Wandering Awards
As per tradition the club has a little post Wandering gathering at the Wandering Brook Estate Winery to hand out awards for the day.
As is the club’s custom, awards are not necessarily handed out to the riders who are fastest or win the most races but to those that stood out on the day or just plain amused us with their antics and misfortunes.
Class Awards were:-
A Grade – Kristofer Lindgren – For pushing hard and racing all of every lap of the day.
B Grade – Steven Hanson – For a smooth and solid effort and showing a continually improving pace.
C Grade – Frank Barron – Not just for his hard charging style all day but also for his stylish riding outfit that some say can be seen from space!
Pre 65 – Nick Maxfield – It didn’t matter what class he was in Nick would be right in the thick of it on his pre 65 BSA Victor giving it the beans.
Pre 70 – Costa Lindgren – For flying the Pre 70 flag and mixing it up all day.
Over 55’s – Ron Tyers – For some fine riding on his little 250 Montessa against the youngsters in his class.
Sidecars – Sarah & Robert Dillon – They rode the wheels off their sidecar all day and had a hell of good time doing it.
Best of British – Stan Read – Stan ‘Holeshot’ Read had some of the most impressive starts throughout the whole day and almost always had his British B44 BSA in the top spots by the first turn.
Dan Ferguson Memorial Winner – Russel Speak – A great controlled ride through the field to take out the chequered flag in the day’s final event.
Some of the slightly more unofficial and tongue lodged firmly in cheek awards for the day were:-
Team Sponsor Award – To Peter MacDonald who despite not being able to be at the event himself provided his bikes to almost half the field in the Pre 65 class and had his sidecar doing the rounds also. Great effort and it was much appreciated Macca!
Child Abuse Award – Went to Peter Lawson on the sidecar for launching son Brooke head first into the dirt like a javelin. Thankfully both were ok and it made for a classic photo!
Friendly Neighbourhood Dope Pusher Award – Goes to Brian Watson for valiantly helping Derek George get his Triumph bump started only to take a nice face plant when the bike sprung to life. We promise we didn’t laugh too much Brian!
Heavyweight Tank Slapper Award – For Ryan Fanderlinden’s scary looking tank slapper before the final turn while riding Gary’s big 650 Yamaha. Luckily he manage to fall clear of the heavy beast of a bike but boy did he fall with style!
Old Dog, Same Old Tricks Award – To Stan Read for his brilliant display of gating skill throughout the entire race day. Whether it was in the Over 55’s, Pre 65 or Best of British feature Stan managed to launch his BSA to the front nearly each and every time.
Swinging Good Time Award – Jason Dipiazzi gets this one. You have never heard someone have such a vocally good time on a sidecar. In between swinging and providing a running commentary for Gary as they raced Jason still found the time to taunt the other teams that were trailing behind.
Rolling Start Award – Goes to the entire grid of Over 55’s. Almost all of our elder statesmen showed an incredible ability to be somehow doing at least 20 miles an hour by the time the rubber band was released. Peter Lawson also gets an honourable mention in this one for his effort on the Velo!
The Red Mist Award – Also known as the Mad Welshman award this year went to Derek George who despite being one of the most polite and amiable gents in the pits somehow managed to earn two cautions for a slight case of overtly aggressive riding.
Mr Independence Award – For doing on his own what normally takes two to do Cliff Cook gets this one for leaving his swinger Neal Fletcher on the start line while he happily rode his sidecar away by himself.
There are dozens of other moments that I missed on the day I am sure so my apologies if I missed out on it.
Here’s looking forward to next year!
Captain Luke.
“Real riders like a bit on the side!”