Well the 2010 Thumb Pump 300 has been run and won in the now not so quiet South Australian town of Pinnaroo, on the SA and Vic border. Conditions were ideal for both spectators and riders with beautiful sunny skies and only a light sprinkling of rain on day one, unlike the storms and torrential downpours of last year.

With X-Team members and first and second place outright winners from last year both out with injuries, it was our 4x4, Women’s and Teams riders responsibility to bring home the podiums, and bring them they did.

The Open Women’s Class saw Chelsea DeBoo (wife of our Can-am Spyder Experience lead rider Trent Deboo) come out on top on a standard DS450 XMX with X-Team rider Lisa Hoyle taking out second. The two top spots in the 4x4 Class were a tussle between X-Team riders Darrell "Bullet" Knight and Colin “Captain Jack” Lawson on an Outlander 800 and a Renegade 800 respectively, with Bullet finally taking the honours by the end of the grueling 300km race.

In the Teams Class, X-Team riders Rick Beer and Rob Van Vliet finally got the first place they have been trying to get for 3 years. A special mention must also go to privateer Can-am rider John Rogers who shocked even himself by taking out 3^rd place in the Open Men’s class on his DS450 XMX.

In a first for Quad racing in Australia the inaugural Highbeam 100 night enduro was a huge success with 14 entrants including quite a few who raced the 300km race as well. This unique event received a massive amount of interest from riders and spectators alike and will certainly be here to stay.

Also for the first time in Australia was the Motorcycling Australia sanctioned Thumb Pump Sand Drags. This was the first time MA have backed a quad only sand drag event and from the interest it attracted, it will not be the last. There were 2 classes in this event, the Unlimited Class and the Enduro Class. The Enduro Class was limited to riders and their machines that competed in the Thumb Pump 300, so they were actually Enduro spec machines and this class was well subscribed even after a grueling weekend of racing for these die hards. The Unlimited Class was also a huge success with Toli Alevras from Sydney taking the honours on his 3 cylinder 2 stroke purpose built drag quad, which was hugely appreciated by the large gathered crowd of motor sport enthusiasts.

A special thank you needs to go out to event sponsors Can-am and Oztrail for their involvement in putting up the prize money and prizes for all three of the Thumb Pump weekend events. Without the continued support of companies like these the Thumb Pump 300 couldn't remain the richest quad race and one of the biggest ATV race events in Australia.

Mick@47