The 2011 running of the Thumb Pump 300 ATV Festival has now all wrapped up. All events turned out to be very successful, with good fields in both the Junior classes and the UTV category (which were both new for this year) and record numbers in the main Thumb Pump300 event and Highbeam 100 too. Once again the Australian ATV community showed how family friendly they can be really adding to the festival atmosphere.

Thumb Pump 300

In the premier Pro 450 Class it was tight going between 16 year old Suzuki rider Adam Larson ( who led from the first corner) and Tassie young gun Troy Sherridan on day one of the main event with only 2 and a half minutes between them at the end of the session with 2010 winner Cam Wade not more than 10 minutes behind. Not much changed for the second session in the 450 class, Larson continued to dominate, consistantly setting fast lap times in the worsening track conditions, winning the class with a total time of 6:25:04 over Cam Wade's 6:37:27 and Troy Sherridan, after suffering with a faulty throttle cable on the second lap of the session, total time of 6:51:26 equaling his best finish of 3rd place last year. Noteably the top 4 places in this class were Suzuki LTR450's.

The Open Mens division saw factory Polaris rider Luke Beechey take the honours for the 2nd year running with a total time of 6:39:45 on his Outlaw 525 IRS, although not without his own drama's loose sprocket bolts and split CV boots plagued the lead Polaris rider through out the whole first session but never looked to hold him back significantly, team mate to Luke, Mick Roycroft rode his Outlaw 525 IRS to a solid 2nd place in the class with a total time of 6:53:59 and Patrick Geraghty (also Outlaw 525 IRS mounted) brought home 3rd with a time of 7:11:08.

The Open Womens class had several contenders for the top three spots but it was Jeanette Lindsay home in first a whole lap up on the rest of the Womens class field on a borrowed Can Am DS450XMX, Yamaha rider Donna Newman brought home 2nd place with a comfortable gap of 18 minutes back to 3rd place, Can Am Xteam rider Chelsea DeBoo who recovered well after a massive crash on day one.

In the teams Division, Can Am Xteam riders Jake Van Vliet and Adam Siemensma took out the win with a total time 6:39:11, 12 minutes in front of Suzuki mounted riders Jono Wade and Raymond Cole's time of 6:52:51 with the slightly older team of Paul Hendy and Dean McMillan's time of 7:03:56 giving them 3rd place.

The outright places went to Adam Larson followed by Cam Wade and Luke Beechey.

High Beam 100

The night racing event is becoming more popular with a few new entries for this year but it was night riding veteran and bacon enthusiast Dave Newman who took out this 4 Lap, 100 Km event on his Polaris 525 IRS in 2:35:44 over Craig Jenzen on a Polaris Sportsman 850 XP with 2:39:40 and Xteam rider Colin Lawson on his Outlander 800 XXC bringing up 3rd with a total time of 2:41:08. Interestingly enough the top 4 places in this class were separated by less than 10 minutes.

UTV

A new category for 2011 being run as a trial for Motorcycling Australia with the hope of future events to come. The UTV's were a great sucess but it was a Polaris only affair with the whole range of sport vehicles entered, 50 Inch RZR800's, RZR800 S models and the new RZR 900 XP. Rally champion Cody Crocker along with Co-Driver Greg Foletta took the new RZR 900 XP to its maiden victory in Australia with a combined time over the 2 sessions of 2:24:36 closely followed by Tamworth Polaris dealer Phil Swindale and his Co-Driver in their 900XP with 2:27:05. Factory Polaris ATV rider turned UTV driver for the weekend Mick Roycroft with co-driver Thomas Andruschak's time of 2:34:20 in thier RZR800 S rounding out the podium.

Junior

The Junior 90/125 class was hotly contested in lap times but machine reliability played a huge role in deciding this category but Callum Hendy won through on his FYM Typhoon with a total time of 1:27:29 over Matthew Holtham with 1:31:00. Callum's older brother Roarke Hendy made it home in third a lap down on what was a tough track for quads this size.

In the Junior 300 Class it looked like the only competiton the Class winner, Yamaha Raptor rider Ben Wade, was going to get was Harrison Van Vliet on his Raptor 250 on day one but it was not to be for young Van Vliet, a dusted engine halting his race at the end of the first session. Ben Wade won the class with a total time of 2:35:46 over Blaster rider Taylor Goldfinch with 2:43:48 and Michael Beer (also on a Blaster) with 2:44:08

4 day event format

7am-8am                Junior Sign in and scrutineering
8:30am                  Junior riders brief
9:00am                  Junior 90 sighting lap (following lead rider)
9:30am                  Junior 300 sighting lap (following lead rider)
10:00am                 Junior 90 racing session 1 (5 laps UTV track)
12:00pm                 Junior 300 racing session 1 (10 laps UTV track)
1:30pm-3pm           Senior Sign in and scrutineering
3:00pm                  Senior Riders brief
3:30pm-4:30pm      Senior ATV sighting lap

