By Lachlan Onions
THIS Mother’s Day, the Mount Gambier Motorcycle Club will be holding a special event to raise money for cancer.
The inaugural Cancer Council Cup will be contested at McNamara Park as the main feature races on Sunday in a seniors’ race meeting.
Club president Alex Trnovsky said members of the club have been impacted by cancer which was a major inspiration for the event.
“Quite a few of our members have been impacted by cancer and my wife had breast cancer and she is one of the race secretaries,” he said.
“So we thought as a volunteer-based club that gets a lot of support from the community, this would be a really good way for us to give back in a meaningful way.”
Trnovsky said the idea has had a really positive reception so far in the leadup to the big weekend.
“We are running a raffle, we have a lot of prizes donated and I know there has been a lot of people donating money so far,” he said.
“It has been received really well.
“We have never done anything like this before so we had fairly small expectations but so far, it is exceeding them which is really positive.”
While the seniors may not have the same stardom as some of the superbike riders which frequent McNamara Park, there is still plenty to look forward for patrons attending.
“We have over 100 riders entered on about 130 bikes and a heap of sidecars as well,” Trnovsky said.
“It is a seniors’ meeting but just because they are old does not mean that they are sensible and slow that is for sure.”
Members of the public can make a difference by attending or choosing to make a donation towards riders of their choice.
“People can come out and watch, there is qualifying on Saturday morning, then there is racing Saturday afternoon and all-day Sunday,” Trnovsky said.
“We have a couple of feature races – the Cancer Council Cups – where riders’ finishing positions are determined by where they finish on track as well as a time bonus for how much money they raise.
“So the public can allocate money or make a donation for a rider and that will increase their chances of winning.”
Trnovsky hopes this race meet could become a regular fixture on the calendar for years ahead.
“We would like to (make in ongoing), we were going to see how we went this year but it is looking really positive,” he said.
“So I would like to see it as an ongoing event for sure.”