Trials Australia Forums

Another guessing game for those who are interested. Who are the rider & minder? What was the event & where was it held? Who are the 2 former Aussie champions in the crowd?

Wow, man thats a long while ago.

I will just have a stab at a couple.

There were no minders in those days, so they are both riders.

The rider standing with his score card around his neck is John Rees the then Fantic importer.

I will leave the rider about to ride the section to someone else to identify.

A baby faced Justin Gough and Maurie Blanchard are on the left in the background wondering if they should maybe get together and pursue a career in Sidecars.
By the way, they are not former National Champs, they are the reigning title holders and they still have a very firm grip on that title.

If you check out the good looking blond on the right of the picture with the sunglasses, you will find that is Rhonda Frith, Michael Friths first wife.... or was it his second or maybe his third... lost count ...lol.

Well done nipper you are right about the minder being John Rees & you managed to spot some people in the crowd I did not know. The former Aussie champs I was referring to are not Justin & Maurie. I may be wrong but I think the man third from left in dark blue shirt is Jeff Gough (1977 open solo champ). To his right is Tom Rafferty a top A grader at the time and to his left the girl in the pink shirt is Mark Kitsons sister. There is also another ex champ in the photo.

Hey Trango you sure are right with those two together being Jeff and Tommy terrific.
I think it is time I should get some glasses.
The other fellow next to Jeff on his left, could it be Ex Queensland sidecar champ Robert Gough ?

Trango wrote:I may be wrong but I think the man third from left in dark blue shirt is Jeff Gough (1977 open solo champ).

To his right is Tom Rafferty a top A grader at the time and to his left the girl in the pink shirt is Mark Kitsons sister. There is also another ex champ in the photo.

It's easy to recognize Jeff Gough in the blue shirt but I'm having trouble working out which bloke is meant to be Tom Rafferty because the girl in the pink shirt is on Jeff Gough's right not his left.

My tuppence worth is that the bloke with the hairy legs behind the girl in the pink shirt looks like Robert Gough.
I'll put my money on the bloke ready to ride the Fantic being Andy Sutcliffe who was Aussie Champ after Shane Mitchell.

Cannot say for sure if it is Rob but it would be a very good bet. If not him next to Jeff he would have been there somewhere. An extra clue for the time of the event. Justin would have been a similar age to the young fellow near the tree. Might even be him. My apologies for the confusion David, I was referring to Tom being on spam right as seen on the photo. Tom has the light blue shirt standing on spam left side. Andy Sutcliffe is not the rider.

Another face that rings bells for likeness is in the middle of the photograph with a white cap on.. Ex champ, Steve Hope ?

Steve Hope was not the ex champ I was talking about but I think he was present at the time. Another clue. The event was not a competition and the rider was the only one participating at this time.

The rider wouldn't be the English guy Steve Saunders who was out here years ago, would it

Not Steve Saunders but you are on the right track. This rider was here about a year before Steve first visited QLD.