bmxultra.com Hall of Fame

Last update: 16 May, 2007

2007 Inductees

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.

Riders

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

Industry

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.