Image: Deus Images.

Penrite Oil Broadford Bike Bonanza organiser Peter Drakeford has labelled the 2015 edition of the event as the biggest yet.

Nearly 1200 bikes made their way onto the six different tracks that the Broadford State Motorcycle Sports Complex has to offer, encompassing a broad range of disciplines including road racing, motocross, enduro, trials, dirt track and speedway.

Drakeford praised the patrons of the event for making the Bonanza such a success.

“It’s probably the biggest crowd that we’ve had over the seven years that this event has been running,” Drakeford said.

“I only printed 1200 stickers for the bikes and I was getting worried for a while because I thought we were going to run out, so that’s pretty impressive.

“The Speedway Spectacular was just fantastic. We had the biggest crowd ever; two or three rows deep of people right around the fence. That’s always an indication of how popular the event is.

“They were also jam-packed around the road race circuit and we had the motocross guys ride themselves stupid yesterday, and that’s just the start of it.”

Drakeford paid tribute to the volunteers who gave up their time over the Easter period to contribute to the running of the event.

“We had 110 officials, the CFA and local companies supplying their goods and services and helping us out,” Drakeford said.

“The Bonanza is an inclusive event where we actually include all the community into the event, and they reward us by turning up and checking it out.

Drakeford also acknowledged the success of the Gala Dinner, which was headlined by the three adversaries from the famous 1979 Australian Unlimited Grand Prix in Ron Boulden, Graeme Crosby and John Woodley.

The three shared their recollections of the race with MC Alan Cathcart, captivating the audience in the process.

“It’s funny because road racers tend to come out of their shell when they talk to each other, otherwise they seem to be pretty placid men,” Drakeford said.

“It was great to get their feedback on how each attacked the race and what their thought processes were when they were making their passes, so just getting into the psyche of a racer is always interesting.

“We also presented two lifetime achievement awards on the night; one being to Wes Brown who has been a stalwart of the event and in Victoria motorcycling.

“From New South Wales, we had Jan Blizzard, who is just a legend in the sport as well. It’s great that we can value the old guys, the old bikes and the old times, and have fun at an amazing event while we do that.”