Clean sweep for Treloar/Headland in Gillman sidecar super series

March 26, 2018 by Gillman Media

Darrin Treloar and Jesse Headland scored another clean sweep in round four of the Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Series at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night (24 March) and in the process took the overall series win, also with the maximum possible score.

In total Treloar/Headland took part in 24 races over 4 rounds in the series for 23 wins and 1 exclusion – for exceeding the two minute time allowance for their opening ride in round two.

But with the series points decided by each rider’s best three rounds, Treloar was able to drop that round and finish with the maximum 57 points.

The other major placings in the overall points behind Treloar/Headland were Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt 47, Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone 41, Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox 33, Mark Mitchell/Tony Carter 32 and Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr 32.

Going into Saturday night’s final round Trent Headland held a two point lead over Plaisted for second place but what looked like turning into an epic battle between the two, after first class rides by both in the opening two heats, didn’t eventuate as Headland was packed and heading home to Roxby Downs not long after his first and only ride.

Plaisted won heat one and recorded the fastest one lap time of the season in doing so (with second placed Mark Mitchell/Tony Carter also breaking the previous best time which was held by Treloar), but then Headland had Treloar beaten in heat two when his bike slowed and then caught fire on the last lap. He quickly made the decision to make the 556 km trip home to Roxby Downs and start stripping the bike down as early as possible to see what parts and repairs were needed for this weekend’s International meetings.

Headland was just the first and quite a few riders to suffer setbacks on Saturday night with some other bike problems and spectacular crashes.

In the Super Series races, Kiwis Dylan Moohan/Tyler Berger and Mark Mitchell/Tony Carter both crashed in their third rides and were out for the night, and Dave Bottrell’s son/passenger Chris fell in heat 19 after a hefty shunt from Tom Adams/Belinda Silvy.

There were further dramas in the supporting events for the overseas riders with Americans Bryan Motis/John Bach, and Englishmen Paul Whitelam/Andy Elliott coming to grief.

Motis came to grief in his first ride when the bikes collided going into the first turn and Motis’ bike rolled. With Motis being a paraplegic it is always more difficult to tell if he has suffered any injuries so despite being able to get into his wheelchair and wheel back to the pits, and also with the bike suffering some damage, it was decided to err on the side of caution and sit the rest of the meeting out and concentrate on this weekend’s meetings.

Whitelam’s crash came towards the end of the meeting when the other American’s (Joe Jones) bike stopped coming out of turn two and Whitelam hit him and was catapulted over the handlebars. It was the worst looking of the crashes but fortunately he also did not suffer any serious injuries.

Away from the crashes, as reported, Treloar went through the card unbeaten and he was joined in the final by Plaisted with 13 points – beaten by Treloar and Mick Headland – Neale Hancock/Brock Gates, 11 points, and semi-final winners Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (10 points).

Monson was having his first meeting since breaking his arm in round two on January 27, and suffered a lot of pain in the arm on the night but felt he had to get some track time before defending his Oceania Championship and World Cup crowns this weekend.

His best ride of the night was his semi-final win when he won surprisingly easily from Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr (10), Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear (9) and Kym Menadue/Eric Melton (9).

The final was all Treloar but there was an exciting race between the others for the minor placings with Plaisted taking second, Monson third and Hancock fourth.

In the International Sidecar events there was some close racing between Joe Jones/Tom Summers (USA), Will Penfold/Ricky Pay (Eng), Jeff Bishop/Daniel Bishop (WA) and Paul Whitelam/Alan Elliott (Eng). Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth (Eng) recorded the fastest 4 lap time for the international events in winning heat two, but he was hampered by bike problems in his other races with a couple of broken chains.

There was also close racing between Brayden McGuinness, Seth Hickey and Declan Knowles in each of the Solo races, in what was their final appearance for the season. McGuinness, who will be doing some racing in Denmark during the Australian winter, top scored with 14 points, dropping just the one point to Hickey, while Hickey and Knowles both scored 8 points.

Top photo: Victory lap for Darrin Treloar and Jesse Headland. Bottom photo: Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (yellow) and Neale Hancock/Brock Gates dicing for third place in the final. Photos: Judy Mackay.