At first I was shocked, but couldn't seem to place my sadness that Sharkey was gone. As my day went on and I did some work around the house, painting one of my kids rooms, watching one of my daughters play football, and finally coming back home to write something about a guy who inspired so many.

From what started as shock has now turned into sadness, how could a rider like Andrew McFarlane, in his final year of racing end up crashing and passing away. Of course it just doesn't seem right. McFarlane was mister clean on the track and not a rider too take too many risks.

I wanted to share some of my memories of the kid from Queensland who nearly landed himself a World title.

I remember visiting Andrew in Belgium back in 2005 and him offering me some of his riding gear. Now I wasn't really a fan of collecting riders gear, but he was so keen on getting rid of this stuff before he headed off to America that I ended up taking a pair of his riding pants home with me.

They were from his Kawasaki days and had his nickname Sharky on the back. Those pants sat in my back room for a while, just with a bunch of other items I didn't really know what to do with. I really think I need to give them a place now.

One of my fondest memories of Andrew was when he won the GP of Great Britain at Matchams. Standing on the top of the podium on June 9, 2005 he got emotional as some Aussie supporters starting singing the Australian National Anthem. Being Australian it was hard to stay dry eyed. he had reached the the very top and was looking a good bet to take that 05 World MX2 Championship right down to the wire.

I knew Andrew a little from his MXoN appearances in 1999 and 2000, it was at that 2000 MXoN in St Jean D"Angly that he helped take Australia to a 7th place finish, along with another two rookies Michael Byrne and Chad Reed.

Around the same time Andrew and his good friends Byrne and Reed arrived on the World scene with their consistent results at the Australian Grand Prix, held at the very same circuit that claimed the life of Andrew (Broadford).

Once McFarlane arrived in Europe he grew a legion of fans and huge respect from his rivals. Always riding clean and doing his talking on the track McFarlane rode for some of the better teams. Rinaldi Yamaha, De Groot Kawasaki, Dixon Yamaha, and Rizzi Yamaha.

It was in his final year on the World Championships that McFarlane came into his own, won a bunch of GP's and came closer than any other Australian in winning an FIM World Motocross Championship. Statistics wise there was no better Aussie on the World Motocross Championships, not Jeff Leisk and not Chad Reed.

The Queenslander led the series for some time before some engine problems saw the lead and Championship go to Italian Antonio Cairoli.

With the disappointment of losing the World title challenge Sharky headed to America where he had success. His professional and strong work ethic once again building him a fan base and respect from the Industry.

McFarlane was always the first man in line when his nation needed him for the MXoN.

At 33 years old his career was coming to an end, his years of travel and hard work would be replaced by time with his family and enjoying life in Australia. A team manager roll was set-up for him and life was going to become a little normal.

I would love to hear some words from other people on Andrew McFarlane. If you are a former racer from Stefan Everts to Joel Smets, or maybe Antonio Cairoli, a team manager or a fan, just send me your best memory of Sharky and I will place it on the site later next week and also place them on a special facebook page set-up for Andrew.

Send your thoughts to meyer716@planet.nl