This weekend, the ‘Second Weekend in July’, will see the HARDI 24 Hour Trial Centenary 1924-2024 being run out of the Kapunda Harness Racing Complex, with the first machine to head off at 11.01am on Saturday morning, but before that happens, there is so much more to look at in relation to this most famous of events in Australian motorcycling history!
The 24 Hour Trial first ran on the King’s Birthday Holiday Monday in June 1924, with riders taking off on a 400+ mile journey at the ‘witching hour’ of midnight on the Sunday night, due to no sport allowed to be played on a Sunday at the time. Through the following 100 years, ‘the 24’ has run some 90 times, missing years for World War 2, a couple years in the late 1950’s and 2020 due to the pandemic, making this the 91st edition, and the longest continuing motorcycle event in Australian history, and one of the top 10 such events in the world!
34 machines headed off in pouring rain in 1924, and in a serious case of déjà vu, the weather forecast is teasing something similar this year for the record field that has entered to take on the elements for the Centenary. The bikes will head out from 11.01am at 1-minute intervals, made up of 49 sidecars, that will lead the field on course, and followed by 207 solos, the first-time 200+ solos have started the same edition of this event. This makes a record total of 305 competitors on 256 machines, and it is fitting that the Centenary is the event where the competitor number has exceeded 300 for the first time.
And what of the field, well, a record number means that there are more than a few returning former champions and competitors, and, in numbers, it looks a little like this:
- 305 competitors
- 207 solos
- 49 sidecars, totalling 98 riders and passengers
- 4 Internationals
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- 3 from Wales
- 1 from Taiwan
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- 30+ Interstaters
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- With all states except Tasmania represented
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- 25 previous winners
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- 7 on a solo
- 10 on a sidecar
- 8 as a passenger
- With 79 total wins between them
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- 20+ SA affiliated Clubs represented
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- Top 5 = Keyneton, Gawler, Levis, Velocette & Ariel
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- 46 = the most starts, Fred Weckert and Neil Russack – and they are both riding this year – and in doing so will have started 46 out of 91 editions, so over 50% of 24 Hour Trials run – incredible!
- 10 = the most wins, Shane Diener – the only person to have 2 x 3-outright-wins-in-a-row, and to have won the event 5 years running outright (no ties) – and Shane is riding this year
- 8 & 7 = the most sidecar wins, David Manuel (8) and Tony Tscharke (7) – and yes, they are back together for the first time in 11 years to try for win #8 as a team!
And just to name a few other former winners once again throwing their leg over for the Centenary: Andy Haydon (4 wins), Kevin Long (3 – and travelling from NSW), Hector Evans (2) & Shaun Harman (1) who won as a sidecar team, Nick Throup, and the sidecar team of Scott Ricardson and Matt Lee – plus many more!
The 24 Hour Trial Organising Committee has again been working tirelessly over the last 24 months to deliver a great event to celebrate the oldest continuing motorcycle event in Australia, and have a heap of special events and activities included to truly make this an event worthy of a Centenary celebration.
Since 1976, the Kapunda Harness Racing Complex has become the seminal home of the 24 Hour Trial, and it is only right that it will host the Centenary edition, with it to be a hub of excitement over the weekend, which will start from Friday!
A commemorative ride of past riders and machines will take place Friday, taking in some of the 2024 course, and is scheduled to conclude at the Harness Racing Complex, or ‘Main Control’ at around 3.00pm, which is when the countdown to the event proper will kick off!
Rider Sign On will start at 3.00pm Friday, and will run until 6.00pm, so come along to get an up-close look at the 2024 machines in a pristine condition, with a static display of past 24 Hour Trial machines also on display. The display can be viewed from Friday through to the event end on Sunday.
The HARDI 24 Hour Trial Centenary souvenir programme, which is celebrating its 50th edition, can be purchased from the Merchandise Stand at Main Control, along with special edition Centenary 24 Hour Trial merchandise such as hoodies, beanies, hats, stubbie holders, stickers, posters and even a limited-edition fortified wine.
The 24 Hour Trial Organising Committee would like to thank Novita, who will be running the Merchandise Stand, which is available from 3.00 – 6.00pm Friday and then from 9.00am Saturday until sold out – so be quick. Card facilities will be available.
Saturday will see the countdown start from 9.00am, when the gates to the Harness Racing Complex will open to spectators, and 120 minutes later, a one-minute of silence will be held at 11:00am to remember past competitors, officials, committee and motorcyclists. Immediately following, the first bike will leave at 11.01am, from out in front of the Complex grandstands.
The Centenary course will be a mix of classic off road ‘sections’ of varying length and terrain from the ranges to the mallee. The start of the season has experienced a record dry, which seems to be turning this week, and this could result in ideal conditions in the hills, with the inevitable bulldust remaining in the Mallee terrain – or it could do as it did 100 years ago – and rain the whole way! As always, the weather will be the greatest unknown that will test all who have entered!
Three spectator sections are spread around the course, with all the locations and the ‘dos and don’ts’ detailed in the spectator map, which will only be available by purchasing the souvenir programme.
Each spectator section this year will be fully catered for with food, drink and amenities available throughout the trial, in addition to Main Control at the Kapunda Harness Racing Complex. Perrys Mobil Kapunda and the Eudunda Roadhouse will remain open for the duration of the trial for competitors and the public. Fuel, food and drink will be available for all, so, if you drop in to ‘refuel’, please thank them for their support of the event.
If you can’t get out to the event, or if you want to keep up with the event as it happens, the 24 Hour Trial uses Race Result Live Timing, with the link found at 24hrtrial.com. This timing will be available live online and can be followed anywhere around the course or around the world.
The 24 Hour Trial Organising Committee would like to thank the 4 regional councils whose road networks will be in use for the trial – Light Regional Council, Clare and Gilbert Valley Council, Regional Council of Goyder, Mid Murray Council.
Thank you also to our generous landowners who have allowed the use of their land. And again, spectators are asked to respect private and council land, please take all rubbish with you, take care on the roads and drive to the changing conditions. Spectators are also reminded that dogs are not permitted at Motorcycling Australia events.
An event like this can’t possibly run without some generous support from many businesses, and the Committee would like to thank them all – and ask that you see who they are, simply by looking in the programme. Finally, the Organising Committee are thankful for the support and assistance of the state controlling body for motorcycle sport, Motorcycling SA, and would also like to pass on their thanks to the Government of South Australia for their valuable support for this centenary event.
Last, but not least, many thanks must go to over 300 volunteers who will be working to ensure the success of this event, filling roles such as officials, radio operators, control keepers, course marking, marshalling, route checks, lights checks setting up/packing up, admin and much more.
The Presentation Night, for the first time, will be held the day after the event, to allow for the international and interstate visitors to attend, and will be held on Monday, 15th July starting at 6.30pm at the Vine Inn Barossa, Nuriootpa. Dinner is already sold out, but there is standing room available if you would like to attend.
And, for all those who would like to read their way through the 100 years of this event, a special edition centenary book is currently in the works, celebrating the rich and unique history of the 24 Hour Trial, and will include the 2024 Centenary event. With over 250 pages of content, the Organising Committee are hoping to have it published later this year.
A documentary is also currently being filmed.