HORSHAM Motorcycle Club’s goal to put Horsham on the map has paid off.
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The club has received the 2019 Horsham Rural City Council Community Event of the Year award for hosting the 2018 FIM World Junior MX Championship.
Club treasurer Laurie Pearson said the honour was greatly appreciated.
“It’s an enormous pleasure for us to receive the award and we’re very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve,” he said.
“We were asked by the council to nominate for the award. We’re a very successful club and have run 16 national events in the last 17 years.”
The club signed a contract with Ustream in 2015 to host the world-class championship event.
“The fee to host the junior championships was $80,000. So we got $80,000 from the state government and the council gave us $12,000. The club also put $38,000 towards it,” he said.
“The council was very generous and is absolutely supportive of our organisation; we couldn’t run our events without them.
“The money they gave us is based on visitation and economic benefits. We estimate that the club has put over $10 million into the Horsham economy.”
The prestigious event attracted riders and patrons from across the world.
“We were very fortunate that 25 countries were represented. We had 70 international riders and had 50 Australian riders. Almost 1000 international visitors came to Horsham,” he said.
The club has been invited to host a round of the world seniors competition.
“That’s the biggest motocross event in the world; but the fee to host the seniors is €600,000 (or $1 million AUD). So at this point in time, we have declined their offer,” he said.
Mr Pearson said the club was made up of a hardworking team of individuals.
“We’re one of the smallest affiliated motorcycle clubs in Australia and we run the biggest events in the southern hemisphere,” he said.
“Now we’ve run the most prestigious junior motocross event in the world.
“This year, we’re going back to more of a focus on local club-based events.
“We need to give our members a rest because they have been working tirelessly for nearly four years to make this event happen.
“It’s time to sit back an enjoy it and concentrate on our club.”
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