A Massive Fortnight Of Sidecar Racing At Gillman Speedway - March 2013

March 11, 2013 by Gillman Media

The Ikon Suspension Sidecar Grand Slam Series returns to Adelaide this Saturday night (16 March), the first of three massive Sidecar nights in the last fortnight of March at the Gillman Speedway Stadium, with the K Trans Australian Championship meetings following on 30 & 31 March.

The Grand Slam event is likely to be the most keenly contested round so far as not only will the riders be striving to put themselves in a strong position in the overall standings prior to the deciding round at Kurri Kurri on 6 April, but this will also be last chance for any of the riders to get track time before the K Trans Australian Championship.

As such the Grand Slam round has attracted a field equal to that selected for the Australian Championship.

Headlining the line-up are the reigning Australian Champions Darrin Treloar and Simon Cohrs, and twice World Track Racing Champion Mick Headland and passenger Paul Waters, former FIM Gold Trophy Champion and Australian Champion Scott Christopher and his talented passenger, second generation star, Tyler Moon, and former Australian Champions Mark Mitchell and Tom Golding.

But none of these riders lead the series point score. After four of the six rounds that honour goes to current Victorian Champions Warren Monson and Matt Morgan. They have 60 points; 6 points clear of Treloar and Cohrs, who in turn are 4 points in advance of current South Australian Champions Mark Plaisted and Sam Gilbert.

The other riders in the line-up are Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin, who won the first round of the series, Queensland’s Wes Jenkins (passenger Damian Egan) who has emerged as a dark-horse for the Australian Championship after recent impressive performances at Gillman, local stars Trent Headland/Jesse Headland, Jason Hardy/Geoff Langdon and Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear, all three of whom have stepped up to challenge the star riders this season, and New Zealand pairs Andrew Buchanan/Philippa Burns and John Hannan/Bryce Rose. Hannan and Rose, twice NZ Champions, have found the Aussies to be tough opposition on their home tracks, but Buchanan and Burns have regularly been a match for the best of the Aussies prior to Burns breaking her foot in an event at Palmerston North (NZ) in January.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday night, 16 March 2013.

Venue: Gillman Speedway Stadium, 65 Wilkins Road, Gillman – near the Port Adelaide area.

Gates open: at 5 pm.

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm.

Format/Riders/Passengers/:

Ikon Suspension Sidecar Grand Slam Round 5
Format: 16 riders x 20 heats plus a last chance semi-final and a final. The 4th to 7th highest scorers go into the semi-final; and the winner of the semi-final and the highest three scorers from the 20 heats go into the final.

Riders/Passengers (alphabetical order):
Andrew Buchanan / Philippa Burns (NZ)
Scott Christopher / Tyler Moon (Qld)
Byren Gates / Michael O’Loughlin (Vic)
John Hannan / Bryce Rose (NZ)
Jason Hardy / Geoff Langdon (SA)
Mick Headland / Paul Waters (SA)
Trent Headland / Jesse Headland (SA)
Wes Jenkins / Damian Egan (Qld/SA)
Mark Mitchell / Tom Golding (SA)
Warren Monson / Matt Morgan (Vic/SA)
Damien Niesche / Mitchell Spear (SA)
Mark Plaisted / Sam Gilbert (SA)
Darrin Treloar / Simon Cohrs (NSW/Vic)

Tim Bichard / Dale Knights (SA), Rick Curran / Brian Anthony (Vic), Aaron Hartwig / Teagan Hartwig (SA) and Aaron Silvy / Matthew Barkla will contest a qualifying race to determine the final three riders and the reserve.

Sidecar Grand Slam Sponsor – Ikon Suspension:
Ikon Suspension is a division of Proven Products Pty Ltd, which specialises in the manufacture of motorcycle shock absorbers and springs. While the name Ikon only hit the road in 2001, Proven Products has specialised in suspension since 1962. Proven Products has had a strong involvement with speedway motorcycle racing in Australia previously having supported events such as the Australian Solo Championship, the Leigh Adams Testimonial and the International Speedway Masters Series that was successfully conducted across Australia for many years. This is their second year as the major sponsor of the Sidecar Grand Slam.

Ikon Suspension Sidecar Grand Slam Series Points:
The leading competitors in the series point score after four of the scheduled six rounds are:
Warren Monson/Matt Morgan 60, Darrin Treloar/Simon Cohrs 54, Mark Plaisted/Sam Gilbert 50, Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin 48 and Mick Headland/Paul Waters 45. A full list of scorers from every round is in Saturday night’s programme.

Under 16 250cc Sidecars
(on the infield junior track during track watering)
Three junior Sidecar teams, Tom Adams/Katelyn Silvy (SA), Jack Sylvia/Harry Hearne (Vic) and Jackson Barbary/Josh Malic (Vic) will get as many runs as they can handle during the track watering breaks in preparation for the big junior Sidecar meetings (Aircom Systems Junior Spectacular and the Territory Marine sponsored O’Brien Cup) coming up on 30 & 31 March.

Admission:
Adults: $25, Age Pension & Student Concession Card Holders: $20, Children aged 12-15: $5, Children Under 12: free, Family (2 Adults and 4 Children): $55, souvenir programme $5, Car parking: free

Food and drink: Full bar and catering available. Food includes hot chips, pies, pasties, sausage rolls, Chico Rolls, dim sims, hot dogs, sandwiches, doughnuts, sweets, cold drinks, coffee. Please note a condition of our liquor licence is no byo alcohol or glass can be brought into the venue. Also note no pets, other than guide dogs, are allowed into the venue.

Souvenirs: There is a well-stocked souvenir shop including the latest Blackchrome manufactured shirts and jackets. Eftpos available only in the souvenir shop.

Seating: There are large grassed viewing mounds and terracing but no grandstand seating, so bring deck chairs or blankets if you do not want to sit on the grass.

Weather Forecast: Maximum 26 degrees, minimum 16 degrees.

Directions:
The best way to get to Gillman Speedway is off Hanson Road. If you are coming from the eastern and southern suburbs, get on to Hanson road off Torrens Road or Grand Junction Road, travel north on Hanson road over the train line then take the first road on the left, which is Wilkins road.

From the northern suburbs, travel down the new Port Adelaide expressway and take the Hanson Road exit. Once on Hanson Road, take the first exit on your right, this is Wilkins road.

From the western suburbs, Wilkins Road is the continuation of Bedford Street, north of Eastern Parade.

Contact for this meeting: Speedway Manager, David Parker 0403 364 658

IKON SUSPENSION SIDECAR GRAND SLAM ROUND 4 ACTION