International Speedway event at Gillman Saturday night

November 20, 2019 by Gillman Media

Riders from Australia, Great Britain, Denmark and Poland will compete in the inaugural FIM Oceania Solo Championship at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night.

The event is another coup for the Adelaide track which has previously successfully staged the FIM Oceania Sidecar Championship and the FIM Sidecar World Cup.

Leading the line-up, and hoping to go down in history as the first ever winner, are 2018 Australian Champion Rohan Tungate, from the hamlet of Pelaw Main in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, and current British Champion Charles Wright from Stockport in England.

Saturday night will be Wright’s first appearance at Gillman, but Tungate has a strong pedigree at the track, having previously won the South Australian Championship and finished in the top three in the Australian Championship rounds at Gillman six times in the last seven seasons.

Wright is one of four English riders competing, along with Dan Bewley, Tom Brennan and Kyle Bickley, while Szymon Szlauderbach will represent Poland and Emil Grøndal Denmark.

20-year-old Bewley, who was the 2018 British Under-19 Champion, and now rides for the famous Manchester-based Belle Vue Aces, looms as another of the favourites after good first up performances in Australia earlier this month. Bewley won the Jack Young Cup at the opening Gillman meeting two weeks ago, and last weekend topscored in the Jason Lyons Trophy meeting in Mildura before finishing second to home-track rider Jaimon Lidsey in the final, with Wright finishing third.

Lidsey has been in top form in his two meetings since returning from overseas, leading the Victorian Championship until a broken chain caused him to fall, and winning the Lyons Trophy, so will be another major contender Saturday night, as will New South Wales rider Jack Holder, who is another past Australian Championship round winner at Gillman.

Newly crowned Victorian Champion Justin Sedgmen also has a proven track record, while the remaining riders, Jordan Stewart (Vic), Zane Keleher (Qld), Ben Cook (NSW), Matthew Gilmore (NSW) and home-track riders Brayden McGuinness and Robert Medson are all capable of making the semi-finals, which should ensure close racing throughout the night.

The support events will also feature an international rider, 16-year-old German Ben Ernst, who won the 2018 FIM Speedway Youth 250cc World Championship in Poland, and finished a very close second in this year’s event in Denmark.

Photo: Current British Champion Charles Wright. Photo by Dave Payne.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 23 November 2019.

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

Parking and entrance: Patrons can enter via gates at the western and eastern ends of the venue. There are free off-street parking areas near both gates.

Gates open: at 4 pm. Free spectator access to the pits until closed to the public for practice and racing.

Practice: 5 pm to 6pm.

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm.

Riders:

FIM Oceania Solo Championship : Dan Bewley (Eng), Kyle Bickley (Eng), Tom Brennan (Eng), Ben Cook (NSW), Matthew Gilmore (NSW), Emil Grøndal (Den), Jack Holder (NSW), Zane Keleher (Qld), Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Brayden McGuinness (SA), Robert Medson (SA), Justin Sedgmen (Vic), Szymon Szlauderbach (Pol), Jordan Stewart (Vic), Rohan Tungate (NSW), Charles Wright (Eng)

Solo Support : Dakota Ballantyne (SA), Fraser Bowes (SA), Aden Clare (NSW), Ben Ernst (Ger), Liam May (SA), Kane Lawrence (NSW), Jake Mitchell (SA), Jack Morrison (Vic), Blake Ridley (SA). Note: Kane Lawrence has withdrawn (injured)

Championship format: 20 heats. Top eight point scorers qualify for semi-finals. First and second placegetters in the semi-finals qualify for the final. The finishing order in the final will determine the championship placegetters.

Admission: Adults $25, Age Pension & Student Concession $20, Children aged 12-15 $5, Under 12 free, Family $55, Programme $5. Parking free. Grandstand free.

Concession is limited to holders of the Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession card holders only. Eftpos is only available at the eastern gate. The western (main) gate is cash only.

Seating: Grandstand seating is free for this meeting but is limited to 216 people. There are large grassed viewing mounds and terracing suitable for deck chairs.

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. “Gillman has far and away the best speedway tucker” [Peter White’s Speedway World] Eftpos available at the main canteen.

Please note a condition of our liquor licence is no byo alcohol or glass can be brought into the venue.

Pets: No pets, other than guide dogs, are allowed into the venue.

Souvenirs: There is a well-stocked souvenir shop. Eftpos is not available in the souvenir shop.

Weather Forecast: Maximum 23, minimum 13. Partly cloudy. Forecast as at 20 November. [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]

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 from the airport, 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 airport grounds and turn right onto Tapleys Hill Road. 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). Continue down Port Road for about 1 km to the first intersection which is Grand Junction road and turn right. 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 onto Bedford Street. Keep going on that road until you get to the speedway. About 2km.

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.

Contact for this meeting: Ivan Golding 0417 138 378 or email contact@gillmanspeedway.com