Former pro motocross racer Harley Quinlan and KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Ford Dale have poured a tonne of energy and effort into a new foundation called Racing 4 Disabled (R4D). With the racing-focused charity in middle of organising a major fundraising golf event just before the final round of the MX Nationals at Coolum, we caught up with Harley to find out more about R4D and the big day.

Image: Simon Makker.

Harley, tell us bit about Racing 4 Disabled, mate. What’s it all about?

R4D is a charity Ford Dale and I set up to help guys who have hurt their backs like I did, with the intention of helping take a bit of financial pressure off them, as well as providing them with support. Ford knows what these guys go through from hanging out with me and he helps out as much as he can. We set up R4D at the beginning of the year and it’s starting to get more readily recognised and is gaining some good momentum now.

So what brought it about? As in, why did you start this foundation?

It was actually Ford’s idea. I crashed in November 2010 and became paralysed from the waist down and he’s seen what I’ve had to go through and how hard it is both personally and the pressure it puts on families. He said he wanted to do something about it, and we decided to get it set up. We’ve got an awesome team that includes a good lawyer and an insurance person behind us; we’re doing it properly and it’s only going to continue growing.

That’s awesome. So who are you helping out so far?

Blake Colleton has just hurt himself this year, so we’re going to help him out. We also just heard of a little fella down south who’s been hurt, so we want to find out a bit more about that situation and see what we can do there. None of the money we raise goes to me and my situation at all – I had a lot of support from the community but other kids aren’t that lucky – it’s all for the people in the racing community who have just been hurt. It seems to be happening more and more that people are going faster, and that increases the danger and the risk of these types of injuries occurring.

You’ve got this golf day coming up in the next couple of weeks. What can you tell us about it?

Yeah, the R4D golf day will be held at the Clive Palmer Resort at Coolum on Thursday, 28 August, which is two days before the final round of the MX Nationals. There’ll be heaps of pros and celebrities there including Troy Carroll, Jay Wilson, Ford and the Moss brothers, etc. It’s going to be pretty hectic to have 20 seasoned riders on golf carts on a dewy morning, that’s for sure… and I expect TC to be the worst of the lot [laughs]! It costs $129 per person and all the holes are sponsored by brands within the racing community. We’ve been blown away by everyone’s support and it’s going to be a great to get some money in the bank to help out more and more riders.

Sounds awesome! How many entries do you have so far?

We’ve got 18 teams of four so far. In each team there are three players and one celebrity. Some of the money we raise will go towards green fees and that sort of thing, but other than that, all the proceeds go towards R4D.

How do the funds you raise get distributed to the people who need it?

Basically we assess each situation as it comes up. If someone comes from a well-off family we’re not going to provide them with all our money, but might look at purchasing them some equipment to help them get around the house or with every day life. We’re doing it at the moment where we’re helping Blake Colleton install some hand controls in his car worth $6900. People don’t realise that these costs exist and it’s going to really help him have a normal life again. Every case is different with spinal injuries, so we assess each of them on a case-by-case basis and try and help out as much as we can.

Brilliant. I’m stoked something like this has been set up in Australia and I wish you guys all the best with it and your upcoming golf day. It should be a blast! Thanks for the chat man.

No worries, mate! See you soon.