Kiwi Sidecar stars to race at Gillman Speedway Saturday night - March 2017
March 14, 2017 by Gillman Media
Three of New Zealand’s best Sidecar riders will be in action at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway on Saturday night (18 March) when they take on the leading local riders in the Trans-Tasman Sidecar Spectacular.
When making the announcement, Gillman Speedway manager David Parker said: “Adelaide is in a rather unique situation this year as we have the Oceania Sidecar Championship, the World Cup, and the Australian Sidecar Championship all here next month, and as a consequence we have two different lots of riders looking for track time at Gillman.
“This Saturday night we have three of the Kiwis, who are preparing for the Oceania and World Cup meetings. And we already have Queenslanders Tyler Moon and Hamish Golding, and NSW rider Stephen Saunders nominated for the following meeting (1 April) preparing for the Australian Championship qualifying meeting.
“It used to be some fans would pick and choose their meetings, but Gillman has had such strong line-ups this season that they don’t want to miss any meetings now, so we are expecting another big crowd this Saturday night.”
The three Kiwi riders appearing on Saturday night are Jamie Moohan, James Douglas and Aiden Thwaites.
Moohan finished second in the New Zealand Championship earlier this month, while Douglas won the championship last season, and Thwaites reached the semi-final of the World Cup at Gillman last season.
They will face stiff opposition SA riders Justin Plaisted, Arron Hartwig and Mark Mitchell, while Dan Puddy, Tim Bichard, Dean Hobbs, Kym Menadue and Shane Rudloff are other local riders who will be keen to do well as they continue to make their claims for a berth in the Australian Championship qualifying meeting.
There will also be support events for 500cc Solos, 250cc Solos and Flat Track Solos, with Robert Medson, Brayden McGuinness and Dakota Ballantyne continuing their season-long rivalry in the 500cc Solos.
Top photo: Jamie Moohan and Jacob Cooper on their way to second place in the New Zealand Championship a fortnight ago. Photo by Eugene Robbemond.
Everything You Need To Know:
Meeting Date: Saturday, 18 March 2017.
Venue: Gillman Speedway Stadium, 65 Wilkins Road, Gillman – near the Port Adelaide area.
Gates open: 5 pm. The Eastern gate will close at 8pm. Off-street parking areas near both gates.
Racing starts: 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits until around 6.30pm.
Riders/Passengers:
Sidecars : 05 Klae Hobbs/Liam Cox, 11 Tom Adams/Katelyn Silvy, 12 Brian Silvy/Josh Knott, 14 Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, 14p Jamie Moohan/Bayley Ogilvie (NZ), 15 Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris, 16 Mark Radford/Blake Halls (Vic), 25 Clinton Crabb/Michael Bell, 27 Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig, 35 Mark Mitchell/Sam Harrison, 43 Daniel Puddy/Luke Puddy, 44i James Douglas/Harley Biddle (NZ), 47 Justin Plaisted/Simon Cohrs, 57 Chris Bichard/Brett Lewis, 58i Aiden Thwaites/Shane Twiss (NZ), 61 Chris Dess/Cameron Diwell (Vic), 70 Mark Drew/Mark Bonomi (WA), 77 Tim Bichard/Brenton Marsh, 970 Dean Hobbs/Justin Richards, 272 Adam Pascoe/Chris Pascoe.
Solos 500cc : 9 Robert Medson, 12 Roy Stout, 16 Gary Fischer, 19 Brayden McGuinness, 42 Seth Hickey, 44 Doug Hayden, 82 Dakota Ballantyne.
Solos 250cc (Under 16) : 11 Connor Bailey (Vic), 14 Liam May, 51 Fraser Bowes.
Solos Flat Track Pro Open : 12 Jesse Headland, 12 Roy Stout, 15 Chris Pascoe, 20 Brad Lawler, 44 Doug Hayden, 47 Dean Maul-Dunn, 72 Adam Pascoe, 94 William Symonds, 96 Mark Stevens, 312 Dylan McKenzie, 420 Shaun Allen, 75 Steve Batchelor, 273 Dale Knights, 303 Thomas Gardiner.
Solos 125cc (Under 16) (infield track) : 04 Angus Vandenberg, 14 Liam May, Hugh Evans, 47 Nicholas Possingham, 70 Jack Sadler, 80 Patrick Bowes, 211 Teagan Pedler, 524 Harry Sadler.
Admission prices: Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20 (*), Children Under 16 $5, Under 12 free. Family $55. Grandstand seating free. Programme $5. Parking free.
(*) Concession is limited to Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession Card holders only. A family ticket covers 2 adults and children under 16.
Weather Forecast: maximum 34, minimum 19, sunny. [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]
Seating: 216 seat grandstand; terracing and large grassed viewing mounds suitable for deck chairs.
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. 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.
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.
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, has recently opened only five minutes from the track. Quest Port Adelaide has modern studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments.
Contact for this meeting: Speedway Manager, David Parker 0403 364 658