Darrin Treloar still the Gillman Master - February 2014

February 5, 2014 by Gillman Media

This Saturday night sees the first of several major Sidecar events scheduled for the closing weeks of Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway season, with the staging of the Downer Sidecar Masters.
Downer is a leading engineering and infrastructure services company which was responsible for the biggest improvement at the Gillman stadium during the 2013 winter when it bituminised the pit surface, and the company will be treating many of their employees and some principals of companies they are associated with to the best view of the racing from the VIP area.
Leading the stellar field for the Masters will be the proven Master, Darrin Treloar. Treloar did not compete in the Masters last year because of a clash with the New South Wales Championship, but prior to that he had won five times in six attempts. He won in 2007, 08, 09 and 11 with Justin Plaisted in the chair, and in 2012 with 16-year-old Sam Gilbert on the side. This year he has 23-year-old Blake Cox as passenger.
Treloar’s main opposition is likely to come from defending Masters champion Mick Headland. Both are former track racing World champions and it is very rare for either not to make the final at any Gillman meeting. Adding extra intrigue to the meeting is the fact this will be Headland’s first meeting at Gillman since splitting with long-time passenger Paul Waters. Headland will have his son Jesse as his passenger for the rest of the season, while Waters will replace Jesse as passenger for Headland’s other son Trent.
Other riders considered to be major contenders are Mark Cossar / Darryl Whetstone, Mark Plaisted/Brian Anthony and Mark Mitchell/Tom Golding.
The British duo Mark Cossar/Darryl Whetstone are probably the most improved riders around Australia this season and they are now a serious chance of victory in every meeting they compete in.
Plaisted has been the form rider over the last 12 months but this will be his first meeting at Gillman since a massive crash in the South Australian championship in which he suffered some internal injuries and his bike was wrecked.
However these rider will all have to overcome the challenge from other riders such as Trent Headland, Warren Monson/Matt Morgan, Ron Parker/Derick Thomas, Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig and Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear, while the other riders, including two other Englishmen Matt Tyrrell and Mick Cave, are all capable of being “spoilers” and taking vital points from the more fancied riders.
The support events will include a special appearance of Polish Solo rider Adam Skórnicki. Skórnicki rides in the Polish, Swedish and British Leagues and was the 2008 Polish Champion ahead of Poland’s best riders including Grand Prix stars Jarosław Hampel and Tomasz Gollob, so he will be another big challenge for local rider Robert Branford who last meeting won the Jack Young Cup.

Polish Solo rider Adam Skórnicki. Photo © Ian Charles.

Everything you need to know:

Meeting Date: Saturday night, 8 February 2014.

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

Gates open: at 5 pm.

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm.

Riders/Passengers:

Downer Sidecar Masters:
Mick Cave / Gaz Williams (Eng), Mark Cossar / Darryl Whetstone (Eng), Brenten Dwyer / Adam Pfitzner, Jason Hardy / Geoff Langdon, Arron Hartwig / Teagan Hartwig, Mick Headland / Jesse Headland, Trent Headland / Paul Waters, Mark Mitchell / Tom Golding, Warren Monson / Matt Morgan, Damien Niesche / Mitchell Spear, Ron Parker / Derick Thomas, Mark Plaisted / Brian Anthony, Daniel Puddy / Luke Puddy, Shane Rudloff / Damian Egan, Darrin Treloar / Blake Cox, Matt Tyrrell (Eng) / Craig Fordham

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.

Support Races:
Sidecar support Group 2: Tim Bichard / Dale Knights, Mark Griffith / Tim Evans, Kym Menadue / Anthony Schulz, Dale Milner / Nick O’Brien, Aaron Silvy / tba

Sidecar support Group 3: Keith Bichard / tba, Rick Fechner / Justin Richards, Mal Greig / Scott Banyer, Dean Hobbs / Andy Westover, Brian Silvy / Josh Knott

Solos: Adam Skórnicki, Robert Branford, Robert Medson, Seth Hickey, Jake Mitchell, Garry Fischer

Quads: Mel Brandle, Levi Correll, Nick Correll, Danielle Ellis, Roger Koop, Steph Kowal, Barry Smith, Nathan Smith, Nathan Watson

125cc Junior Solos: Troy Kutcher, Liam May, Brayden McGuiness, Nicholas Possingham, Blake Ridley, Layne Riordan

About the sponsor, Downer:
Downer is a leading engineering and infrastructure services company with a long and strong South Australian footprint, and the company was responsible for bituminising the pit area at Gillman Speedway. Downer manufactured the hot mixed asphalt from its new facility at Wingfield. This new state of the art plant has the capacity to manufacture environmentally friendly products that are at the forefront of sustainable solutions for the road infrastructure sector, using high quality recycled material and Warm Mixed Asphalt technology, which has consolidated the company’s position as a responsible supporter of the local communities in which it works.

Admission Prices:
Adults $25, Pension and Student Concession $20 (*), Children aged 12-15 $5, Children Under 12 free. Family ticket $55. Parking free. Programme $5. (*) Concession is limited to Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession card holders only. Family includes up to 2 Adults and 4 Children

Parking and entrance:
Patrons can enter via two gates, the main entrance which is at the western end, and the competitors’ gate which is at the eastern end near the pits. The back gate will only be open until 8pm. There are parking areas near both gates.

Weather Forecast: Maximum 40, minimum 22. Partly cloudy.

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

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

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

VIP Area: The V.I.P. area is available to anyone who would like to treat their business colleagues, family or friends to the best view of motorcycle speedway action in Australia. Any number from one up to fifty spectators can enjoy the elevated view overlooking the track, either from inside the temperature controlled room, on the timber decks, or the enclosed lawn area, for a very reasonable price per person. A fully stocked bar and a variety of food to suit all budgets is available and you can book the whole room or part thereof. Ring Gillman Speedway Manager David Parker on 0403 364 658 or e-mail dave@gillmanspeedway.com for more details.

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.

For interstate visitors flying into Adelaide and getting a hire car, Gillman is about 30 minutes’ drive from the airport. The easiest and most direct way, if not going to your accommodation first is: On leaving the airport, turn left onto Sir Donald Bradman Drive. Continue along Sir Donald Bradman Drive until you reach the end of the airports grounds and turn right onto Tapleys Hill Road. Just keep going on Tapleys Hill Road until you can’t go any further. That’s Port Road. Turn left onto Port Road. You can only turn left, you can’t go straight ahead or turn right, so pretty easy to this point. Continue down Port Road for about 1 km to the first intersection which is Grand Junction road and turn right. You only go 700 metres along Grand Junction Road over a bridge over a railway line. Stay in the left lane because at the bottom of the bridge you turn left into Gray Terrace. Go to the end of Gray Terrace and turn right (you can’t go straight ahead) onto Bedford Street. Just keep going on that Road until you get to the speedway. About 2 kms. The whole trip is about 20kms, and half-an-hour depending on traffic lights. Once you are on Tapleys Hill Road you can’t really go wrong. You only have to make three or four turns and most of those are simple.

Accommodation:
There is plenty of accommodation in Adelaide and suburbs, within 20-30 minutes of the Speedway, ranging from five star hotels to caravan parks and backpacker hostels. The Pavlos Motel on Main North Road, Pooraka offers a discount to speedway fans but you must ring the motel direct and ask for the Gillman Speedway discount. Full details are on the Gillman website under the information/accommodation tab.

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