Mick Headland makes quick return for Gillman Championship meeting

February 6, 2018 by Gillman Media

South Australian Sidecar star Mick Headland left the last Gillman Speedway meeting in the back of an ambulance, after a spectacular crash with Warren Monson, but he and passenger Brenton Kerr are making a quick return to contest the Eagle Fuels Gillman Speedway Sidecar Championship this Saturday night, 10 February.

Although Headland has been South Australia’s most successful rider during the 2000s, winning amongst other events the FIM Gold Trophy, two World Track Racing Championships and three South Australian Championships, the Gillman track championship is one event he has had difficulty winning.

His only victory has been in 2015 and he has only been on the top three rostrum three times, so he is keen to add another victory to the list but it won’t be easy as they’ll be up against one of this season’s in-form teams, the Riverland brother and sister team of Arron and Teagan Hartwig.

This will be the Hartwig’s first appearance at Gillman this season but they have been riding regularly at the country tracks including just last Saturday night when they were unlucky not to win the Iron Triangle Sidecar Masters at Whyalla. They were unbeaten in the heats and had just taken the lead in the final from Australian Champion Trent Headland when Teagan fell from the bike. She very fortunately was not hit by the following bikes but, of course, they were excluded for causing the race stoppage.

While Headland and Hartwig will share equal favouritism in the Sidecar Championship, former British Under 21 Champion Robert Branford will start as the favourite for the Solo Championship, but he won’t want to make any slip-ups as there are a number of riders ready to take over the front running including defending champion Dakota Ballantyne, fellow Australian Under 21 Championship riders Declan Knowles and Brayden McGuinness, Australian Championship rider Robert Medson, and perhaps even an dark horse in Seth Hickey who has shown good form since buying a bike from Branford.

The 125cc Under 16 Solos will also contest their Gillman Championship event with defending champion Patrick Bowes and Hugh Evans the favourites.

The three championship events will be supported by some Flat Track races culminating in an all-in 12 rider final.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 10 February 2018.

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

Gates open: 5 pm.

Racing starts: 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits until around 6.30pm.

Nominations:

Gillman Solo Championship riders: 9-Robert Medson, 10-Declan Knowles (Vic), 19-Brayden McGuinness, 42-Seth Hickey, 51-Fraser Bowes, 69-Tom Dixon (Vic), 82-Dakota Ballantyne, 88-Blake Ridley, 121-Robert Branford, 808-Mitchell Grech

Gillman Sidecar Championship riders/passengers: 12-Brian Silvy/Cameron White, 16-Mark Radford/Blake Halls (Vic), 21-Aaron Silvy/Jaron Speyer-Silvy, 22-Stephen Fowler/Benny Goodridge, 25-Clinton Crabb/Michael Bell, 27-Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig, 56-Steve Browne/Colby Higgins, 57-Chris Bichard/Brett Lewis, 60-Peter Adams/Belinda Silvy, 77-Tim Bichard/Derick Thomas, 89-Nathan Fleet/Glen Zaworski, 107-Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr, 970-Dean Hobbs/Justin Richards

Gillman 125cc Solo Under 16 Championship riders (on infield track): 04-Angas van den Berg, 17-Hugh Evans, 47-Nicholas Possingham, 80-Patrick Bowes, 211-Teagan Pedler, 524-Harry Sadler.

Flat Track Solos: 07-Letitia Matters, 15-Chris Pascoe, 20-Brad Lawler, 38-James Hayden, 44-Doug Hayden, 50-John White, 67-Daniel Mitchell, 72-Adam Pascoe, 96-Anthony Stevens, 272-Josh Pascoe, 672-Dale Knights, 996-Mark Stevens

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

Seating: Grandstand seating, large grassed viewing mounds and terracing 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]

Bar facilities available but 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 available in the souvenir shop. Souvenirs can also be purchased online (see the Shop tab on the Gillman Speedway website).

Weather Forecast (as at 6/2/18): Maximum 29, minimum 21. Partly cloudy. [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.

Live results: download the MYLAPS Speedhive app to your phone or tablet. Free to view. Gillman programme also available to download from the Gillman Speedway website (under the Shop tab) for $5.50 payable by credit card or PayPal.

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