameron and his son for dropping in and saying Hi
And last of all a big thankyou to Preston Club for doing a fantastic job in very tough conditions the track was perfect (I'm from Wales and don't mind the mud) also Peter Drakeford who put up with alot Sh#t before the event and told every one it would be right and it was. It was well done!
