Oliver Rampling, 14, will be racing his billy cart in the Gresford Billy Cart Derby at Easter and dad had better watch out.

Every Easter Oliver would cheer on his favourite billy cart but never believed he would ever get a chance to actually compete in his own cart.

The dream seemed further away than ever when his mum and dad moved into Vacy Acres and were busy building their dream home.

However dad Jason hadn’t forgotten Oliver’s dream and by chance found an old billy cart on Gumtree.

The pair drove out to Seaham to have a look and Oliver fell in love with the old wreck, while all dad could see was a lot of work.

After some discussion they settled on a price and loaded the far too long billy cart into the trailer and headed for home.

Jason knew they had a task in front of them to have it ready by Easter Saturday.

“It’s exciting to be working with Oliver and doing something together, that is very special for me,” he said.

“Even if we come last these past few months have been exciting for both of us.

“The billy cart was a metre too long so we had to cut it down and stripped off all of the old timber panelling.

“We had to redesign the steering, brakes and put in a roll bar.

“We checked the billy cart derby website and made sure all of the work we had done met with the specifications.

“We then started to build the new body with light sheet steel and construct a laid-back seat to minimise air flow over the billy cart.

“We are now up to the stage of putting our signwriting on and this will be revealed on race day.”

Luckily they live in a cul-de-sac and there have been many practice runs to ensure everything is working for the big event.

Jason has a Hot Wheels speed camera and records Oliver’s speed as they make modifications to get that little extra out of the cart.

Jason will use the same cart to race in the senior’s heats but so far Oliver’s times are faster so the rivalry is heating up between father and son.

The Gresford Billy Cart Derby is sponsored again this year by Glencore and heat timing will be more accurate than ever with Jaycar building an electronic finishing line with a digital read out.

This will make this year’s event even more exciting and professional.

The Gresford Billy Cart Derby is on Easter Saturday in the main street of Easter Gresford starting at 9am.

Watch the variety of strange and very stylish billy carts, shop at the many markets and if you have a good arm have a throw in gumboot throwing competition, grab a steak sanger from the Rural Fire Brigade barbecue and don’t forget to buy a ticket in the Blackwoods tool box monster raffle.

At the end of the day just relax and listen to the live music at the Beatty Hotel while the kids are entertained by the magician and juggler. Visit the website at www.gresfordbillycartderby.wordpress.com or contact Graham Murphy for more details on 0416 116 009.