By BRIDGET SCOTT
MORE riders than ever revved their engines in Cranbourne last week to mark the 16th annual Cranbourne GP Run.
Organisers believe crowd and motorbike numbers broke records for this year’s event after it was estimated that about 9000 riders took off from Sladen Street for Phillip Island on Saturday, 20 October.
Celebrity guest Shane Jacobson waved off the riders alongside City of Casey Mayor Geoff Ablett, who said: “The riders just kept coming.
“We were up on the cherry picker for around an hour,” he said.
“It was an unbelievable sight to see.”
“I’ve never seen so many bikes in one spot at one time.”
Cr Ablett said Jacobson was “blown away” by the sight in Cranbourne last weekend.
“I told him you won’t see a sight like this again,” the mayor said.
“He had no idea of the magnitude of how big the event is.”
The Mirabel Foundation was the charity partner of this year’s GP run, which is one of the biggest events of the City of Casey.
Visitors flocked from near and far to watch the riders take off from Sladen Street in Cranbourne, which included plenty of activities to keep the whole family entertained.
Guests started to arrive from about 8am until the festivities ended about 11am.
Jacobson was busy for the entire morning with casts of thousands being keen to get a photo and autograph before the celebrity was whizzed away.
Cr Ablett said it was great to see so many smiling faces at the event.
“It was fantastic, everyone was in a good mood,” he said.
“Events like this make the community stronger and bring people together and that’s what we’re about.”
Cr Ablett thanked the Mirbael Foundation for its support, a foundation which Jacobson is also an ambassador for.
Cr Ablett said the celebrity was fantastic on the day and “nothing was too much effort for him.”
See page 16 for more pictures from the event.
