Brass Monkey 2022
THE BRASS MONKEY HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FROM 3RD JULY, WHICH WAS POSTPONED DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER
Those who purchased tickets for the original date do NOT need to re-register. Your ticket is still valid and we will assume that you are still attending. If you cannot attend the new date, please email membership@mx5.com.au to cancel your ticket and arrange a refund.
Breakfast Venue: Bathurst RSL, 114 Rankin Street, Bathurst starting from 8.30am until 9.30am.
After two years of secret training the Brass Monkey is ready for you to chase to the charity breakfast in Bathurst in 2022. Are you up for it?
This year the main starting point will be the usual meeting place at Eastern Creek to go over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst on the Great Western Highway with an alternate start at the same time from McDonalds at McGraths Hill going over the mountains on the Bells Line of Road. If Google Maps can be trusted both runs should merge around Lithgow. (alternate run cancelled due to possible rain & fog on Bells Line Of Road)
WHAT IS THE BRASS MONKEY ALL ABOUT. The Brass Monkey is an annual open invitation event started in 1992 by the Austin Healy Car Club for breakfast now organised by the MX-5 Club of NSW since 2015 as Charity Fundraising Event and the premier roadster run out of Sydney hosted by the BreakFast Club. The event has attracted up to 250 participants who possess a sense of adventure with a bit of good humour to bring to a charity breakfast. The Brass Monkey should be on all enthusiasts’ annual bucket list if you love a great drive on a cold crisp frosty morning in the middle of winter at your chosen pace through the countryside to start your day. It is not a cannonball run on public roads.
WHY GET OUT OF BED FOR A DAWN BUSTER RUN If you have never been part of the Brass Monkey Events then don’t be discouraged by a dawn buster run over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst because you think it is too early, dark and cold. The Brass Monkey has attracted thousands of motoring enthusiasts over the past 30 years. It is an experience that is worth getting out of bed for at sparrows fart to enjoy the best run on our Club’s winter calendar starting under the stars. Appropriately dressed with the roof down (or windows down in a tin top) and heater on, you will participate in a memorable fun run to raise some money for CareFlight, our Club's charity, with like minded drivers, family and friends.
WHERE DO YOU PARK AT EASTERN CREEK Enter via the slipway before the entry to the Service Station now branded as Ampol otherwise the entry to the truck rest area past McDonalds. Only park as directed by parking marshalls from the back of the truck rest area. Do not park in front of any parked trucks or beside the drive through on the eastern side of the rest area and obey the directions of the parking marshalls.
WHAT IS THE ROUTE Get to Bathurst whichever way chose for the Brass Monkey Breakfast. The Brass Monkey starts running under the stars at 6.00am down the M4 and waits for nobody but you can make you own way on a route of your choosing. The MX-5 Club of NSW will chase the Brass Monkey along the M4 and Great Western Highway all the way to the Bathurst RSL with two Club return runs on back roads, starting from the top of Mt Panorama circuit from 10.00am, to return across the Blue Mountains to the city limits. How you chose to get home is up to you with some information about a long and short run set out below.
TICKETS The Brass Monkey Charity Breakfast requires you to register for breakfast. The breakfast costs $40 per person which will include a donation to CareFlight. The cost has jumped since we last chased the Brass Monkey due to COVID-19, its restrictions and after its effects on prices. Purchase your tickets by completing the form below and paying by credit card. For alternate payment options, please contact captain@mx5.com.au.
BOOKING CLOSE ON Saturday 30 July 2022 at 5pm
CLUB RETURN RUNS
After breakfast take in a few laps of the Mount Panorama circuit then join one of two waypoint runs organized by the BreakFast Club for return runs back to the foot of the Blue Mountains. You have the option of a quicker Short Return Run that is less challenging than the Long Return Run but still a great drive through Tarana to South Bowenfels being the common end destination of both Club runs.
Short Return Run will head off from the hardstand area on top of Mount Panorama opposite McPhillamy Park going on back roads to South Bowenfels. Your GPS waypoints are The Lagoon, O’Connell, Tarana then on to the Shell Servo on the corner of GWH and Magpie Hollow Road, South Bowenfels. Chose to get back over the Blue Mountiains on either the GWH through Katoomba or along BLOR through Bell. This run is the less taxing Waypoint Run for enthusiasts in their MX-5s of approximately 77kms with a Run Grading of “L” offering great scenery, winding roads with rolling hills and steep ascents and descents along the way.
Long Return Run will head off from the top of Mountain after the Short Return Run on different back roads through the followings towns and locations as waypoints for your GPS starting from Perthville then onto Rockley, Mount David, Black Springs, Shooters Hill, Oberon and Tarana then on to the Shell Servo on the corner of GWH and Magpie Hollow Road, South Bowenfels. This is one of the most enjoyable runs for enthusiasts within 200 kms of Sydney in a MX-5 being a challenging and exhilarating drive of 158kms with a Club Grading of “H”. The run offers everything over hills and dales from tight turns to long open straights and sweeping curves through forests and farmlands. The run from Shooters Hill to Oberon is something everyone should experience at least once. How you return back over the Blue Mountains is up to you using either the GWH through Katoomba or the BLOR through Bell.
DISTANCE : Eastern Creek to Bathurst RSL is approx. 165km
TYPE OF RUN: Strictly a point to point waypoint run, no run leader, route map or run sheets. Load 14 Rankin Street, Bathurst as your waypoint destination venue for breakfast.
RUN GRADING: It is always up to the individual driver to set a pace to suit their preferences. This a run of around two hour run that is graded as a "H" but only because of the speed limit on the GWH and not the technical nature of the road.(see “L”& "H" in the Run Grading advice)
FUN RATING: Five (5) Star
PLEASE NOTE THE BRASS MONKEY IS A FUN RUN NOT A RACE
Tickets
Purchase your ticket(s) by completing the form below and paying by credit card.
