Friday morning at Broadford was fogged out, literally. From the pits we could not see the control tower, and riding was put on hold until about 11am when the fog finally lifted enough for the bikes to be able to get out on track. We decided to send Brando out in the first session of the day in old leathers just as a precaution, for a quick look at the track. Like all kids he could not go “steady” when the other bikes are out with him. After about 5 laps of me telling him to take it easy, Brando was running around the outside of a 125cc bike into the final corner when it all went wrong. Initially he lost the front, but to his credit he jammed a knee down and nearly saved it. However a big handful of throttle caused him to bring the rear around and he had a relatively slow low side. BUT the bike decided to slide along on its side until it hit the ripple strip, and that’s when it went REALLY wrong. The bike decided to cartwheel and proceeded to self destruct. Thankfully Brando bounced up quickly to let us know he was OK. That settled Dads nerves, however Mum was marshalling on crash corner and was not sure what was going on and if  he was OK. After numerous phone calls from crash corner we managed to settle Mum down and started to work out if the bike was fixable.

Chas Hern turned up to support and watch Brando at just the right time. Once we stripped off the bad bits it was determined that it wasn’t as bad as we initially thought. We carry plenty of spares and besides a foot peg bracket and a rear subframe we had all the bits to get the bike going for the next session. The wet bike got raided of the necessary parts and Brando was ready to go out again.

Chas took home the broken bits and between him and his dad Pete Hern the parts were repaired and hand delivered to us Saturday morning by Pete personally. Brando would like to thank Pete and Chas for all there hard work. Without there support he would not have had a spare bike for the weekend if it again went pair shaped.

Brandon turned plenty of laps Friday under the watchful eye of Chas and Australia’s greatest stunt rider (ha ha) Lukey Luke. The boys gave him plenty of tips, and plenty of lip before each session and the afternoon was enjoyed by all. It was great to have Lukey and Chas there, and we hope Lukey was impressed with how Brando rode.

Saturday morning seen a complete opposite weather wise, and we were looking forward to a great day of racing. Brandon’s new Gimoto leathers were finally taken out of the wrapper and christened in battle as he had torn up his old set in Fridays crash. We would like to thank Rory and the crew at Gimoto for supplying a wicked looking set of leathers for Brando. We now just need to get all the sponsors logo’s added and he will look the part out on track. Brandon again battled all day with Luke Mitchell, his brother Jake and the fast improving Matty Barton in all races.

Results for 70cc class

Race 1…….1^st

Race 2…….2^nd

Race 3…….1^st

Race 4…….1^st

Race 5…….2^nd

Those results saw Brandon take 1^st place overall for the event. The battles between Brandon and Luke Mitchell were great to watch, and Brandon cannot wait to do it all again at Phillip Island on the 4^th-6^th September. Phillip Island is a track Brandon likes and we are hoping for great results again.

We would like to congratulate Zac Johnson for managing a third place podium finish on Brando’s old bike in his first ever race meeting. Brando might have something to worry about when Zac gets up to speed.

Without the support of Brandon’s sponsors we could not continue to race and we hope that everyone will support them. They include………

Mild to Wild Restorations in Wagga……who continually repairing the fairing when Brando destroys them. They also designed the wicked looking design on Brandon’s bikes

Ron Crouch Transport who have been Brandon’s longest supporter and are always there when we need a “favour”

Bonnie Doon Hotel for there continued support for the last two years and for cheering brando on at race meeting’s

Draggin Jeans for making the team look professional in matching jeans and the much needed exposure on there web site

Wilful Damage Clothing for making the top half of the team members look cool with great jumpers and shirts and for coming up to the races and offering much needed encouragement

Wagga Guard Service for supplying much needed funds to get the team to race meetings

Skins Clothing for supplying the under garments to manage muscle fatigue and prevent the leathers rubbing when Brandon rides

Bio-Magnetics and Trinder Bros Racing for the continued advice from their years of racing experience and for encouraging Brandon to push hard and excel in his racing career

Rick Heffernan Racing for continually supplying great engines for Brandon to flog hard

Ugly Fish Eyewear who supply us with cool looking sun glasses to wear at the race meetings

Hern  Engineering. Pete and Chas Hern have been a great help fixing, supplying and repairing most things we need. Without these two guys we would have been struggling to get the bike out on track.

I would also like to thank my employer, Alatalo Bros for allowing me to take my holidays one or two days at a time so I can take Brandon from race meeting to race meeting. I appreciate their understanding and flexability.