River Motorsport

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:20): I would like to speak about a couple of events that happened in my local community last weekend and something that is very dear to my heart, which is motorsport on the river. First of all, we had quite a gala event, the Dash 4 Cash at the Renmark riverfront. The event is now almost becoming an international drawcard with the introduction of the Red Bull racing team in the Riverland. It has had a significant presence on national TV and now in international documentation and really is drawing the attention of all in the motorsport and watersport world.

Dash 4 Cash is all about short-circuit racing buoys set up in front of the Renmark community club under lights, and it really does create a great atmosphere. The Dash 4 Cash really is a great spectacle. For those who have not seen it, it is something to behold.

On the Sunday, we had our annual dinghy derby. This year was the 35^th time that derby has been run. The derby races out of the river and into the creeks. It goes through some of the creeks: Deadwood, Ral Ral, No Duck, Kylies, Plummers, Cutoff, the Bulyong and the Nelbuck. The list of creeks goes on. These dinghies go through a very tight, intricate network of waterways. It is very exciting to watch. With the introduction of the Red Bull sponsorship and the drones that carry cameras, we are now able to follow these dinghies through the forest and in the creeks giving us a great perspective. I urge anyone who has not seen it to get onto YouTube and watch exactly what it is all about.

The dinghies do four laps of the creeks, and some of these 10-foot dinghies are doing upwards of 100 kilometres an hour. For those who have a concept of almost sitting on a matchstick doing 100 kilometres an hour through the creeks, it is quite an adrenaline rush.

Obviously the super class boats are the fastest, but we go through the standards and the engine classes. The derby is a great day for families and it is a great day to promote the region, but it is also a great day for just showing off the beauty of both the creek network and the river upstream of Renmark.

It has become very much a community-driven event, albeit Red Bull and the local bike and boat shops are the major sponsors. All the community businesses get behind it and they all have boats painted up. It really is becoming quite an event on the state calendar. They also have boats travelling to the region from all over: Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, and internationally people are looking at it and considering coming to the Riverland. I think it is a great event and I cannot speak highly enough about something that started 35 years ago between a couple of mates who made a bet that they could get around the creek network quicker than one another. It really is quite a spectacle to see the thousands and thousands of spectators.

One of the other motorsport events in the Riverland was introduced by the Riverland Junior Motorcycle Club. We had the first Arena Cross in the Riverland, which is a short circuit motocross, if you like, or supercross. That involved a new track set up by the members and the community. I pay homage to the hard work and dedication of the few who built the track and came up with the concept.

The Riverland Junior Motorcycle Club has really come of age in the last couple of years under a very passionate committee. What they did is set up a track under lights and, again, it was another spectacle that drew motorbike riders, motocross riders and arena cross riders from right across the state, New South Wales and Victoria. There were about 100 bikes there. For those of you who have not seen motorbikes racing under lights, there is a lot of noise, a lot of smell and a lot of dust, but it is great fun, and on a very short, small circuit it is very spectator friendly.

The open was won by Tyler Lange, a local lad, followed closely by Josh Spanos. The juniors was won by Jet Anderson, a lad from over on the Yorke Peninsula and a great asset to the Yorke Peninsula, and he was followed up by a lot of the local competitors close behind. So, it was a great spectacle and another great event in the Riverland.