The ride of his life - October 2013

October 27, 2013 by Gillman Media

A very good crowd witnessed some thrilling Championship Finals at Gillman Speedway last night (26 October) as riders from SA, WA, Vic and Qld took part in the annual Gillman Classic Speedway Championships.

The heats were the usual mixed bag, some terrific races mixed with some well spread out races, but the six finals were all top shelf entertainment.

The first of the finals was the JAP/ESO Solo class, for riders over 50. The top scorer in the heats was former North Arm Speedway rider Peter Collins with an unbeaten 9 points, one point ahead of defending champion Barry Kennington from WA, with 2011 champion Keith Pilcher overcoming the pain, having not long recovered – or partly recovered! – from two broken wrists, to score 7 points, and former Renmark Speedway rider Ian Vallis the other finalist with 6 points.

70-something Kennington’s title defence came to an abrupt end when he fell in the first turn of the final and was excluded – an undignified end to what was suggested could have been his last riding appearance at Gillman.

In the restart without Kennington, Collins led all the way to complete an unbeaten night, but he was under strong pressure from Pilcher, who cut of a cast from one of his injured wrists to ride, Ian Vallis finished third, and at the presentations light-heartedly thanked Barry Kennington for letting have the third-place sash!

Collins only returned to racing after his father Ivan, who raced at Rowley Park in the Jack Young-Ivan Mauger era, restored a bike but was refused a licence to ride. 85-year-old Ivan is still miffed over that!

The second final was the British and European Sidecar Championship. Tony West/Robert Brown (8/80 JAP) had been the front-runners in the heats with three wins from their three heats but Jim Irwin/Rick Schonfeldt loomed as a major threat. Riding a new bike they had struggled with mechanical problems and only scored 2 points from their first two rides, but after reverting to their old bike they romped home in their third heat to finish with 5 points and, much to their surprise, a place in the final. The other finalists were Peter Tolley/Ezra Buzzard-Allen (Vincent) and Clinton Crabb/Rick Smith (Triumph 650), also both on 5 points. Unlucky riders were Geoff Baran/Matt Morgan (Norton 830), and Moz Pridham/Graham Williams (BSA/JAP) who both scored 4 points from their first two rides but failed to score in the last round, Baran being a non-starter and Pridham a non-finisher.The final was a fizzer though, as West broke a chain on the first lap, leaving Irwin to score a very easy win ahead of Crabb and Tolley.

Next out was the 2 Valve Solo Final and a classic (excuse the pun) race between Shane Parker and Roy Stout.

Parker was unbeaten in the heats (9 points) but had a race on his hands beating Stout in the first heat. Stout led for almost three laps before Parker slipped through for the win with Wayne Morrison not far behind in third. Stout (8), Kevin Webb (7) and Morrison (5) were the other finalists.

Parker, of course, was the race favourite but Stout made an absolutely lightening start and then rode his backside off to keep ahead of Parker. Parker was alongside Stout at the end of the third lap, on the outside, then switched to the inside and they were side-by-side again down the back straight and into turn three but it was Stout who won the race to the line by about a bike length. Morrison finished third with Webb a non-finisher after he fell.

While the crowd were still talking about the 2 Valve Final, the 4 Valve Final came out and it was even better but with a very scary finish!

Robert Medson had looked set for an unbeaten night after he won his first two heats, but Ben Turner upset the form guide with a narrow win over Medson in the third heat, and then repeated the effort in the final. The two were wheel-to-wheel for the entire race, with Turner leading and it turned into a drag race to the finish line but there was a problem. Young Zac Morrison had fallen on the first lap but remounted and was naturally quite a distance behind the leaders. At the end of his third lap he fell again, this time just before the finish line as Turner and Medson roared through turn four and raced towards the chequered flag, only to be confronted by a bike and rider sprawled out on the racing line. It looked like a horror crash in the making, but Turner slipped up the inside and Medson managed to squeeze between Morrison and the fence, giving the fence a little nudge on the way through. All this was just ten to fifteen metres from the flag. In the resulting confusion it looked as if Turner had just won it but it didn’t matter as the referee declared the race with Turner the winner and Medson second.

The Sidecars then had their turn to shine with first the Japanese Final and then the Post Classic Final.

In the Japanese Final Moz Pridham/Graham Williams (Honda 750) were gunning for a fourth successive championship win but it was a rare off-night for the Pridham/Williams combination. It is rare to see Pridham have machine trouble but last night his bike broke down in his last heat of both the British and Japanese classes. Unlike the British class, he still scored enough points (5) to grab the last place in the final but it was to no avail as he broke down again the final.

Former Rowley Park rider Mick Tucker (passenger Anthony Diener, Suzuki 500), making his first appearance in the Classic Championship meeting, won all three of his heats and then held off Mildura’s Dale Milner/Nick O’Brien (Honda 750)  in the final. Tucker and Milner (7 points) were wheel to wheel for two laps in the final but then Tucker pulled away as Milner then engaged in another wheel to wheel race with Pridham on lap three until Pridham broke down on the back straight on the last lap allowing the other Victorian duo of Ash Needham/Jamie Knudsen (Honda 750, 6 points) to take third place.

And so to the last race of the 43 event programme, the Post Classic Final and it was a classic, with the finish as close as the Stout-Parker, Turner-Medson races. Milner (Suzuki 1000) and Needham (Suzuki 1000) were back on track again, after top scoring with 8 points apiece, along with novice Dean Hobbs/Aaron Silvy (Suzuki 1000) and Steven Lewis/Don Morris (Yamaha 1000).

Hobbs was something of a revelation. In his first race meeting he was probably the smoothest rider all night, and his smooth but also quick style almost bagged him a title on debut as he and race favourite Milner battled it out for the full four laps.

Milner was the early leader but Hobbs, riding the better line and looking like a seasoned-pro, slipped under him in turn four on the second lap. Milner came back at him on the inside and they were side-by-side for the third lap before Milner edged back ahead in turn four. He appeared to have it sewn up then but Hobbs wasn’t finished yet, and on the last quarter-of-a-lap he made another inside challenge and they crossed the line side-by-side with Milner getting the verdict by about half-a-bike.

As well as the two and three wheel classes the Three Quarter Midgets gave four demonstration runs with John Catford adjudged the most impressive ahead of Eric Klenke, Wayne Hamilton, David Burt and Michael Levy. (Photos to follow)

The next meeting ant Gillman is the opening meeting of the summer season on 9 November featuring British Sidecar stars Mark Cossar and Mick Cave.

For full race results see the Results tab on the Gillman Speedway website.