Second trip to Australia for Team Jackson.

Despite not enjoying the best of good fortune in the 2007 Gold Trophy meeting on the 24th November at Wayvillle, Adelaide in South Australia, Gary Jackson and Carl Blyth did enough to impress the Aussies with a solid performance in the meetings after the Adelaide event.

At Olympic Park in Mildura the following Wednesday, Team Jackson picked up a single heat victory following a mechanical problem first time out but before they could take to the track again, the rain fell in an unprecedented manner not seen by the local Victorians in a long time causing the abandonment of a top class International Sidecar meeting that was shaping up very well.

Back to the suburbs of Adelaide for Friday at the Gillman circuit and problems showed again with the bike but very sportingly ‘The Prince of Port Adelaide’ Ronny Parker loaned Jacko his spare bike.

Despite the strange chassis and riding position, Gary and Carl made the holeshot, stormed into the lead which they held until the checkered flag.

Gary, 4 times BSSC title holder, explained:

‘Whilst in Adelaide for the Gold Trophy last year, Ronny Parker gave us a tremendous amount of help in various ways including loaning us a van and trailer. I had the idea of building a shipping container which could be transformed into a trailer for the meetings at Mildura and Gillman but once in Australia, Ronny looked at the concept, shook his head in a negative fashion and promptly told me it wouldn't’t last the 12 hour journey from Adelaide to Mildura and back.

But rather than just standing there after making that statement, Ronny disappeared back into Adelaide, returning within the hour, driving a van with a flat bed trailer behind. Handed the keys over and let us know the vehicle and trailer was at our disposal for the duration of our visit.
He had even made sure the vehicle had full tank of diesel!

Ronny was so generous beyond all expectations and extremely supportive during our first time in Australia. We couldn't’t thank him enough’

So how did the Jackson and Blyth invite to return Down Under in March come to life?

‘Again, that was through Ronny who offered to loan his spare bike, an Interceptor chassis housing a RF900cc Suzuki engine, for this trip; along with the offer of accommodation from Gary Bonnett for Carl and myself. All we now required was for Motorcycle Australia to agree to our participation in the Aussie Title Qualifying meeting at Gillman. That came through quickly, so it was just a question of now booking our flights. So everything had fallen into place, meetings, and the use of a competitive bike, transport, accommodation and flights.
Australia here we come!

'Our first meeting was on the 15th March at Gillman in the International Sidecar Masters Round 2.

In our first race we ran a third behind Scott Christopher and Gary Moon. In race 6 another third behind Mark Plaisted and Kane Irwin but next time out we ran a fourth place. Our next race saw Ronny Parker win but we picked up two points. We faced Darrin Treloar and the Aldridge Bros in our last outing but we managed a third. So the five points gained on the night was good way of shaking off the racing cobwebs in our first meeting of 08’.

So everything looked good for the Aussie Title Qualifier?

‘Yes, we thought we could get through based upon previous outings at Gillman but we ended up in the tougher half of the draw. Looking back at the meeting, our side of the draw rode hard and were reliable but the other half had a few breakdowns during the evening, so our points score would have got us through in that group. The Suzuki had to be ridden on the slick part of the track to keep the engine buzzing; I was concerned that trying to ride the outside line, in the deep and grippy material, would have just scrubbed the speed away.

Disappointed that we didn't’t put up a better show on reflection but we had a great time in Adelaide, learnt a lot and enjoyed everyone’s company’

With that experience behind you, are you going to change anything for the 2008 BSSC?

‘I did look at the Aussie bikes and how they are configured and was tempted to possibly alter my own bike but there is a saying if it's not broke don’t fix it, so with that in mind, I’ll run with the bike as it is.
The bike has now won four titles for us and there is no reason why that can’t be repeated this year. To win three consecutive BSSC titles is our agenda’.