Speedway Sidecar World Cup in Adelaide this weekend

March 27, 2018 by Gillman Media

The biggest two international events in Speedway Sidecar racing, the FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship, and the FIM Speedway Sidecar World Cup, take place at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway Stadium this weekend.

In both events the five highest placed riders from last season’s Australian Championship will race against riders representing New Zealand, Great Britain, the United States of America and France to decide the World’s best rider.

The Oceania Championship is on Saturday night, 31 March, and the World Cup the following night, Sunday 1 April, with racing starting at 7.30pm on both nights.

The defending champions in both events are Warren Monson and Andrew Summerhayes, but the most in-form team going into the weekend are Darrin Treloar and Jesse Headland, who were unbeaten in all four rounds of this season’s Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Series.

The other Australian riders are current Australian Champions Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone, former Australian champion Mark Mitchell (passenger Tony Carter) and Dave Bottrell/Chris Bottrell.

Great Britain will be represented by four of the top five from the British Speedway Sidecar Championship – Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth, Mick Cave/Bradley Steer, Paul Whitelam/Alan Elliott and Will Penfold/Ricky Pay, who finished first, second, third and fifth in their national championship – and the USA by the top two in their national championship, Joe Jones/Tom Summers and Bryan Motis/John Bach, but it is the New Zealand rider Andrew Buchanan (passenger Denny Cox) who looks to be the biggest threat to the Australian riders who are the favourites for both meetings.

Last season Buchanan finished second in the Oceania Championship and third in the World Cup.

As well as Buchanan, New Zealand will be well represented by Jamie Moohan/Bayley Ogilvie, Dylan Moohan/Tyler Berger and Hamish Golding/Liam Cox. Jamie Moohan finished fifth in last season’s Oceania Championship.

For the first time, France will have a representative, with Australian-based dual citizen, Mick Headland (passenger Brenton Kerr) riding under the French flag.

Practice for both events will be at Gillman on Friday night, starting at 6pm and with free entry to the general public.

Sunday night’s World Cup will be the final meeting of the 2017/18 Gillman season.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Dates: Saturday, 31 March 2018 (Oceania Sidecar Championship); Sunday, 1 April 2018 (Sidecar World Cup);

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 5 pm (Saturday) and 3.30 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:

Dave Bottrell & Christopher Bottrell representing Australia

Andrew Buchanan & Denny Cox (New Zealand)

Mick Cave & Bradley Steer (Great Britain)

Mark Cossar & Carl Blyth (Great Britain)

Hamish Golding & Liam Cox (New Zealand)

Mick Headland & Brenton Kerr (France)

Trent Headland & Darryl Whetstone (Australia)

Joe Jones & Tom Summers (United States of America)

Mark Mitchell & Tony Carter (Australia)

Warren Monson & Andrew Summerhayes (Australia)

Dylan Moohan & Tyler Berger (New Zealand)

Jamie Moohan & Bayley Ogilvie (New Zealand)

Bryan Motis & John Bach (United States of America)

Will Penfold & Ricky Pay (Great Britain)

Darrin Treloar & Jesse Headland (Australia)

Paul Whitelam & Alan Elliott (Great Britain)

Reserves: Damien Niesche & Mitchell Spear, Mark Plaisted & Ben Pitt (Australia)

Admission prices Saturday 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.

Admission prices Sunday 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.

(*) Concession is limited to 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 27/3/18): Saturday – maximum 24, minimum 12, sunny. Sunday – maximum 25, minimum 13, 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

Top photo: Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (red), Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone (blue) and Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland (white). Photo: Mike Gerlach JDM Photos.