Powering through: Bdr Jeff Brown applies the accelerator as his Kellett CBR Honda 1000 sidecar exits a corner at Eastern Creek. Photo by Bill Cunneen, Army newpaper

Sidecar precision drives Artillery

By Cpl Cameron Jamieson
YOU should never take a person at face value. Take Bdr Jeff Brown, an Army Reserve soldier with 28 Bty 7 Fd Regt, for example.

To see him at work you would think he was a mild-mannered postal worker, happily idling along on a red postie bike as he delivers the mail. But underneath that façade lies a burning passion for precision cylinders - artillery and sidecar racing.

When not working in his spare hours as a gun detachment commander, you'll find 34-year-old Bdr Brown carefully preparing his bike for the next race in the Shell Australian Sidecar Championship.

A top-10 competitor in the 2003 championship series, a crash during a race at Phillip Island race in Victoria put Bdr Brown, his side-car passenger and the bike out of commission for the last round of the championship.

Time has helped to heal the human injuries while money and hard work have repaired the bike.

Already this year Bdr Brown has raced at Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW, in the first round of the 2004 championships and he moves into round two as number nine on the ladder.

He has achieved this despite a lack of sponsors and crewmembers.

"My family and my passenger are basically all I've got," he said.

Financial challenges aside, Bdr Brown has still put together a $15,000 racing outfit. The bike is a 1992 Kellett CBR Honda 1000 that develops 150 hp, achieving speeds of up to 250km per hour on fast tracks such as at Bathurst in NSW. Sponsorship and a crew could see him travelling faster, keeping pace with the 300 km per hour jockeys at the top of the ladder.

Being a gunner and a racer does require some compromises however, and he has missed some races to ensure he meets his Army Reserve training requirements. But now he has worked out a balance with his unit that allows him to maximise both commitments. By blending his love of artillery and motorbike racing, he has kept his hunger for fast moving steel well-fed.

As for the dangers of his part-time passions, which pursuit does he consider to be the most dangerous? Neither, actually.

Bdr Brown believes his worst enemy is still that age-old nemesis of the postie - the tail-wagging, teeth-gnashing, postie-bike-chasing dog. Remember that next time you see that familiar red postal bike pass by.

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