Gillman Classic Championships next Saturday night (25 October) - October 2014
October 19, 2014 by Gillman Media
Night Speedway starts this Saturday (25 October) night with the staging of the annual Gillman Speedway Classic Championships.
Championships will be held for five classes, starting with the Jap/ESO Solo class for riders aged over 45, with riders from three states sharing favouritism — defending champion Peter Collins from South Australia, 2011 winner, and last year’s runner-up, Keith Pilcher from Queensland, and spectacular WA rider Kevin Webb.
Webb is also riding in the 2 Valve Solo class where he’ll resume his annual duel with Queensland’s Roy Stout. Stout is the defending champion, and a five-times winner, while Webb has been runner-up four times, three times to Stout. Another former placegetter, Seane Chapman is returning after several seasons lay-off and will provide strong opposition to Stout and Webb. [Main photo: Roy Stout (left) and Kevin Webb, courtesy of Judy Mackay]
The British/European Sidecar class is usually the most popular class but this year there will be plenty of interest in the Post Classic and Evolution class with the first appearance of eight-times Australian champion Darrin Treloar who will be riding the lowliner bike previously raced by his late father, Garry, who passed away in June. “Dad and I always talked about how good it would be to restore his old bike and give it a run. He came to Gillman with me many times and I thought the annual Classic meeting at Gillman would be the perfect place to ride the bike.” The opposition looks very even although Paul Donnelly (Vic) and Clinton Crabb stood out in the recent winter meetings so could be the biggest threat to Treloar.
The British/ European Sidecars will include three Vincents this year, all coming over from Victoria. They’ll be ridden by Doug Cotterell, Rory McEnroe and Peter Tolley but they’ll have serious opposition from Geoff Baran on a Norton and Clinton Crabb on a Triumph 750. The British class, and the Post Classic/Evolution classes will both see new champions crowned as there are no previous winners in either class.
The other Sidecar class, the Japanese class, will see last year’s winner, Mick Tucker, defending his title on his 500cc Suzuki, but he’ll do well to keep his title with several current day riders — Tim Bichard, Arron Hartwig, Shane Rudloff and Aaron Silvy — in the line-up.
As well as the two and three wheel classes the Three Quarter Midgets will have some demonstration runs. With the clay track surfaces dominating most speedway tracks these days, Gillman is one of the few tracks where the surface is smooth enough for the TQ drivers to have a safe and enjoyable time driving their classic cars.
The Classic meeting also pays tribute to a former speedway personality each year and this year it is legendary Claremont Speedway promoter Con Migro. As in past years there will be a BBQ at the stadium on the Friday night (24 October) with Con and many of the interstate riders and supporters present. The BBQ is open to all speedway fans.
Everything You Need To Know:
Meeting Date: Saturday night, 25 October 2014.
Venue: Gillman Speedway Stadium, 65 Wilkins Road, Gillman – near the Port Adelaide area.
Gates open: at 4 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.
Championship formats:
All championships decided over three heat rides for each rider, with the top four point scorers qualifying for the finals. Finishing order in the finals will determine the championship placegetters.
Awards: Sashes for the placegetters in the final for each class.
Nominations:
Jap/ESO Solos ( riders over 45 ): Peter Collins (ESO), John Dwyer (ESO), Jim Phillips (WA, ESO), Keith Pilcher (QLD, ESO), Kevin Webb (WA, ESO)
2 Valve Solos: Sean Chapman, Roy Stout (QLD), George Thomson, Kevin Webb (WA)
British/ European Sidecars: Geoff Baran/Ken Cherrington (Norton 830), Doug Cotterell/Stuart Williams (Vic, Vincent), Clinton Crabb/Jarred Edey (Triumph 750), Rory McEnroe/Tony Kavanti (Vic, Vincent), Peter Tolley/ Ezra Buzzard-Allen(Vic, Vincent)
Japanese Sidecars: Tim Bichard/Dale Knights (Suzuki 750), Gregory Griffiths/Nathan McFadden (NSW), Arron Hartwig/TBA, Steven Lewis/Tanya Moon, Shane Rudloff/Damian Egan, Aaron Silvy/Blake Ridley (Honda 750), Graham Thomson/Shayne Thomson (Honda 750), Mick Tucker/Anthony Diener (Suzuki 500), Rocky Warren/Courtenay Warren (Honda 750)
Post Classic & Evolution Sidecars: Keith Bichard/Derek Thomas, Geoff Baran/Ken Cherrington (Kawasaki 1000), Sean Chapman/Matt Ambrose (Kawasaki 1000), Clinton Crabb/Jarred Edey (Kawasaki 1000), Paul Donnelly/Jake Roberts (Vic), Dean Hobbs/Andy Westover, Aaron Silvy/Blake Ridley (Yamaha 750), Darrin Treloar/Ricky Treloar (NSW), Mick Tucker/Anthony Diener (Suzuki 1000), Rocky Warren/Courtenay Warren (Kawasaki 1000)
TQs: John Catford, Wayne Hamilton, Nigel Harvey, Bob Holland, Eric Klenke, Michael Levy.
Note: Rock Warren/Courtenay Warren scratch from Sidecar classes due to injury.
Admission:
Adults $20, Age Pension and Student Concession $15, Children Under 16 $5 (aged between 12-15 inclusive), Children Under 12 free. Family $45. Programme $5. Parking free.
Concession is limited to holders of the Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession card holders only. A family ticket covers 2 Adults and children under 16.
Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, maximum 27, minimum 12 [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, 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. Also note no pets, other than guide dogs, are allowed into the venue.
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.
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 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