Thumpernats.

[Natroy]

Can anyone tell me when the Thumpernats finished?
I can remember Joel Smets and Darryl King hosing everybody off at Dargle.
Thanks.

[allan hughes]

2002

[Barra]

Yes. The same year the promoter decided to remove Barrabool from the series. The thinking seemed to be that deleting the best round from the series from '96 to '01 (and the one that catapulted the Thumpernats to stardom) would somehow improve the brand.
   
Sponsors jumped ship like fleas from a dead dog. Excuses were given, but that's all they were.

The 2001 Barrabool round was the biggest ever Thumpernats event. The track area was huge but the carpark was 3 times bigger!  300 riders, 4,500 people. 

Next year zilch! Go figure. Might have had something to do with the club making too much money? Sad because if it had run for a few more years the club would have been in a position to buy the property before all the bullshit took over.   

[Slakewell]

I still have the original posters from the first ever round.

[KTM47]

Yes. The same year the promoter decided to remove Barrabool from the series. The thinking seemed to be that deleting the best round from the series from '96 to '01 (and the one that catapulted the Thumpernats to stardom) would somehow improve the brand.
   
Sponsors jumped ship like fleas from a dead dog. Excuses were given, but that's all they were.

The 2001 Barrabool round was the biggest ever Thumpernats event. The track area was huge but the carpark was 3 times bigger!  300 riders, 4,500 people. 

Next year zilch! Go figure. Might have had something to do with the club making too much money? Sad because if it had run for a few more years the club would have been in a position to buy the property before all the bullshit took over.   

The Thumpernats started to go backwards when it became about the Pros and not everyone.  The problem is in your second sentence.

[Natroy]

Thanks for the info guys.
I only went to four races. Two at Picton, One at Dargle and one at Bathurst. (As a spectator).
My mate Ed from Heads Plus in Kingswood, use to do all the head work and big fins for Geoff Ballard.
Even though I had nothing to do with it, I still felt part of it.
I suppose it's called in the know.
Loved the races. Wish it was still around.
Maybe one day....

[Tex]

I assumed that the advent of the high-performance, liquid cooled 4T motocross bikes would've been the end of Thumpernats.

"The ADB, and then Staintune Thumper Nats series was an integral part of the Australian motocross scene for ten years before the advancement in four stroke technology eventually saw its demise when the Australian Motocross Championship and the Thumper Nats where merged into one series, which is now the Australian Motocross Championship..."

Tex