Aussie enduro champion Michael Brooke
Flanagan, who died in his sleep on 2 January
from heart problems, will be remembered by
long-termADBreaders for his regular column,
Route Card, which kept readers up to date
with enduro racing.
Brooke burst onto the scene late in 1985,
moving into enduros from motocross, and
by 1986 he’d taken the 250cc class and
Outright win at the A4DE in South Australia
at his first attempt. This shocked the enduro
community a little as the considered wisdom
of the day was that motocrossers would tend
to go too hard too early and wear themselves
out. They were not expected to be able to last
one whole day of riding let alone four.
Brooke had been riding enduros for all
of seven months by that time. His decision
to switch from motocross came about after
he travelled to Adelaide in 1985 for the Mr
Motocross round and got knocked off his
bike three times in the first three heats. He’d
ridden a few club enduros and thought that
enduro riding offered more time on the bike
than MX. His only multi-day ride before that
A4DE had been the two-day Weipa Croc Run.
Returning from a Four-Day in Queensland
with Geoff Ballard, he heard about a
motocross event in Raymond Terrace offering
good prizemoney so he decided to stop in
and have a go. The organisers were reluctant
to take a last-minute entry, especially from
someone whose bike was still covered in mud
from the last-day bog hole at the enduro.
Brooke was trying to explain and laughing
at the absurdity of the situation. The
motocrossers in their pristine riding gear and
flash pit set-ups all stood around laughing at
him until Brooke went out and swept the field
taking the prizemoney home with him.
He owned The Bike Stop in Lithgow
between 1981 and 1990, which was a
successful Kawasaki and Yamaha dealership,
and whenever referring to Lithgow he alwaysAUSTRALIA LOSES ENDURO HERO
THE ORGANISERS
WERE RELUCTANT
TO TAKE A LAST-
MINUTE ENTRY,
ESPECIALLY
FROM SOMEONE
WHOSE BIKE WAS
STILL COVERED
IN MUD
seemed to preface the town name with the
word “sunny”.
At one stage he was modifying KX250s to
order to meet NSW registration requirements
for use in enduros. After selling the Bike Stop
he bought an old coach which he fitted out as
a motorhome, emblazoned the sides with the
words “The Bike Stop, Lithgow” and travelled
the country.
Despite his many wins throughout his racing
career there were only two trophies displayed
at Brooke’s wake due to his habit of only
keeping plaques. His way of helping was to
donate his trophies to his own or other clubs
to be used for their events.
His house had few decorations other than
photos and a drawing of the shop in Lithgow
done by an old girlfriend which his family are
having trouble removing ... it was glued to the
wall.
ADBextends its condolences to Brooke’s
family and friends.BROOKE FLANAGAN
LEGENDS
BY WARREN JACKAlthough Brooke Flanagan made the switch from motocross to
enduro he wasn’t afraid to chase a little MX prize money
34 | APRIL 2016 http://www.adbmag.com.au