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    REWARD: Horsham’s Mark Hancock receives the Motorcycling Australia Graham Stewart Official of the Year Award at Queensland Moto Park from retiring motocross star Brett Metcalfe. Picture: Foremost Media

Top motorcycling honour for surprised Mark Hancock

By Colin MacGillivray

After being named Australian motorcycling’s top official, Horsham man Mark Hancock says a step back is on the horizon – at least in a few years.

Mr Hancock was this year honoured with the Graham Stewart Official of the Year Award by Motorcycling Australia – an award he said surprised him despite his years of dedication as a motocross official.

“I was gobsmacked. I wasn’t even really aware of what was going on. I’d seen the award around, but it had mainly been given to officials in road racing and speedway,” he said.



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“There are seven different disciplines of motorcycle racing, and motocross makes up more than 40 per cent of the participants in Australia.

“It’s the first time a motocross person has been awarded official of the year.

“The award is recognised internationally as well – the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) recognises it, which is good because I’m also an international official.”

Mr Hancock began his work as a motocross official when he joined the Horsham Motorcycle Club in 1999, helping transform it from ‘virtually a greenfields project’ to an internationally acclaimed track.

“It is the only club in Australia to have ever hosted a world championship,” he said.

“What it has done for Horsham as a sport has been quite exceptional. We went from a club that had not run anything significant to now having run 11 Australian championships in motocross, one in sidecars, one in ATVs, a women’s championship, two junior Australian championships, and that’s brought millions of tourist dollars into Horsham over that period of time.”

Mr Hancock soon rose through the ranks of motocross officialdom, becoming clerk of course for the former MX Nationals motocross series about 15 years ago.

“That was through a private promoter, who at the start of COVID let the contract go, so Motorcycling Australia started the ProMX series and I went from being the clerk of course to being the race director,” he said.

“It means I’m in charge of all things to do with racing, procedures, insurance and risk, and co-ordinating that with the teams, the managers, officials, administration and television.

“We go live to nearly a million viewers per round on SBS on race day each weekend, so I co-ordinate what happens on the ground with what happens in the air.”

Mr Hancock said he was honoured to win the official of the year award, named after respected race official Graham ‘Checkers’ Stewart who died of cancer in 2019.

Among the award’s criteria are excellence, integrity, dedication to the sport during a long period of time, skills and knowledge, earning the respect of peers, and an ability to impart knowledge and mentor people.

It is the final criterium that Mr Hancock said he was most proud of, after creating a program to mentor new officials in motocross.

“I created a key officials pathway program to try and get more volunteers active in the sport,” he said.

“It’s been a really successful program. It’s a three-day intensive course, and it all happens live at an event, so they’re part of the event.

“Volunteers are a problem in every sport, but we’ve gone from barely being able to scrape up enough officials to run a national to now beating them off with a stick.

“It’s had fantastic feedback from the participants, and we’ve had repeated attendees. 

“We’re trying to introduce new people to the program and all the old people want to come back.”

But while he said he loved being a high-level official and mentor, Mr Hancock admitted it was a demanding role.

“It’s been fun. It’s hard work, and sometimes it’s incredibly stressful,” he said.

“There are terrible things you come across. Unfortunately I’ve been through a few deaths in the sport and you see some bad injuries.

“I’ve also seen some of the most amazing things – amazing races and meeting people I couldn’t have imagined I would ever meet. It’s not without its sacrifices – things like relationships and missing events and other things that happen when you’re away.

“My grandkids might be in town but I’m away somewhere else in Australia running an event. I tend to run my personal life around the motocross calendar.”

Nearing his 63rd birthday and with his mentoring program thriving, Mr Hancock said he would look to scale back his involvement at a national level in the next two years, but said he would remain involved with the sport in Horsham.

“I’ll still officiate, I’ll work in the canteen – I’ll help out wherever they want me to help out and just be involved,” he said.

“In my retirement this year I’ve learned to drive Bobcats and front-end loaders to do track maintenance, so that’s been fun.”

Finally, Mr Hancock thanked the family, friends and colleagues who had helped him reach the top of the Australian motorcycling tree.

“The award did make me feel proud, but probably more so grateful and thankful for the people I’ve worked with over the journey and the opportunities I’ve been given by working with those people,” he said.

“They are really the cause of it. Without them you can’t achieve anything, because I’m just an individual cog.”

The entire October 30, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire October, 30, 2024 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!