9/7/2015
Willie, explain to me about your upcoming event, the Perth International Enduro-X. It’s the first time Perth will have an international Enduro-X, we’ve had a couple of low-key Enduro-X events at Byford before, though. We’ve got Russell Bobbitt and Graham Jarvis coming – who both have world class credentials. There will be a couple of Graham Jarvis training schools, and the track will be on part of the oval, and on part of the banking. There’s 10 classes of 11 riders, $5000 to win in the main class, then $500 to win in each other class – there’s $10,000 total prize money. It’s going to be very exciting.It’s at the Claremont Showgrounds – which is a great location. Why have you opted to run the event in conjunction with the Perth Motorcycle and Scooter show?It’s a bit of a crossover for everything, all types of motorcycle fans will be there. I think last year they had over 17,000 fans attend, if we can catch 10-20 percent of them, that would be fantastic. When people see the track we’re building, and even if they come on the Friday, they’re going to think, ‘Wow, I need to come watch that event’.
There’s a huge a list of not only Australia’s best, but also some great international talent confirmed. What have you put in place to make it so enticing for these riders?
Prize money is a main factor. What actually happened, is the last time Glenn Kearney and Ben Grabham were here, they commented on how the tracks were good and not too dangerous – yet still technical. Over east they have too big of a gap between obstacles, making it half Supercross and half Enduro-X. It’s all about who can clear the obstacle or jump the furthest, there’s not as much skill, it’s more about who has the balls to do it and not crash. With our track, there’s just not a lot of speed between obstacles, so there’s less chance of getting hurt. It’s going to be technical, but not dangerous.
Obviously you’re capable of running a high caliber event, such as the Manjimup 15,000. What can we expect to see from the Perth International Enduro-X?
Entertainment, value and probably the most exciting racing all year – across all disciplines. You know, someone could be leading and crash, go to last, then the leader crashes and they’re back in front again. The entertainment value of these events is really high – you just don’t know where to look, there’s accidents and spectacle things happening everywhere. It’s good racing.
If the Enduro-X is a success, can we expect to see it as an annual event?
Yeah I would say so, I’ve already got an event planned in York next year, which will more than likely be Enduro-X. With things like this, you just have to take things one step at a time, each year things change and the goal posts’ keep moving. With motorcycle entertainment, you’ve got to make sure you’re targeting right in the middle of the target. We’re just going to cross off one at a time and see how it all goes. Everyone seemed to love our Enduro-X events at Byford because there was so much action – it’s definitely entertaining.
For more details regarding the event, please click the link HERE.