Saturday

6:30am-7:30am      Last chance sign in and scrutineering
7:30am                  UTV & last chance senior ATV Riders Brief
8:00am                  UTV & last chance senior ATV sighting lap
8:30am                  Riders Brief  TP300
9am                       Thumb Pump 300 racing session 1 (8 laps)
2:30pm                  Riders Brief UTV
3pm                       UTV racing session 1 (10 laps UTV track)
5:30pm                  Riders Brief Highbeam 100
6pm                       Highbeam 100 racing commences (4 laps)

Sunday

7:30am-8:30am      Sand Drags Sign in and Scrutineering
8:30am                  Riders Brief TP300
9am                       Thumb Pump 300 racing session 2 (4 laps)
12:00pm                 Sand Drags riders brief
12:30pm                 Sand Drags racing
3:00pm                  UTV riders brief
3:30pm                  UTV racing session 2 (10 laps UTV track)
6pm                       Senior presentation

Monday

11:30am                 Junior riders brief
12pm                     Junior sighting lap
12:30pm                 Junior 90 racing session 2 (5 laps UTV track)
2:30pm                  Junior 300 racing session 2 (10 laps UTV track)
4:30pm                  Junior presentation

Thumb Pump 300 ATV Festival – Pre event Junior Coaching School Thursday 21st April 2011

Hands up kids if you want an extra lap on the Junior Thumb Pump race track the day before the event?

Limited spots are available for a special purpose Thumb Pump 300 Enduro focused Coaching Clinic from 12:30pm to 5:30pm on the day before the event at Easter. The Clinic will accommodate upward of 90cc 2 stroke / 110cc 4 stroke kickstart program beginners through to experienced 15 year old riders who just need to get their hours up for the big race.

Participants with more than 9 months since their last log book training will be eligible for free coaching as usual. Participants with recent log book training, and looking for the extra benefit are welcome, and will be charged $70 each (std 3-5 junior participant rate).

Just remember, if you are not a regular racer, you can get a day license to race the Thumb Pump 300, but only if you have done 5 hours of coaching first.

Contact Lisa on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , she will confirm your enrolment and pre send out Kick Start books to new participants.

Please provide the following junior participant information:

Surname

Given Name

Age

Date of birth

Make and Model of quad

Engine capacity

Current license status – never had a license, have an expired license, have an existing current license Last logged coaching date (if applicable)
Email

Phone

Postal address

Must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian for the duration of the coaching school. Due to limited spots available, Priority bookings will go to participants requiring coaching hours to enter the 2011 Junior Thumb Pump event. All other juniors are welcome if spaces are available and confirmation will be given prior to 31st March. Lisa 'MrsB' Hoyle Mobile: 0408 846 031

Australia's toughest, richest and most prestigious ATV only off road event has been announced for 2011 as taking place once again in Pinnaroo, South Australia, over the Easter weekend.

The track consists of 26 kilometres of sandy tracks, ranging from steep rutted out hill climbs to flat out straights, and everything in between. Having the event now over such a long weekend gives us the opportunity to run more classes and stand alone events, creating more of a "Festival" atmosphere, hence the new name. Due to it's format and unique class listing, the Thumb Pump 300 is not only a huge drawcard to Pro and Expert level riders, we cater for women, novices, trail
riders, Juniors, sand draggers and we even have a strong 4x4 class, which we are very passionate about due to the huge percentage of these type of machines that are sold in Australia. The farmers are encouraged to race in this class by having it as a "Race your Mate" class, with riders nominating another entrant in the race as their competitor, then they are only timed against each other, as a way to claim bragging rights.

Also new for 2011 is Australia's first ever UTV class in a Motorcycling Australia sanctioned event, which is sure to attract some attention from the many spectators expected. This year is bound to have even more exposure than in the past, with discussions for one of the major TV networks being in attendance well under way, to capture the event for major broadcast.

Last years event was bigger and better than ever before, attracting riders from all across Australia from Longreach and Atherton to Bunbury and Darwin. Naming rights sponsor Can-am Australia certainly got their money's worth last year, with fantastic venue presence, awesome trophies highlighted by their branding, videos of the event on www.thumbump.com, half page articles with full colour pictures in The Border Times both before and after the event, pro and post event reports on Win News, and over 11,000 hits on the Thumb Pump 300 discussion thread on Australia's most popular ATV forum OZATV. All of this on top of being known as a manufacturer who is supporting ATV racing down under, even when things are tough.

As we all know, the biggest restriction on the growth of ATV riding in Australia is the limited places in which to ride. This is where our passion lies. 47industries is all about growing the sport, which is why we undertake projects such as the free distribution of our DVD's "Quads Across the Simpson" and "Quads to The Cape", documentary style movies showing how to organise and legally participate in quad rides in some of Australia's best and most famous 4x4 terrain. We also
participate with Can-am in their Field Day Program, taking the message to the farmers and their families that these machines are great for more than just rounding up the sheep. The Thumb Pump 300 has already proven to help with this goal, with the recent announcement of Scorpion Park (the venue 47industries helped build) the home of the Thumb Pump 300 being opened to the public as a ride park. What a great result for ATV riders.

If you have any questions about the event, check out the FAQ section. If your questions are still not answered, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will do our best to set you on the right track.