Battle of the billy carts

Daryn Redman put on a good show for the Upper Ferntree Gully CFA entry.

By Derek Schlennstedt

The 13th annual Upwey Billy Cart Races raced down the main road of Upwey on Sunday 24 February.

About 1200 people turned out to watch the action and like other years, many incredible carts were presented on the day, with some great results enjoyed.

Co-organiser Peter Van Santen said it was a great day and thanked volunteers for their help in organising and holding the event.

“It’s all thanks to the Shire of Yarra Ranges, the Upwey Community Bank Branch of Bendigo Bank and of course our 80 volunteers who were working a variety of capacities, before, after and during the race,” Mr Van Santen said.

“Without them we couldn’t hold it.

“It was a great day and ended up having 102 races.”

For the first time Belgrave Police also attended the event, making sure that the speedsters didn’t exceed the speed limit.

“We had the police come and one of them used a speed gun and clocked 35km/h – the kids loved it, of course.”

Mail photographer Greg Carrick was on hand to capture all the action.