Sidecar Super Series at Gillman Speedway

January 22, 2020 by Gillman Media

The Sidecars return to Gillman Speedway this Saturday night (25 January) for round one of the Sidecar Super Series.

In a very even line-up, Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris are slight favourites as the in-form team so far this season but they face a long list of challengers including former SA Champion, David Bottrell, who is now based in Townsville, Broken Hill’s Rick Stephens/Nick O’Brien, Mildura’ Neale Hancock/Brendan Johnson, and local riders Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, Aaron Silvy/Jaron Silvy and Nathan Fleet/Ayrton Canning.

Rudloff, with substitute passenger Damian Egan, won the Gillman Championship at the start of the season, while he and regular passenger Scott Morris have recently finished third in the South Australian Championship and second in the Victorian Championship.

Stephens was runner-up to Rudloff in the Gillman Championship and was also a semi-finalist in the SA Championship as were Menadue and Fleet. Fleet was also a finalist in the Gillman Championship as was Aaron Silvy.

Hancock was a semi-finalist in the Vic Championship, and is the highest placed of last season’s Super Series riders competing in this round. Hancock finished fourth in last season’s series, one place above Rudloff.

Outside of the riders mentioned, Dean Hobbs/Glen Zaworski were in impressive form in the SA Championship and may take points off some of the more fancied riders, while Mitchell Spear/Jesse Headland might spring some surprises on the Damien Niesche bike. Niesche only lost last season’s series after a run-off to decide the winner, but misses this first round because of an injury.

With most of the leading Solo riders competing in the Australian Under 21 Championship in Victoria, the Flat Track riders get a rare chance on the programme. Current or former speedway competitors Chris Pascoe, Jake Mitchell, Luke Mitchell, Mitchell Spear, Sean Curtis and Jesse Headland are on the programme, and while they are all accomplished flat track riders they will face serious opposition from Broken Hill’s Logan Coombe (NSW), and Mildura’s Ned Faulkhead and Hamish McCarten.

Top photo: Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (blue) and Nathan Fleet/Ayrton Canning (yellow).

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 25 January 2020.

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 5 pm. Free spectator access to the pits until closed to the public for practice and racing.

Racing starts: at 7.00 pm.

Sidecar Riders/Passengers: 10-Brenton Kerr / Cameron Diwell (Vic), 11-Thomas Adams / Alice Cox, 12-Brian Silvy / Cameron White, 14-Kym Menadue / Eric Melton, 15-Shane Rudloff / Scott Morris, 21-Aaron Silvy / Jaron Silvy, 22-Stephen Fowler / Corey Palmer, 31-Darryll Woods / Willy Walker, 36-Dave Bottrell / Klae Hobbs (Qld), 40-Mitchell Spear / Jesse Headland, 68-Neale Hancock / Brendan Johnson (Vic), 69-Rick Stephens / Nick O’Brien (NSW), 82-Wayne Lethbridge / Grantley Simounds, 89-Nathan Fleet / Ayrton Canning, 617-Nathan Johnston / Dylan Schweikert (NSW), 970-Dean Hobbs / Glen Zaworski

Flat Track Riders: 15-Chris Pascoe, 18-Jake Mitchell, 23-Shannon Paech, 40-Luke Mitchell, 40x-Mitchell Spear, 42-Logan Coombe (NSW), 43-Ned Faulkhead (Vic), 50-John White, 55-Sean Curtis, 84-Brenden Bishop (Vic), 91-Jeffy Irwin, 127-Jesse Headland, 369-Josh Pascoe, 947-Hamish McCarten (Vic)

Speedway Solo Riders: 18-Jake Mitchell, 20-Anthony Davey, 42-Seth Hickey, 211-Teagan Pedler. Solo practice: 23-Brian Johnson, 47-Nicholas Possingham

Juniors (infield junior track 6pm): 125cc Solos: 26-Jordan Hargreaves, 27-Travis Clarke, 33-Jake Fleet. 125cc Solo Novice: 48-Kobi Canning. Pee Wee: 16-Riley Edson, 37-William Nicol. 50cc: 5-Jack Silvy, 10-Darcy Bennett

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.

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 is not available in the souvenir shop.

Weather Forecast: Maximum 27, minimum 15. Mostly sunny. Forecast as at 22 January. [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. Speedway supporter discount available at the Mansfield Park Hotel, 426 Grand Junction Road, Mansfield Park (3 km from the track). Call 08 8445 3300 or use the link https://hotels.cloudbeds.com/reservation/VgHXNT#promo=GillmanSpeedway

Live results: Live results of the Sidecar and Solo races are free to view on the MYLAPS phone app. (www.speedhive.mylaps.com).

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