The connected world in which we live throws up constant surprises. One with which I am regularly reminded is the fact that someone, somewhere, somehow, has photos of something that concern you and that you have never seen before. Such is the case with the picture above and the one at the foot of this article. The Canberra road closure meetings were nearly 40 years ago and, as someone who was intimately concerned with their organisation and running AND someone who has assiduously documented their history, you would think that, at this stage of proceedings, there wouldn’t be anything about them that I haven’t seen. However, such is not the case as I will now explain.
Bill Bourke is a Facebook friend and a former CRRC member with whom I have reestablished contact. Some time ago he told me that he had come into the possession of a series of photos from the road closures from John Studdert, another CRRC identity who was on the Road Race Committee that organised the meetings. I said I’d be anxious to see them and that’s where the matter rested. Bill has been trying to organise someone to scan them and he has now done so and, on Tuesday, he published them on Facebook. What a revelation they are. We do not know who took the photos and they are not from the collections of those who have already contributed material. Needless to say, every one of them is a jewel for me as they cover many aspects of the meetings that I had previously thought to be undocumented and there are some real “gems” amongst them. Most notably, from a personal point of view, is this classic of the ShadowFax Kawasaki in the pits at the March 1981 meeting. The owner/rider, my good mate, Kent Milkenda is standing behind the bike (in the black t-shirt) and he is surrounded by many admirers and CRRC identities.
The bike is still in its Coca Cola 800 livery (IPEC stickers) as the endurance race was only a couple of weeks before this. In evidence is the home-made paddock stand which currently supports the restored bike in my garage and I am guessing that this photo was taken in the pits after Kent had won the Unlimited “C” Grade race by nearly a LAP! To say that I was stunned to see the photo in Bill’s collection is an understatement. Needless to say, it’s going “straight to the pool room”.
Also in the collection is the picture below of the start of that Unlimited “C Grade race. Kent is on the outside of the second row and faced off against some pretty impressive competition that day.
Clerk of Course, the inimitable Ray Lenevez is in the foreground, giving some instructions to one of the travelling marshals.
Like I said, it’s amazing what emerges from the archives, isn’t it?