Photo Gallery: Heaven VMX Canowindra Cup October 2nd
A cracker weekend of vintage motocross took place in the Heaven VMX Canowinda Cup, over the October Long Weekend.
As a kid, one of my dreams would have been to peg out a one kilometre motocross track in the middle of an oval and rip it to shreds with my motocross mates. It seems Canowindra local and VMX enthusiast Greg Holmes shared that dream. However he went one better and made it happen. Not only did he manage to convince the town that using their beloved showground for a motorcorss race was a good idea, he persuaded them to get right behind the event with local business donating time, money and tasty local produce to put on the best VMX event one could imagine.
It should be noted that Greg also set up the track with his mates during the week and then blasted around the circuit like a man possessed.
I rode our “new” 1984 Kawasaki KX250 Project Bike (#86) and I also took along the latest addition to the fleet, a ready to ride 1983 Suzuki RM 125 (#40). I purchased the RM from Carl at Northside Motorcycles who loves the sport and was pleased to see another bike out on the track. Our yellow Zuke was ridden by first time VMX racer Jamie Pollack aka Johnny Sport, who rode well, pretty much stayed upright and finished mid pack after surviving some frantic battles.
Saturdays racing was fast and furious. At 39 I was entered in the 16-39 year old Pre 1985 class and was expecting to get smoked by the youngsters and roosted all over by the guys on their 500cc beasts. However the tight and technical nature of the track meant that a 250cc bike was a good thing to have and I was pleasantly surprised to kick off the day with a second place. I followed this up with another couple of second place finishes to qualify for the main event, the Canowindra Cup. The Cup was made up of the first four place getters from all age classes in Pre ’78 and Pre 85, plus the top three finishers in the last chance qualifier. It promised to be a fun finale.
The guy doing all the winning in the 16-39 year old pre ’85 class was Damian Crane on his immaculately prepared 1984 Honda CR250 (#2). Damo got every holeshot, won every age race and rode brilliantly. I could hang with him for a couple of laps and occasionally onto the back “straight” I could get alongside him and show him a wheel, but mainly I ate his roost. He then blitzed us all again in the big race and deservedly took out the Canowindra Cup for 2010. I was please to finish second on the Green Machine in only its second meeting and Robert Beverly used his smooth style to finish a superb third on his twin shock Evo class Husky (#90).
As always the riders were friendly, raced hard, helped fixed each other bikes, and then after a good days riding on fabulous old bikes enjoyed a few beers and a chat. Heaven indeed.
Sundays racing was cancelled due to the weather, but everyone left smiling.
Images: Jamie Pollack and Rich Fowler
Video: Via Graeme M at OzVMX
Canowindra Cup sponsors: Sussex Farming, D&E Electrical, Rob Burns Builder, Belabula Butchery, Lucerne Foods, BR & KS Burn, Garden of Roses Cafe, Canowindra Tyre Service, Canowindra Country Bake House, Earsmans Concrete, Williams Rural Supplies, Millward Earth Moving, Cowra Motorcycles, Rosnay Vinyard, All Service Motors Cowra, Canowindra Newsagency, Kens Service Centre Canowindra
Thanks to all the officials, flaggies, scorers and spectators who made it great!
Thanks to: Motorsport Retro Project bike partners- 1. Northside Motorcycles 2. Dead Dog Racing 2. Trooper Lus Garage 3. Classic Fasteners
