Exciting racing in store for Gillman Speedway this Saturday night - March 2015

March 4, 2015 by Gillman Media

An exciting night’s racing is in prospect at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway on Saturday night (7 March) with very even fields across the programme and no clear-cut favourite in any of the classes contesting the annual President’s Trophy night.

Arlo Bugeja is back to defend his Solo trophy but he’ll have stiff opposition from Brodie Waters, Cooper Riordan and Robert Medson. While those four are expected to make the final, all four are capable of winning it. 16-year-old Riordan would have been the outsider of that group earlier in the season but he was outstanding winning the handicap races from the back mark at the last meeting so has now assumed equal-favouritism. An interesting addition to the programme is another 16-year-ol from Mildura, Declyn Adams, who will be making his 500cc debut after a successful career in the junior ranks.

The 250cc Solo class, if anything, has an even more intriguing line-up and it is quite possible there could be a four-state final with riders from Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales competing against the best of the South Australian lads. Victoria’s James Davies top scored at the last meeting after some shoulder-to-shoulder racing with WA’s Declan Knowles and local rider Mitchell Grech, but the line-up is even stronger this week with the inclusion of Dakota Ballantyne and Mildura’s Jack Sylvia.

The Sidecars once again will take up the bulk of the programme with 16-heats plus the finals, and with current trophy holders Mark Mitchell and Tom Golding not riding after a track crash in New South Wales recently, a new champion is assured. Again it is an even line-up, but last meeting’s finalists, Daniel Puddy/Luke Puddy, Shane Rudloff/Damian Egan and Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig will no doubt figure prominently again. The Puddy brothers will be particularly keen to go one better than last meeting in which they were unbeaten in the heats of the Sidecar Masters before finishing second in the final. They will have plenty of opposition however with the return of Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear from racing in NSW, along with NSW’s Shane Hudson/Brad Pitt and Rick Stephens/Nathan Johnston, former Gillman champion Jason Hardy/Adam Pascoe, the Prince of Port Adelaide Ron Parker/Jarred Edey, and Mildura’s Chris Dess/Steve Behsmann. The final could be any permutation of those nine riders. The remaining riders may struggle to edge a semi-final berth ahead of these riders, but they should nevertheless provide more exciting races as they did in the Masters.

Also on the programme will be the only appearance this season of the Quads. While the bulk of the field is evenly matched there will be a favourite in this class with Mel Brandle regarded as one of Australia’s best Speedway Quad riders. The rest of the riders are all capable of taking the runner-up position but it remains to be seen if any of them can topple Brandle.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday night, 7 March 2015.

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

Gates open: at 5 pm.

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits for a close look at the bikes until approximately 6.30 pm.

President’s Trophy Riders:

Sidecars: Chris Bichard / Brett Lewis, Tim Bichard / Anthony Schulz, Chris Dess / Steve Behsmann (Vic), Ricky Fechner / Justin Richards, Jason Hardy / Adam Pascoe, Arron Hartwig / Teagan Hartwig, Dean Hobbs / Andy Westover, Shane Hudson / Brad Pitt (NSW), Kym Menadue / Eric Melton, Damien Niesche / Mitchell Spear, Ron Parker / Jarred Edey, Daniel Puddy / Luke Puddy, Shane Rudloff / Damian Egan, Aaron Silvy / Todd Haydon, Brian Silvy / Josh Knott, Rick Stephens / Nathan Johnston (NSW). Reserve: Darryll Woods / Will Walker.

500cc Solos: Declyn Adams (Vic), Arlo Bugeja, Gary Fisher, Seth Hickey, Robert Medson, Jake Mitchell, Blake Ridley, Cooper Riordan (Vic), Brodie Waters (Vic)

250cc Junior Solos: Dakota Ballantyne, Aden Clare (NSW), James Davies (Vic), Mitchell Grech, Declan Knowles (WA), Brayden McGuinness, Jack Slyvia (Vic)

Support Classes:

Speedway Quads: Mel Brandle, Chris Cluse, Levi Correll, Nick Correll, Roger Koop, Steven Kowal

125cc Junior Solos (infield track): Brayden McGuinness, Nicholas Possingham, Layne Riordan (Vic), Jack Sadler

Admission:

Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20, Children aged 12-15 $5, Children under 12 free. Family $55. Programme $5. Parking free.

Concession is limited Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession Card holders only. A family ticket covers 2 adults and children under 16.

Weather Forecast: Maximum 27, minimum 14. Partly cloudy. [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]

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, hamburgers, chicken burgers, pies, pasties, sausage rolls, Chiko Rolls, dim sims, hot dogs, 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. Also note no pets, other than guide dogs, are allowed into the venue. “Gillman has far and away the best speedway tucker” [Peter White’s Speedway World, February 2015]

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

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 20kms, and 30 minutes’ drive (depending on traffic lights) 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. 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. 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 (there is a slight detour along Gray Terrace at the moment) 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.

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; and the Mawson Lakes Hotel and Function Centre, Main Street, Mawson Lakes, are offering a discount to speedway fans but you must ring the venues 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