Meeting favourite Justin Sedgmen wins the Jack Young Cup at Gillman Speedway - December 2016

December 7, 2016 by Gillman Media

After a very entertaining night’s racing last meeting, Gillman Speedway patrons will be looking forward to more of the same this Saturday night (10 December) when the venue presents the 25th running of the Jack Young Solo Cup.

The meeting commemorates the memory of South Australia’s greatest rider, the late Jack Young, the first rider from any country to win the World Speedway Championship twice (1951, 52), the only Australian to have successfully defended the championship, and the only South Australian winner.

There is a standout favourite for the Cup, in Mildura’s Justin Sedgmen, and a couple of standout riders in the Sidecars – Mark Mitchell and Warren Monson – but those riders apart the various groups are very evenly ranked and competition will be fierce for a place in the Finals, and even the main prizes if any of the favourites are not on their top form.

Sedgmen is the only former winner of the Jack Young Cup competing but it was 2011 when he won the Cup and he is keen to win for a second time. The riders most likely to snatch the Cup should Sedgmen falter are fellow Mildura riders Jaimon Lidsey, Jordan Stewart and Cooper Riordan, and locals Robert Medson and Dakota Ballantyne.

A very even line-up of Group 2 riders, with a mix of experienced riders and teenagers, will fight their own battles to earn a berth in the Qualifying Final, with a place in the Semi-Final the reward for the QF winner.

The Sidecars will compete in a similar format with the top scoring Group 2 riders competing against the Group 1 riders for a chance to reach the Final. Former Australian Champion Mark Mitchell, with Luke Mitchell as passenger, and former Australia #2 Warren Monson (passenger Andrew Summerhayes), who is making his first appearance of the season are the Sidecar favourites.

Broken Hill’s Rick Stephens/Nick O’Brien, who were very impressive in the opening meeting, Mildura’s Neale Hancock/Brendon Johnson, and locals Ronny Parker/Tom Adams, Daniel Puddy/Luke Puddy, Aaron Silvy/Adam Pascoe and Dean Hobbs/Justin Richards will be their opposition in the Group 1 events. Puddy is returning after a year out with injury but he, Stephens, Hancock and Parker are all past Australian Championship qualifiers.

There will also be 250cc Solo races, plus the junior Solo and Sidecar races on the infield track during the brief track grades.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 10 December 2016.

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

Gates open: at 5 pm. Entry via Western and Eastern gates. The Eastern gate will close at 8pm. Off-street parking areas near both gates.

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

Riders:

Solos 500cc: Luke Bacskai, Dakota Ballantyne, Aden Clare (NSW), Gary Fischer, Mitchell Grech, Oliver Hamilton (Vic), Seth Hickey,  Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Brayden McGuinness, Robert Medson, Jake Mitchell, Jack Morrison (Vic), Cooper Riordan (Vic), Justin Sedgmen (Vic), Jordan Stewart (Vic).

Sidecars: Peter Adams/Katelyn Silvy, Chris Bichard/Brett Lewis, Clinton Crabb/Michael Bell, Paul Donnelly/Jake Roberts (Vic), Stephen Fowler/Benny Goodridge, Mal Greig/Ayrton Canning, Neale Hancock/Brendon Johnson (Vic), Dean Hobbs/Justin Richards, Mark Mitchell/Luke Mitchell, Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (Vic),Ron Parker/Tom Adams), Daniel Puddy/Luke Puddy, Aaron Silvy/Adam Pascoe, Brian Silvy/Josh Knott, Rick Stephens/Nick O’Brien (NSW/Vic), Mick Tucker/Corey Palmer.

Solos 250cc, Under 16:  Connor Bailey (Vic), Fraser Bowes, Jack Norman.

Solos 125cc, Under 16 (infield track): Connor Bailey (Vic), Fraser Bowes, Patrick Bowes, Hugh Evans, Patrick Hamilton (Vic), Teagan Pedler, Nicholas Possingham, Jack Sadler, Angus Vandenberg.

Sidecars 250cc, Under 16 (infield track):  Mark-John Papastamatis/Tegan Pedler, Jaron Speyer-Silvy/Kaidyn Silvy.

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

Concession is limited to holders of the Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession card holders only.

Seating: Grandstand seating (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]

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.

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

Weather Forecast: Maximum 25, minimum 10. Sunny. [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. 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, 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.

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. An exciting new accommodation venue, Quest Port Adelaide, opened this week, only five minutes from the track. Quest Port Adelaide has modern studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments. Further details on the Gillman Speedway website in coming weeks.

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

Top pic: Justin Sedgmen (red), Cooper Riordan (white), Jordan Stewart (blue) and Dakota Ballantyne (yellow). Photo by Derick Thomas.