In 2016, Yamaha celebrated its 60th anniversary and part of that was a travelling road show of famous bikes and people that make up Yamaha and more importantly, Yamaha Australia.
Of course, the usual suspects were rolled out, Stephen Gall, Craig Dack and Geoff Ballard but another person was part of that group and has had just as big an impact to Yamaha as each of the names above.
Long time CDR Yamaha head technician, Yamaha Europe motorsport manager, and all round good guy, Gary Benn, commanded as much attention as his higher profile colleagues during the 2016 tour. He mingled with international VIP guests, Hiekki Mikkola and Broc Glover, has worked with and knows personally legends of our sport and there isn‰Ûªt much that Benn hasn‰Ûªt seen or hasn‰Ûªt done.
His global credibility allows him to walk through the pit paddock at the MXON and chat to the likes of Roger Decoster and Michele Rinaldi.
In 2019, Gary stepped back to a part time roll with CDR Yamaha after forty years on the road. He still enjoys driving the rig to and from events, still enjoys success at CDR and passing on knowledge to the next generation but now likes the slower pace of not having to be on the grind for 30 weeks a year. In fact, Gary was painting his house when we caught him with him. No one likes painting their entire house. That job has probably been put off for decades.
Instead of firing questions at Gary, lets just hear his thoughts as we touch on a range of topics.
