Last updated on April 22, 2019
by Barbara Cash
“Behind every great event is a great man”.
Or so the saying should go ” A great man, with a great vision ”
When Ray presented me with his vision of a Classic Dirt Event back in 1999 my first thoughts were: “Can we really do it here in Kyneton Victoria, a small rural town of about 5000 people?”
But he knew what he was doing. He wanted an event that encompassed every aspect of the Vintage Motocross movement. No racing, just fun. Getting everybody together for a weekend of enjoying the sport, not just for the serious racers, but all that wanted to fang around on the bikes that they had been lovingly restoring in their back sheds.
And so Classic Dirt 1 was born. It took a lot of organisational skills to put it together but with the help of so many people who I could not list now, it did come together and was a wonderful event. Gratefully, VMX Magazine had a loyal readership who fully embraced the idea of a weekend where they could ride at their own pace, buy and sell anything associated with their passion, and sit down at the end of the day to share a beer with new and old friends.
From that one we repeated the event for VMX Magazine Classic Dirt2, which was also a roaring success. But Ray was definitely a man with Vision (with a capital V), so he started scouting for a place to hold event number 3, somewhere with a better track and facilities and chose Geelong. He managed to get some famous faces to attend this event, Brad Lackey and Jim Pomeroy to name a few.
This event was another great success with Ray doing an amazing job putting it altogether despite being in enormous pain with the yet undiagnosed cancer in his spine. His dedication to the event should be admired by all and I know after attending VMX Magazine Classic Dirt14 last year, he would be proud of how the event has grown and the dedication and support from all the team at VMX Magazine, the sponsors and voluntary support that has turned it into a world class event. But most of all he would be proud that you guys are still getting out there and having the fun he envisaged.
