PRE 75 DAY AT NEPEAN

[pancho]

 the first time i met dave butler senior was when i was about 9 yrs old on my old man's boat in georges river woronora river etc, next time was when i joined merrylands club when i got out of the 'nashos in 1957. he was a merrylands member then. Darryl was responsible for getting me back out to nepean about 15 yrs ago by giving me a ride on his hagon in a lunch break on a club day.one ride since '72 and back into it! both Darrel and Lyndal are great ambassadores for the sport. cheers wally.

[Curly3]

Dave Buttler snr was a pretty good sidecar rider by all acct's. Sorry you can't make it this weekend Wally, may catch up with you at the State Titles or Barleigh Ranch later in the year.

[jimg1au]

a good days racing was had by all we got 3 rounds of 20 races in.my legs are like jelly.now i have to go and clean 3 bikes
thanks to penrith for a good day
cheers
jim

[firko]

I agree with Jim that it was a great day at Nepean. The entry numbers were woeful but that could be down to some guys getting ready to travel to Conondale for the Nats but that doesn't excuse the pure dirt track blokes who didn't show. This is one of the showcase meetings of the year so you'd figure a seriously high entry.
Having got that off my chest, those who did make the effort had a ball on a very loose track. It was great to see David Gras come all the way from Grifith to take out Saturday arvos 25 lap feature face. He shot away on his XL250 to never be headed. Billy Unsworth (360 Pursang) fought an all Bultaco battle for 2nd and 3rd with young "Olly" on John Imries ex John Hines Astro.
As usual Jonesy creamed the slider class on his old Hagon Jawa but it was great to see our Jim Garvey finally get onto the track on his XT500 Hagon and get some practice time on what's a potentially quick bike. It was also great to see Alan Weaver travel down from the Gold Coast race his Hagon LTR. I had to leave before the presentations so I'm not certain who won what but it was good to catch up with a number of forum members, especially Curly (and brother Carl), Nifty and his cool DT1 and new RT1, Matcho Mick and a number more. The day had a scary moment when Mark Peatman high sided the big 650 Yamaha and face planted pretty hard. He was carted off to hospital with what looked like concussion and perhaps a broken thumb and other breaks. He hit the deck with such force it split his helmet! I wish Mark all the best for a speedy recovery.

Let's hope that we can get a more enthusiastic entry level for the Raymond Terrace Nats in September.
Below: Jonesy ripping into the soft stuff up high

The sidecars put on a great show all day.

These guys fought it out this close all day

[firko]

BELOW: Olly (What's his full name, he's bloody quick) aboard the ex John Hines legendary Astro.

Matcho Mick aboard his unique OSSA Plonker flat tracker hybrid.



Jim waits patiently in the scrutinnering line on his Yamaha Hagon.

[Curly3]

It was a good weekend despite the lack of entries. Good to put faces to names and catch up with other people from years past. Plenty cold on Sat night and more than enough to drink left me a bit fuzzy on Sunday.
Sorry if I missed anyone but it sounds like there will be a lot of past legends at the dinner on the 29th. May catch some of you there.

[firko]

John Imrie on one of Hinesys ugly old Astros, Lenny Tickner and #24 Peter Lee about to lap them I suspect.

An interesting American style Kawasaki Bighorn 350. The frame is based on a stock Bighorn and was done back in the early 70's using photos and factory advice when you couldn't get the genuine American stuff.

Andrew Oldfield tucks in on the Nepean long straight on his immaculate 440 Maico

[firko]

Alan Jones again, coming out of turn one with another rider up his clacker.

Brett Chipperfields immaculate and fast matching set.

Billy Brown had a cancerous kidney removed 5 weeks ago and you wouldn't have known. He and his famous old Clockwork Orange Monty performed as if nothing had interfered.

[steve234]

How cool is that Bighorn! Great picks.

Cheers Steve.

[Grasy 6]

Great Weekend at Nepean, the club and its many workers and helpers did such a superb job running the meeting and making everyone feel extemely welcome.  Thanks so much to Christine, Herb, Mick and anyone else I have fogotten to mention.  I hope Mark Peatman recovers from his injuries and will be back on track shortly.  Great to see Brett Chipperfield back on the bike.  As Firko mentioned, it is such a shame numbers were down but Peter Lee and myself thought this would be a great prelude to progess to the Aussie tiltes and we had a blast.  We both spent the last  months of our lives  preparing our XL250 motosports for this 25 lapper and wasn't it an absolutely great race that riders and spectators thouroughly enjoyed.  It wasn't until about three quarters of the race that Peter Lee and myself caught up with Billy Unsworth (and in his words "I knew you'd be comin').  Thanks Billy, was great to track you down on our little 250 Motosports.  See you all at Barleigh Ranch in September. 

[oldyzman]

GREAT PICS FIRKO....

[micks]

numbers where down from last year.i think the club/clubs are all concentrating on the state titles at the end of august.i have heard that the day has raised up to $1800.00 for the charity.it can only get better next year.

[firko]

it can only get better next year

I hope you're right Mick, as this meeting has gone downhill dramatically in recent years. What do you have to do to get riders to enter? There were only a couple of Heaven riders there, is dirt track below their lofty standards? What's the problem, whay don't 75% of Sydneys vintage racing population turn up at a race that's put on specifically for them?

These blokes would be the first to whinge and whine like big sooks when clubs like Penrith pull the plug on vintage altogether. This forum will be full of the usual suspects making all sorts of excuses as to why the sport is dying while denying the real reason....They're too fu*king lazy to get out there and support the sport. It's always someone elses fault. Let's hope we can get serious support for the DT Nats at Raymond Terrace in September. Why can't dirt track attract the same enthusiasm the recent Conondale Nats had?

[52]

Hard to say why entries were down Firko,first time back to Nepean for me since 97.One things for sure , the format is a ripper. The perpetual trophy that Dave won was an eye-opener, dating back to 1953.Back in the 70's when I was chasin meetings Nepean was a long way to travel for us only to get there and a shower call the show off, with the oiled surface gone and the great track preparation the place is fantastic.Maybe if Christine and Mick promoted it as NSW classic titles or similar.We were really impressed by the way the meeting was run and the standard of racing. Well Done Nepean!

[Curly3]

Well I'm doing my little bit, I bought a 2 Valve Jawa Engine the other day that will slot straight into a Hagon I've kept for nearly 30 years. It's been nearly that long since I rode one so it will be interesting to learn all over again at 50. I don't intend to set the world on fire but that's not the point is it.
I agree with 52, it would be a good idea to promote the meeting as Pre 75 State Champs including a battle of the Twins maybe.