History - BMX Australia 1983
ABMXA Executive
President: Alan Thompson
Secretary: Gary Coppock
The Australian BMX Association now has around 20,000 registered riders within its organisation, and about 250 affiliated clubs/tracks. Australia is now producing riders of the highest calibre that can compete on the world stage in all age groups.
April 1983
The 4th Australian BMX Championships were held at Ashmore, Queensland. Over 1750 entries were received for this event, making it the largest BMX event ever staged in Australia at the time. Riders travelled from every state to compete over 3 days. The finals were mostly contested in pouring rain and eventual darkness as the day dragged on.
The event was not without controversy, including a points scoring error that meant a female rider missed out on a final start place, but even bigger was the 17 and over boys final. Jamie Hales stormed to his 3rd Australian title in a row (the first to ever achieve the feat) before a series of bizzarre events transpired. It began with the Starting Offiical lodging a protest about riders locking bars out of the gate, followed by a rider/s protest over an alleged lane crossing before the 10m mark by race winner Jamie Hales. After deliberations, the Chief steward announced over the PA that the final would be re-run. The crowd went crazy. It was then made apparent that this was against the ABMXA rules, so the decision was made to instead relegate Hales to 2nd place as a result of the protest.
Despite reports of other riders in the race wanting the official race placings to stand, the final decision stood and Jamie Hales was denied the first ever "3-peat". To this day there are still many questions unanswered, including why Hales was not disqualified, and instead relegated to 2nd place. The answer may be that a series of bungles by inexperienced officials was to blame, (lets not forget that the ABMXA was in its infancy) but nevertheless, a gracious Hales accepted his award and shook hands with his competitors showing what a true Champion of the sport he was.
Results
|
5 Girls 1. Renee McKean |
6 Girls 1. Wendy McGahan |
7 Girls 1. Karen Simpson |
8 Girls 1. Kellie Murray |
|
9 Girls 1. Sonya Rath |
10 Girls 1. Tai-Lee Muxlow |
11 Girls 1. Selena Kasper |
12 Girls 1. Lara Chevalier |
| 13 Girls
1. Tracey Kosikowski |
14 Girls
1. Christine Stubber |
15 Girls
1. Lee-Anne Kasper |
Over 16 Girls 1. Christine Twomey |
|
Jnr Cruiser 1. Jason Huckstep |
Snr Cruiser
1. Dean Crisp |
Veteran Cruiser 1. John Duncan |
Jnr Side Hacks 1. Lancaster/Perrin |
|
Snr Side Hacks 1. Kerr/O'Brien |
Under 5 Boys
1. Tommy Mihalic |
5 Boys 1. Patrick Molan |
6 Boys 1. Dallas Orchard |
| 7 Boys
1. Cameron Mitchell |
8 Boys
1. Christopher Warby |
9 Boys 1. Brenton Cooper |
10 Boys
1. David Hasler |
|
11 Boys 1. Ben Bradley |
12 Boys 1. Gary King |
13 Boys 1. Jay Downey |
14 Boys 1. Paul Addams |
|
15 Boys 1. John Harris |
16 Boys
1. Matthew Weeks |
17 & Over Boys
1. Darren Miller |
August 1983
The 2nd IBMXF World Championships were held in Ponypark Slagharen, Holland August 5-7th. Ponypark was an amusement park, and was the first world championships to be held outside of the United States. It was an incredibly well run event, with onsite accomodation available, plenty to do when not racing, and a track that was highly regarded by those who competed.
More than 1000 riders from all over the world (17 countries) attended these championships including a large contingent from Australia. The event was also broadcast in 4 countries with over 1.5 million viewers.
The top Amercian PRO riders made the trek and dominated the Pro Classes. Australia ranked 3rd place in the overall country standings behind USA and Holland. Australia produced it's first crop of BMX World Champions, winning six #1 titles, and a suite of other placings.
Results
|
Experts 7 Cameron Mitchell |
Open Class 7 & Under Cameron Mitchell |
Experts 10 Andrew FigliomeniWorld Champion |
|
Open Class 8-10 Andrew Figliomeni |
Girls 7 & Under Lyndal Ellement |
Girls 12-13 Tracey Kosikowski |
Experts 16 & Over - Darren Miller, 6th Place
Experts 6 & Under - Michael Ebner, 4th Place
Experts 8 - Mark Harris, 2nd Place
Experts 9 - Brenton Cooper, 4th Place
Experts 11 - Benjamin Bradley, 2nd Place
Experts 13 - Jay Downey, 5th Place
Experts 14 - Paul Addams, 2nd Place
Girls 7 & Under - Kim Fidler, 3rd Place
Girls 8-9 - Shalea Ebner, 4th Place
Girls 12-13 - Debbie Grabbe, 4th Place
Girls 14 & Over - Melitta Downey, 3rd place
Cruisers 18-24 - Darren Miller, 8th Place
Open Class 8-10 - Darrin Campbell, 6th Place
Open Class 14 & Over - Glen O'Brien, 3rd Place, Paul Addams, 4th Place
December 1983
Cult movie "BMX Bandits" is released in Australia. Read More....
