McNAMARA Park hosted the Classic Master of Mac Park meeting on the weekend, with a special focus for the sidecar events.
The Laurie Fox Memorial sidecar events were run in honour of the late Laurie Fox OAM, with the main handicap race the one to win.
Laurie – who had a regular and popular column in The Border Watch – was known as somewhat of a wizard when it came to handicapping riders, which often saw the eventual winner only gaining the upper hand late on the final lap.
Laurie kept his method close to his chest, with the club now needing to find other ways to ensure tight racing.
That was indeed the case on the weekend, with the main race – a sidecar handicap final – going down to the wire.
In the end the combination of David McArther/Jaysen Hammond claimed the honours in the Period 5, F2 and Modern class, ahead of Adrian Van Uitert/Mark Holloway and Mick Alton/Chrissie Clancy.
But apart from many other races conducted over the weekend, including classic solo bikes, further respect was paid to Laurie at a dinner on the Saturday night.
“In memory of Laurie, all the guys wore ties and shirts,” club committee member Justin Elliot said.
“The guys you would normally see with dirty overalls on, turned up with ties on – it was so good to see.”
The weekend saw 27 sidecar entries, with many competing for the first time in several years.
“There were guys who rode sidecars who haven’t been on them for 20-plus years,” Elliot said.
“There were some real old classics.
“There were guys with their wives, mother’s and sons, on some of the motocross style sidecars, with a class just for them.”
Elliot said the club was pleased with how the handicap events finished, but admitted it was not the same as Laurie would have done.
“Laurie used to do all the handicapping with a stop watch,” he said.
“No one else knew how to do it.
“He would follow the guys and watch them on the day.
“He would know how their bikes were going and how they were riding.
“Laurie had it so the fastest sidecar would be overtaking the slowest competitor with probably three corners to go.
Elliot said the weekend’s races saw the faster competitors hit the lead with around half a lap to go.
“We had to go to a digital system, using the transponders,” he said.
“It worked reasonably well, but it wasn’t like Laurie did it.
“It showed the skill Laurie had.”
Elliot said the weekend ran like clockwork, with a good variety of bikes competing and lap records broken, which all honoured the region’s motor sport stalwart perfectly.
