Hall of Fame | Inductees | Nominees
We would like to congratulate Steve Cassap, Pat Dillon, Jamie Hales and Leigh Egan for being the first inductees to the bmxultra.com Hall of Fame.
Jamie
Hales (Victoria)
#1 Australia 1981 & 1982, #2 World 1981
Jamie Hales, was the first superstar of Australian BMX. At the
age of 16 Jamie made the switch from motocross to BMX. He finished
3rd in the open class at the 1980 Australian Championships which
was a 2 round series (Ryde NSW/Brisbane Qld). In 1981 Jamie took
out the open class winning his first national crown, he went on
to race in America traveling with Mongoose team mates Dean Crisp
and Mathew Weeks and took second at the world championships. He
followed that up in 1982 with a second win at the Australian Championships,
this time in front of a home crowd at the Waverly track. It was
about this point that Jamie Hales became a household name, regularly
making appearances on TV and was the face of BMX racing on the
back of weetbix packets across the country. At Ashmore Qld in
1983 Hales continued to dominate having won his third national
championships only to be stripped of the win. Jamie was confused
with another Mongoose team member who had caused interference
at the start of the race, Western Australia's Darren Miller was
awarded the #1 that year and Jamie had to settle for second. In
1985 Mongoose USA was sold and Jamie was out of a job which lead
to him fading out of the sport. He returned briefly in 1998 won
the Australian Championships and crashed while leading his final
at the UCI world championships in Melbourne. Jamie also made an
appearance in 2006 at the BSX, he still rides a BMX bike to this
day.
Leigh
Egan (Victoria)
#1 Australia 1985-1987, #1 World 1984
Leigh Egan was a very promising amateur racing for the
Crossrider team in his early years, and he quickly established
himself as a pro. He won the #1 in the 17 & Over class at
the World Championships in Japan in 1984 and was quickly signed
by GT, for whom he won the 1985 Australian championships. As the
golden boy of Australian BMX he won races such as Australia's
biggest pro event ever held that the Logan City BMX track in Queensland
it had $10,000 up for grabs. The prize pool was enough to attract
riders from all over the country as well as a couple of US riders.
A racing accident which saw Leigh in hospital for microsurgery
to have the tips of his fingers reattached after catching his
hand in the chain of a fellow rider at the PRM Cash Dash very
nearly ended his racing career. Like a true champion Leigh recovered
and returned to racing at the Australian Championships at Woolongong
NSW in 1988. Not able to return to the level he was accustomed
to he retired shortly afterwards
Steve
Cassap (Victoria)
Cassap
Steve Cassap was another Victorian rider to cross over
to BMX from motocross racing, and another who started at a Pat
Dillon organised event. Steve had some good results against tough
competition but then his number plate manufacturing business took
over and he was left without the time to train. Also an accomplished
freestyler in the early days he was Australia's answer to Bob
Haro, right down to the cartoons. Steve toured with Bob Haro on
his Australian tour in 1984 which saw them both performing at
the Australian BMX racing championships at Byford, WA. The June/July
1984 BMX News magazine documents Steve Cassap's marriage to his
long time girlfriend Karen as the wedding of the year that Bob
Hard actually flew out to, and stood at Steve's side as his best
man. The brand was sold in the late 80's, the Cassap name still
lives on in BMX racing today, with riders like former Australian
Elite Champions Peter Trenwith and Tanya Bailey still wearing
the race gear.
Pat
Dillon (Victoria)
PRM (Pure Racing Machinery)
Pat Dillon is responsible for introducing BMX to Victoria having
run the first races as demonstration events at motocross tracks,
it's said that Jamie Hales showed up to race for his first time
at the second Pat Dillon run event. At 14 years old Pat's parents
helped him start PRM (Pure Racing Machinery) Australia's premier
BMX bike shop specialising in the finest BMX racing products on
the market then expanding to freestyle as well as the sport evolved.
He was also instrumental in getting the South Eastern BMX track
off the ground and creating the premier event in Australia through
the 80's and into the early 90's known as the PRM Cash Dash, it
was considered one of the most important races of the year, second
only to the National Championships. Pat was also quite handy on
a race track having raced at pro level until his late 20's. As
numbers began to dwindle in the BMX scene Pat closed the doors
of PRM and returned to motocross.