MILDURA Motorcycle Club's "greatest ever sidecar racer", Warren ‘Wazza' Monson, who tragically lost his life last year, will be honoured at a memorial meeting this weekend.
Monson died in an accident at Heathcote Park Raceway last April during its Test & Tune Day.
He was renowned in the speedway fraternity as an accomplished and highly respected Australian Superbike race engineer and mechanic.
His association with motorcycling began at the Mildura Motorcycle Club, where he was a proud member for more than 20 years.
Monson won the FIM World Cup and FIM Oceania Championship in speedway sidecar twice, in 2017 and 2019, was a record-holder as the nine-time Victorian champion and was a track record holder at Olympic Park in Mildura.
In a post on social media, Motorcycle Australia described him as "a true old-school craftsman and a talented rider, who constructed and raced his own bikes".
Monson's dad Trevor said his son had had a lifelong passion for motorbikes.
"In 1992 Warren had a fairly serious accident on a motorbike and then when he recovered from that, he seemed to come back with the idea to prove that he that a motorbike wasn't going to beat him," he said.
"He went on to become a professional at building engines and modifying bikes.
"He ended up working in Melbourne and prepared motorbikes for Superbikes and was a mechanic for people like Josh Waters.
"He just really loved racing."
Mr Monson said the meet would be an opportunity to raise money for charity.
"Warren had been racing in the club for 20 years and they wanted him to do a testimonial to celebrate that," he said.
"In testimonials the money normally goes to the individual and he said he didn't want the money so they told him he could give the money to charity.
"He warmed to the idea of that and then a month later he died at the Heathcote Dragway.
"The testimonial has now been switched to a memorial and the money made from that meeting is going to be split in half, with half going to go to CHAILIS and the other half going to Angel Flight."
Several thousand people are expected to attend the event and Mr Monson said it was nice to know his son was so well respected in the community.
"It's an honour to have a son who not only raced but helped other people with their issues," he said.
"There was something on social media yesterday that impressed me.
"One of the B Grade riders who will be racing said when he first started out Warren gave him some tyres and some advice about the bike, which I think really sums him up.
"If someone asked him a question about a bike or anything, even though they might have been his opposition, he still helped them.
"He was just that kind of person.
"It's an honour to be a parent of somebody that is so respected."
The Warren Monson Memorial Meeting will begin at 6.30pm at Olympic Park.
