Tribute meeting has charity aim
By Sean Lawless on 6th Sep 17
The Thomas Brown Memorial at the revamped and renamed Route 44 track at Haverigg is gathering momentum and will be a fitting tribute to the popular North Eastern rider who was killed in a practice crash in April.
Over £7000 has been raised so far with some of the money used to remodel the Cumbrian track - which has also been renamed after his favoured race number - and stage the memorial meeting on September 16/17.
The organising Cumbria MX club is planning a full weekend of family-friendly entertainment with Saturday's programme ending with a party and there's also an auction with proceeds being shared between the Thomas Brown Memorial Fund and the Great North Air Ambulance.
Among the auction lots are race shirts from riders including Honda HRC team-mates Tim Gajser and Evgeny Bobryshev, Ben Watson and Shaun Simpson and signed shirts from Tommy Searle, Brad Anderson and Valentin Guillod plus a set of autographed Max Anstie kit.
Bidding has been enthusiastic with Anstie's shirt and jeans currently set to sell for £300 and the top bid on Gajser's shirt at £200.
The auction ends at 9pm on September 16. You can bid online by heading to Facebook, searching for auction organiser Jordan Stockdale and scrolling through her homepage until you come to the photos. Alternatively, just turn up at the event and bid in person.
'We cannot thank everyone enough for the help, support and kindness shown to us since we lost Thomas,' reads a message from his family. 'He is greatly missed by us all but we feel that the rebuild of this track and what we are sure will be a fun weekend is something he would be very proud of so ride hard and play hard in his memory.
'This weekend has been made possible by the Thomas Brown Memorial Fund and its committee that have all worked so hard fundraising and bringing it all together [and] hopefully with their help we can do it again next year.'
The event will cater for youth and adult racers with holeshot prizes in all groups plus a relay race and a dads' and mechanics' race. There will also be a tug of war, karaoke, beer tent and disco along with other activities including a calendar shoot and training schools with Brad Anderson, Jamie Law and Matt Moffatt.
Anyone who wants to be eligible for trophies will have to race both days although there are one-day entries available priced at £45 for adults, £35 for rookies and £25 for autos.
