Deus Jockey Club
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Harold Park Paceway is a harness horse racing track in Sydney. Or it used to be. It was sold a few years back to a developer who is trying to turn it into a billion dollar housing development. As the project is on hold until it gets the final approvals, Deus had a brilliant idea. To hire the track for a day, find some 'jockeys' to do a few laps, shoot some film and create some serious dust clouds for the locals to whine about. Here's a nice little back story about the film by Carby Tuckwell, the creative force behind Deus:
"We have been sneaking in for a quick lap for ages, you get two at best before the caretaker wanders out and gives us a gentle wave on. No aggro, they know we are just having fun. What we really wanted was a good session on the banked gravel without interruption, so we asked to rent it for the day for a photo shoot and called around for willing jockeys. It was bumpy and ungroomed after years of neglect and the developer had drilled core samples at 50m intervals for extra danger. We got some good laps in, some of the dirt virgins pop squirting around with smiles like 10 year olds and a real 10 year old (Tom) who races speedway who trickled out from the pits and proceeded to ride wide open for 7 laps sideways the whole way. This kid will be a star."
While they were at the horse track, the Deus boys also managed to shoot... um, rustle up a selection of stunning photos which can be viewed here. Enjoy.
Reader Comments (13)
Cool little vid. Has a "on any sunday"-feel to it. That being said, as a Maico owner I get pissed off every time I see that maico-jersey rip-off.
http://www.offroadbikegear.com/wp-content/uploads/Maico%20Jersey.jpg
that looks like so much fun. anybody know a similar track in melbourne that can be ridden like this?
@ Jack - How about Flemington Racecourse. Sure they wont mind ;)
In 1974 Belstaff made a wax cotton jacket and pants which made it all the way to Oz and into my Dads hands.
2010 I dusted of the mould spores and went on a week long ride west of Sydney.
Now I'm watching this wincing, 7 months after crashing on a dirt road at 50ks an hour and still struggling with my recovering broken leg.
The old Belstaff didnt offer much protection and neither will that tshirt....
Fun idea but not much public.
Christ, that looks fun! If we did that in the states at a track like that, we would have to sign about 1000 "release forms" and deal with a team of lawyers. Just in case someone got a boo-boo and wanted to sue. You all in Australia seem to have a lot more common sense and fun, can you export that?
I'll second that one. This country is "Lawyers are U.S.", if you catch my drift.
It's not all wine and roses over here, believe me. Try converting your bike to a hard tail or maybe building a frame from scratch and then try to get it registered so it can legally ride on the road. You either do it illegally, or fork out $15k to get an "engineers report." Not sure how they do it in the states, but god knows there has to be a better way...
@Andrew, it is the worst here isnt it?! I think the australian state governments crack down on motorcyclists so much becuase they really dont want them on the road. Proof is in the amount you have to pay to register a motorcycle, its more than a car! I'll pay the same amount to register 5 bikes on club rego's as I will to register 1 bike with vicroads!
Hey it's easy to do this in Australia - all you need is to be a multi-millionaire and have a bunch of yes men around you. Then your groovy private party at the track is yours ! Go Deus !
you have a point, sort of.
Actually, that did sound a bit jealous, didn't it........ I do enjoy what Deus do, and their Bali blog is a really good read.
cool how the riders are filmed in slo mo :-)