Garry Thomas will ride at next year's Honda Broadford Bike Bonanza.

One of the legends of Australian motorcycle racing, Garry Thomas, will take to the track for the third annual Honda Broadford Bike Bonanza (HBBB) at the State Motorcycling complex at Broadford, on 23-24 April 2011.

Fondly remembered for his gutsy riding style, which earned him numerous victories in the 1970’s – most notably the 1974 Chesterfield Superbike Series – Thomas, now aged 66,Thomas will ride the Kawasaki H2 Superbike owned by Leo Pretti, on which he annexed the Chesterfield title, the richest in Australian racing, in 1974.

He has recently restored the machine for Pretti and is looking forward to the chance to straddle one of his all time favourite bikes again.

The former champ was also the first person in the world to win on the then-new water-cooled Yamaha TZ350 in 1973.

Spectators at Bathurst in 1979 will never forget the sight of Thomas wrestling the six-cylinder Kawasaki Z1300 to a close second place behind Tony Hatton in the Unlimited Production Race.

In addition to his road racing prowess, Thomas was also an A-grade rider in Motocross, Short Circuit (Dirt Track) and in Reliability Trials.

Since his retirement from racing, Thomas has maintained close ties with the sport in the role of an Official, and regularly conducts training seminars in New South Wales.

Thomas also acts as a senior official for MotoGP and World Superbike events at Phillip Island each year.

In addition for former stars taking to the track, another feature of the 2011 HBBB will be a tribute to the BSA Gold Star, produced from 1938 to 1963.

The bikes proved to be competitive in many forms of the sport, as well as on the road, and up to 40 examples of the Gold Star are expected to be on parade at Broadford next Easter.

Another feature will be a priceless line-up of exotic V-twin racers, headed by the New Zealand-built Britten V1000, to be captained by four times world champion Hugh Anderson, who is flying in from Auckland for the event.

Other V-twins to appear include the Melbourne-made Irving Vincent Daytona winner – the Hunwick Harrop Superbike, on which Malcolm Campbell won a round of the Australian Superbike Championship, Greg Webb’s XR750 Harley-Davidson, Lindsay Urquhart’s Anzani, and Doug Fraser’s self-built BSA B66 – more of these exotic twins are also expected to enter in the coming months.

The HBBB is the only event where you can ride in the disciplines of Speedway, Dirt Track, Observed Trials, Motocross, Enduro and Road Racing at the one venue, making it a truly unique event on a global scale.