Sport
29 November, 2024
Billy Cart Challenge on a roll
Greenmount was the place to be last Saturday as those magnificent billy cart drivers and their rolling machines took on the Ramsay Street downhill course in front of a packed crowd who enjoyed every moment of juniors and seniors races.
Drivers and their carts came from as far away as Byron Bay and the Gold Coast to participate in the Greenmount Billy Cart Challenge in a sure sign that this event is a winner for the town.
Junior drivers were first to take on the steep Ramsay Street downhill course.
Their sense of nervousness and excitement was obvious as they waited for their first crack at the twisting hay bale lined course that finishes with a tough left hand turn as drivers hit top speed.
There were a few spills but mainly thrills as carts of all designs took on the challenge of getting to the finish line as fast as possible with the cart still in one piece.
One of the great features of this day is the family involvement as most carts are home made machines where there is no set design.
Typical of a family built cart was the one driven by Tobi Donahue whose dad Justin said he was in charge of “research and design” and used an axle and tyres from a 1980 Cox ride on mower and built the frame from steel and finished off with a magnificent paint job by S.B.I. Spray Co.
Tobi crashed in the race last year so was hoping for better luck this time.
Turning up with a flash looking cart was important in the billy cart world of racing and one of the best was Kasey Czerwinsky’s cart with signage very professionally done by Pro Graphics and it was certainly one of the stand out carts on the day.
Winner of the Junior event was Lincoln Biagioni from the Gold Coast driving his Mario Kart and after finishing second last year he was naturally overjoyed finishing one better this year.
Close behind Lincoln was Greenmount local Mitchel Priebbenow finishing second in a cart his dad built in one day and finished the build at 11pm the night before the race.
In a sign that billy cart racing is highly competitive, Mitchel was the only local to set foot on the podium as 1st and 2nd the Senior Division were also “out-of-towners”.
Senior Division
The Senior Division was highly competitive with cart design following no set formula and innovation of design was clearly evident.
Small light carts, big enclosed carts, open carts, big wheels, small wheels they all proved to be competitive.
The winning cart driven by Paul Brennan from Brisbane was a super light design labelled the surfboard by the race caller Keith Edwards.
Paul and his son built the cart over a two week period paying particular attention to “wheel mass and bearings” which makes you think they are experienced in billy cart design.
Second in the Senior division was Lachlan Caddy from the Gold Coast in an unusual design called the “General Lee”.
Lachlan chose a fully enclosed design, the opposite concept to Paul Brennan’s open design of the “Surfboard” proving that any manner of design can be successful.
The Future
There is no doubt Greenmount is on a winner with the Billy Cart Challenge which will surely become a yearly event that will only get bigger.
Enormous credit must go to the Get Chopped Community Events Organising Committee of President Tricia Chant (also President of the Historic Leyburn Sprints committee), Vice President Brendon Quirey (owner of Get Chopped Pub Greenmount), Treasurer Doug Gayle, Secretary Sean Kinsella, and committee members Ben Crispin, Brodie Schwerin, Scott Schwerin and Fiona Playle.
The organisation of the event must surely rank as a prototype for small town event planning.
An event like this needs sponsors and the committee had assembled numerous sponsors including the Greenmount Hotel, and Priebbenow Silage played a major part in supplying the hundreds of hay bales needed as well as the starting shute.
Locals got on board for the event with twenty-five enthusiastic volunteers playing an important role such as checking safety equipment for drivers and maintaining track safety.
The huge crowd that turned up enjoyed the day with plenty of food vans including the Greenmount State School food stall with all enjoying a constant flow of customers during the day.
Well done all involved for this great family day and Greenmount has a yearly event that the town can look forward to as billy cart drivers from near and far will again take up the challenge of the Ramsay Street downhill course.
