MONKYPIG DERBY 2013.

 Its that time of year again MPD it was the day before we were due to race. The weather had been crap for four days now rain and cold wasn't looking good and the crew were getting a little on edge. A few were starting to say we should call it and race another day. After much deliberation and procrastination a few to many Jacks it was decided that we would wait till the morrow and call it early in the morning. I had finished all the jack and the bowl was empty so off to bed we went with "high" hopes and a bit of a stagger.

 I woke early I'm talking to early my head was sore and I'm sure the dog had shat in my mouth it wasn't good, but I managed to crawl from beneath the covers I drew back the curtains and BAM THE SKATE GODS LOVE US. The sun was beaming down not a cloud in the sky the race was on I whacked the kettle on and kicked the crew and got em moving. We quickly got our shit together and started loading the ute with everything we would need. We were on our way by 8 Jason swung by Dadbros to pick him.

 We got to track around 9 and there was already a couple of skaters on track getting in some last minute practice. The track is a bike path a bit under 2m wide that snakes its way under the pylons of the gateway bride in Brisvegas max speed would be approx. 35-40 im guessing mind. It has five corners two of which are pretty easy but the other three offer a bit of a challenge the last to the finish is a 90 degree lefty with pebble crete strips running across makes for some awesome finish line carnage. Davin gave us a hand setting up the hay bales and post protectors I set out the cones and got the BBQ set up along with the prize table we were set time to open rego. It was like 9:30 by 10 we had only 20 or so riders poke was freakin thinking that would be it I told him to chill and sure enough by 10;15 we had 85 riders, a good mix of all divisions.

 Pokey and Suzie quickly got the draw sorted and we got everyone to the start line. The heats were run four man at a time which made it tight for space at the start line and more than a couple rubbed wheels and bit the dust(me included). Jez and Arbi got everyone sorted into there heats(listen for your number groms) and we started sending them down. We got through the first round pretty quick and the second then the third there was a few minor crashes but nothing serious. After running the heats we broke for lunch and to give poke time to sort the finals draw everyone had a sausage or two and some refreshment.

 We gathered the racers for the finals(elimination) starting with the groms. The boys were all flying down the track putting on a great show with the spectators and other racers cheering each heat as they went down. We soon had our finalists and to no ones surprise Connor was there but there were some contenders with Basement, Jordan Riachi and Nathan Mack all showing good form. Got em on the line and they were off was a tight little race all the way to the finish with Cferg asserting his dominance over the over riders to bring home first with Jordan coming in second followed by Nathan And Basement was great racing.

 Next it was the Ladies turn. Phoebe had been charging all day and she carried her good form into the final to take the win over Gemma with Aki close behind. Next we had the opens it was exciting racing and the heats got tighter and tighter as we went until finally we had our four fastest riders of the day ready to do battle. In the final we had Sol Ewart and Daniel Witchey both from Byron and Micheal English and Matt Pascoe both from Gympie ready to go head to head. The race was tight with Sol  and Dan out front with Mike and Matt trying to find a way past but the boys from Byron proved to strong for the Gymps and Sol took the win from Dan with Matt coming in close behind and mike on his heals was great action.

 All that was left were the masters we had a good field of 12 riders with some of the OG's coming out to show the groms how its done. The other riders found themselves spots at the finish to watch the action and they weren't let down. We also had first time racers on the hill With Davin Gemmel and Tim Wright jumping on board and was great to ride with these guys both showing some mad skills we also had the og's Kurt Nischel, Stephen Daddow, Jeremy Rodgers and Arbi Tobin showing off their race skills. After some intense racing and a few laughs we had our final sorted it would be Steve, Arbi, Jezza and Jason Wright fighting for bragging rights. They left the start without to much trouble with Dadbro out in front with the other boys hot on his heals coming into the last Steve had managed to stay in front and took the win meanwhile Jez and Jason were getting all tangled at the line (the crowd was going off) don't know how they sorted the mess but Jezza managed to take second with Jason slotting into third and Arbi in fourth.

After all that excitement it was presentation time. We had gear for riders down to 5th in each division and the crew was well stoked. Many thanks to our great sponsors for giving it up CRE8IVE SK8 up in Townsville you want it Ado has it. DADDOW SKATEBOARDS. EARLYSKATEBOARDS. HEELSIDE MAG. WRIGHTYS SPEED EQUIPMENT. Cheers crew without your support this wouldn't happen. We had the obligatory grom toss and are happy to say no one got to badly hurt. And of course a big thanks to all who came out on the day we managed to raise over $750 for Connors trip to Europe (where he is killing it by the way. first idf junior champ) cheers crew days like this are what its all about. Captn Pig out.