Speedway riders chase Sidecar’s World Cup in Adelaide this Saturday night - April 2017

April 6, 2017 by Gillman Media

The highest placed available riders from last season’s Australian Championship will race against riders from New Zealand, United States of America and Great Britain to decide the World’s best rider at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway Stadium on Saturday night (8 April).

Then 24 hours later, the riders will return to contest the final round of the Oceania Sidecar Championship.

The World Cup is a standalone meeting and the winner of the final on Saturday night will be the champion, whereas the Oceania Championship is a series, with the highest point scorer over two rounds the winner.

The defending champion in both events is Darrin Treloar (passenger Blake Cox). Treloar is the most successful rider in Speedway Sidecar history, and has already won three State championships this season to take his overall total to a staggering 36!

But . . . Treloar did have his colours lowered in the first round of the Oceania Championship in Victoria last weekend, and it is Kiwi rider Andrew Buchanan (passenger Denny Cox), who leads the series going into Sunday night’s final round.

Whether he can come out on top, or has just stirred the Australian riders to lift their game remains to be seen, but there will be an early clue as Treloar and Buchanan have been drawn to meet in the opening heat of the Oceania championship.

Passengers Blake and Denny Cox are two of four family members who will be racing at the weekend, with another brother Brady riding with Hayden Bond, and their father Glenn riding with Grant Bond who is equal third in the Oceania points after the first round.

South Australia’s hopes will rest with former Australian champion Mark Mitchell (passenger Sam Harrison), last season’s World #2 Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone and brother and sister team Arron and Teagan Hartwig. The other Australian teams are Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes and Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin. Monson is equal third with Grant Bond in the Oceania points.

As well as Buchanan, New Zealand will be well represented with the current NZ #1 Derek Ramsay/Matthew Ramsay and NZ #2 Jamie Moohan (Bayley Ogilvie), last season’s NZ #1 James Douglas/Harley Biddle and Aiden Thwaites/Shane Twiss, who reached the semi-final of last season’s World Cup, as did Buchanan and Ramsay.

Great Britain and the United States will be represent by Paul Whitelam/Bradley Steer, Bryan Motis/Nathan McFadden and multiple US Champion Joe Jones/Dave German.

Sunday night will be the final appearance of the overseas riders in Australia, and organisers are hoping for a record crowd for a sidecar meeting at the venue. “Last season’s World Cup was the biggest crowd we’ve had for a sidecar meeting, but we’ve had several crowds this season not far short of that figure, so there is a very good chance we will break the crowd record figure this weekend” says speedway manager David Parker. “Fortunately with our terraced seating, grandstand and other banking, we can easily accommodate whatever crowd we will get, so the more the merrier!.”

Gates will open at 4pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday with racing starting at 7.30pm on both night. Spectators arriving early will have free access to the pits to get a close up look at the bikes and their riders/passengers until the riders’ briefing starts at 6.30pm.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Dates: Saturday, 8 April 2017 (Sidecar World Cup); Sunday, 9 April 2017 (Oceania Sidecar Championship).

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

Parking and entrance: Patrons can enter via two gates, at the western and eastern ends of the venue. There are free off-street parking areas near both gates.

Gates open: at 4 pm (Saturday) and 5 pm (Sunday). The Eastern gate will close at 8pm.

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm both nights. Free spectator access to the pits until approximately 6.30 pm.

Riders/Passengers:

Grant Bond/Glenn Cox (Australia)

Hayden Bond/Brady Cox (Australia)

Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox (New Zealand/Aust)

James Douglas/Harley Biddle (New Zealand)

Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin (Australia)

Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig (Australia)

Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone (Australia)

Joe Jones/Dave German (United States of America)

Mark Mitchell / Sam Harrison (Australia)

Warren Monso /Andrew Summerhayes (Australia)

Jamie Moohan/Bayley Ogilvie (New Zealand)

Bryan Motis/Nathan McFadden (United States of America/Aust)

Derek Ramsay/Matthew Ramsay (New Zealand)

Aiden Thwaites/Shane Twiss (New Zealand)

Darrin Treloar /Blake Cox (Australia)

Paul Whitelam /Damian Egan (Great Britain/Aust)

Reserves: Mark Plaisted / Ben Pitt (Australia), Clint Mayes/Sean Coleby (Australia)

Admission prices Saturday night: Adults $30, Age Pension and Student Concession $25 (*), Children Under 16 $10 (aged 12-15 inclusive), Children Under 12 free. Family $70. Programme $5. Grandstand seating $5. Parking free.

Admission prices Sunday night: Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20 (*), Children Under 16 $5 (aged 12-15 inclusive), Children Under 12 free. Family $55. Programme $5. Grandstand seating $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: Saturday – maximum 29, minimum 19, partly cloudy, slight chance of a shower. Sunday – maximum 18, minimum 13, cloudy, medium chance of showers in the morning [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