Plaisted/Anthony, Fricke the Division 1 winners at the opening Gillman meeting - November 2013

November 10, 2013 by Gillman Media

Details and photographs from last night’s opening meeting at Gillman Speedway.

Div 1 Solo Final: Max Fricke, Robert Branford, Robert Medson, Arlo Bugeja, Sam Martin

Div 2 Solo Final: Jack Fallon, Bob Stoneham, Brodie Waters, Brady Webb

Div 1 Sidecar Final: Mark Plaisted/Brian Anthony, Mick Headland/Paul Waters, Warren Monson/Matt Morgan, Mark Cossar/Daz Whetstone

Div 2 Sidecar Final; Brenten Dwyer/Adam Pfitzner, Tim Bichard/Dale Knights, Shane Rudloff/Damian Egan, Aaron Silvy/Matthew Barkla (excluded)

Division 1 Solos

Max Fricke, just back from Scotland earlier in the week, made a successful return to Australia by winning the Division 1 Solo Final at Gillman’s opening meeting, but Robert Branford had his measure in the heats.

The opening heat started disappointingly for Fricke when his bike dropped a chain as he came to the tapes. He fortunately was able to switch to another bike, but went down to Branford in a close finish. Both, however, were outgunned by Arlo Bugeja for the majority of the race. Bugeja led from the start until the end of lap three when he lifted going through turn four and had to throttle off which allowed both Branford and Fricke through.

Branford also got the better of Fricke when they met again in heat four in which they exchanged the lead a couple of times before Branford got home by half-a-wheel.

It was all Fricke in the five rider final, however, as he led all the way after Branford made a terrible start. Branford was fourth going down the back straight on the opening lap, but managed to pass Bugeja and Medson towards the end of lap two to finish second with Medson third, Bugeja fourth and Martin fifth.

Division 1 Solo action, Max Fricke leading Robert Medson. Photo © Judy Mackay.

Division 1 Sidecars

Current State champion Mark Plaisted, and new passenger Brian Anthony, had a successful first meeting together, only dropping one point in the heats and then winning the final by half a bike length after a thrilling four lap duel with Mick Headland/Paul Waters.

Warren Monson/Matt Morgan edged out impressive English duo Mark Cossar/Daz Whetstone for third.

Although he finished a close second in the final Headland had a terrible night, being one of several riders hit by opening night bike trouble. He retired from his first two races while leading, and finished last in his third ride behind Mitchell, Plaisted and Patterson, before winning his last heat which was enough to get him into the semi-final in which he scored a hard-fought win after trailing  Hardy and Evans for the first two laps.

Although they don’t figure in the final results, Mark Mitchell/Tom Golding were arguably the best riders of the night. They won their first three rides (although excluded from the second for going infield), including passing Plaisted to win heat nine, but their night ended spectacularly when Evans went under them down the back straight in heat eleven, the bikes appeared to touch and Mitchell crashed. His bike bounced along the top of the air fence before falling back onto the track, fortunately missing Mitchell and passenger Tom Golding.

Of the others, Warren Monson/Matt Morgan, Mark Cossar/Daz Whetstone and Rob Patterson/Brenton Kerr were the most impressive, which the other six pairings all fairly even. The second English duo, Mick Cave/Gaz Williams, had bike trouble and rode Mick Headland’s spare bike in their last three heats for a mixed bag of results with a win, an exclusion for going infield, and an exclusion when Williams fell.

Division 1 Sidecar Final, Mark Plaisted/Brian Anthony lead Mick Headland/Paul Waters. Photo © Judy Mackay.

Division 2 SolosMildura riders Brodie Waters and Jack Fallon were clearly the standout riders in Division 2 and would seem certain to have ridden their way into the Gillman Championship line-up for the next meeting should they nominate. Both won their first two rides before they met in heat five which went to Waters. They were side-by-side for the first lap but Fallon, on the outside, lost his line a couple of times which allowed Bob Stoneham to get second place. They met again n heat eight and this time the impressive 16-year-old Fallon ended Waters unbeaten run.Fallon had a very easy win in the final after Waters fell on the second lap. Waters was clearly annoyed with himself but nevertheless it was an impressive debut by the road racing star who was racing in the World Supersport Championship in Jerez (Spain) only three weeks ago. Webb also fell in a separate incident in the final and while both remounted to continue the race they were a long way behind second place Stoneham.

Bob Stoneham was the best of the rest on the night, while Brady Webb, Luke Mitchell, Seth Hickey and Jake Mitchell had some close races. Renmark rider Gary Fischer had a terrible looking crash in heat five when he was thrown over the safety fence but he escaped any serious injury; and Sean Peterson fell in heat in heat one after clipping Luke Mitchell’s back wheel and took no further part in the meeting.

Division 2 Solo Final, Jack Fallon leads Brodie Waters. Photo © Judy Mackay.

Division 2 Sidecars

Comeback rider Brenten Dwyer (passenger Adam Pfitzner) was the standout rider in the Division two Sidecars, winning three of his four heats and then the final after a close race with Tim Bichard/Dale Knights. In his other heat Dwyer spun off the track when trying an inside pass on Bichard. Shane Rudloff, formerly the passenger for Ron Parker, and passenger Damian Egan had a good night with a couple of heat wins but missed some gear changes in the final and finished a distant third, while Aaron Silvy/Matthew Barkla were excluded from the final after they got sideways in turn four which baulked Bichard and forced him to go infield.

The four finalists won all the heat races, while Keith Bichard/Derick Thomas were the best of the others just ahead of Kym Menadue/Anthony Schulz and Rick Fechner/Justin Richards.

Division 2 Sidecars, Tim Bichard/Dale Knights lead Brenten Dwyer/Adam Pfitzner. Photo © Judy Mackay.

Juniors

In the junior events, Dakota Ballantyne, making a return after a season out with a knee injury, clean-sheeted the 250/350cc races on the big track, with Declyn Adams and Mitchell Grech sharing the placings with two seconds and two thirds each.

In the 125cc events on the infield track, Jack Norman was unbeaten in the heats but went down to Jaimon Lidsey in the final with Declyn Adams third and Blake Ridley fourth after a surprise, but good, win over Mitchell Grech and Brayden McGuinness in the semi-final.

Full results can be found under the Results tab on the Gillman Speedway website.

The next meeting, on 23 November, will include the Gillman Solo Championship.