Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship venue change
Gillman Media 23 January 2021
Motorcycling Australia (MA) has been forced to change the venue for this season’s Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship after the recent changes to the time frame for the reopening the Western Australian border.
The WA Government had previously flagged plans to open its border to doubled-vaccinated interstate travellers on February 5, and the championship was scheduled to be held at Pinjar Park Speedway, near Perth, on April 16th and 17th. But the original reopening plans were made before the highly infectious Omicron variant arrived and spread rapidly across the Eastern part of the country, and on January 21st West Australian Premier Mark McGowan announced the border reopening has been delayed because of the Omicron outbreak.
Mr. McGowan said the state is not taking any chances, arguing the highly infectious variant poses a significant risk to the community.
He said “It would be reckless and irresponsible to open up now – I can’t do it.” He went on to say WA will review the border settings on February 5, but ideally the WA Government wants to pause the state’s reopening until it reaches 80-90 per cent triple vaccination against Covid, and will continue to monitor the Omicron outbreak in other parts of the country, before the state commits to a border reopening date.
With no indication when the border might reopen, Motorcycling Australian decided it was necessary to change the venue for Championship, and it will now be held at Gillman Speedway in South Australia on the originally scheduled dates of April 16th and 17th.
Gillman Speedway was chosen as the new venue because allocation of the title is on a State roster. The title was held in NSW in 2018, Queensland in 2019, and Victoria in 2021 (postponed from 2020 because of Covid). WA was next in line for this year, with South Australia next in 2023. With no certainty the border will be open, MA has switched the WA and SA roster, with Gillman holding the title this year, and Pinjar Park hosting in 2023.
A spokesman for the Pinjar Park Speedway said it was devastating news that the title had been postponed for twelve months.
“This is a particularly hard pill to swallow as we are only a couple of months out from the event and a lot of preparation and planning had already been done. This change in policy is a huge blow to our club, our riders and our fans, but the main focus for us is that everyone stays safe and we continue to put on some excellent events with our talented local riders for the remainder of the season.”
Gillman Speedway has hosted the championship four times in the past, in 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2017 and Speedway Riders Association of SA club president Ivan Golding said “The last time we ran the Speedway Sidecar national title at Gillman Speedway it was a great success and while we don’t have as much time to prepare as we have in the past, we will be doing all in our powers to make it a huge success in 2022.”
Details
Dates: April 16th – Qualifying (for both Snr and Jnr if required) and April 17th – Championship (for both Snr and Jnr)
Venue: Gillman Speedway, Wilkins Road, Gillman, South Australia
Promoter: Speedway Riders Association of SA
Contact: Club President – Ivan Golding invangold@bigpond.com 0417 138 378
The titles will return to Western Australia on the 8th – 9th April, 2023.