OBITUARY
recall everyone who rode but the team included , Tim Aston , Mark MacDonald , Darryl August , Barry Watkins , Peter Finnegan , Barry Rehier , and myself ( apologies if I have missed anyone out ). Tim was a real character and certainly knew the tricks of the trade when it came to logistics . His favourite was the ‘ Leaver ’ car . Leavers as in you buy a dunger to get around and then leave it at the airport when you fly home after the event . One of the most memorable days was some pre-ride training in the Dandenong forest . Just getting there became a race between our cars with Tim at the driver ’ s wheel of the trailing car playing Ayrton Senna through the winding Dandenong ranges road . From that experience I vowed to wear a helmet whenever I was in a car with Tim driving ( more on that later ). Needless to say that Tim was a fantastic team manager . He was everywhere you wanted him to be to make sure all his charges were on-time and still part of the event . Tim obviously picked his team well , as most riders came home with gold medals and , if I recall correctly , Tim Aston very nearly won the A4DE outright . The 1982 ISDE in Czechoslovakia was next , which at the time was still behind the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union . Tim managed a small team of three ( Graham Harris , Darryl August , Mark MacDonald ) to this event which was famous for a weather bomb that decimated the field , but the Kiwis all came home to finish , which was a fantastic result . The following year Tim took a six man team to the ISDE in Wales . The team included , Jock McLauchlan , Tjebbe Bruin , Graeme Harris , Paul Swift , Terry Cameron , ( myself ) Shaun Stanbridge , and Brent Carrod ( Asst Team Mgr ). Par for the course , we had a ‘ Leaver ’ car in the form of an old Commer van which we piled high with ourselves and our gear for the drive from London to Wales . However , before we got to that stage we had a side trip to the Husqvarna factory in Sweden to prep our bikes prior to Husky transporting them to Wales . In Sweden we picked up a rental van ( Ford Transit ) which
Tim promptly used to drive around the local MX track but – much to the amusement of the local kids – didn ’ t quite manage to clear the double jumps with the van . Back to the Commer van . Prior to the ISDE we scouted various special tests and because Tim was driving I was wearing my helmet . Sitting next to me was Geoff Ballard ( Aussie legend ). Geoff asked me why I was wearing my helmet . I replied because Tim was driving . Just then Tim did a big swerve into the water table and hit a ledge . We all flew upward and hit our heads on the van roof . I recall Geoff had a sore head for a while as I said , “ That ’ s why I ’ m wearing a helmet ”. It was all part of the fun and the adventure . Apart from his untiring support and being everywhere he needed to be during the ISDE , Tim also acted as Public Relations Manager sending reports for the NZ media . Such was the professionalism of this irreplaceable man , mentor and legend of NZ motor sport . By this point the NZ off-road scene was maturing and we had teams starting to become more regular on the international circuit .
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