The action continues at Gillman Speedway this Saturday night - November 2015

November 11, 2015 by Gillman Media

The action continues at Gillman Speedway this Saturday night (14 November) for the third weekend running in a busy start to the season, with a 39 event programme of Solos, Sidecars and 250cc Junior Solos, with riders from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

This meeting, sponsored by Eagle Fuels, has been the opening meeting in recent seasons, and although it has been pushed back to meeting number two this season to allow for the highly successful Darcy Ward Benefit Meeting to be run last weekend, it will still be the first meeting of the season for most of the Sidecars, so they’ll be out to impress to hopefully put their names forward for selection for some of the championship meetings coming later in the season.

Speedway Manager David Parker said “This meeting is always a good one. Riders seem to come out of the woodwork at the opening of the season and we end up with a lot of bikes and some very evenly ranked riders and consequently close racing. We have 20 Sidecars programmed so they have been split into two groups, both with their own semi-finals and finals.”

The Group 1 Sidecars will see the top eight riders go head-to-head and the favourite would appear to Riverland youngsters Arron and Teagan Hartwig, who reached the final last year, although they’ll want to have a better finish to the night than last year when their bike caught on fire! Likewise Melbourne’s Simon Hartley, who was in the mix last year despite a horrific looking crash in his first ride.

While the Hartwigs will be the favourites the other seven riders are all capable of taking out the final and it is hard to see who the four finalists will. Local riders Shane Rudloff and Tim Bichard will fancy their chances, while Paul Hemsworth from Kurri Kurri in New South Wales went through the Group 2 races unbeaten last year, leading home another of Saturday night’s Group 1 riders, Victoria’s Mark Radford in the final. The remaining riders, both from Mildura, Chris Dess and Neale Hancock, have also done well at Gillman in the past, and Dess was unbeaten in last season’s Division 2 Championship, beating Rudloff and Bichard in the final.

The Group 2 Sidecars are wide open with a number of the riders having a similar amount of experience and ability, and with the added intrigue of a few surprise names in the line-up, with former riders Mick Tucker, Steve Fowler and Steve Browne returning to the sport. It will be interesting to see how they fare, but they face strong opposition, particularly from Kym Menadue and Dean Hobbs, who were finalists last season, and Klae Hobbs who recently won a round of the East Coast Sidecar Roundup at Undera in Victoria.

In the Solo ranks, Darcy Ward Benefit finalist Justin Sedgmen is back, along with English rider Richie Worrall and Mildura’s Brodie Waters, who were both just short of a semi-final place last meeting. They’ll be joined in the Group 1 races by Mildura teenagers Cooper Riordan and Jaimon Lidsey. 16-year-old Lidsey had a baptism of fire last meeting when he started alongside the former World Champ Chris Holder in his first 500cc ride at Gillman, but he was on the pace and won’t be out of his depth in the top group.

A number of other teenagers will ride in Group 2, including another 16-year-old who made an impressive 500cc debut last meeting, Dakota Ballantyne. Ballantyne scored his first senior win in his second ride, but the more experienced Jordan Stewart, from Mildura, who turns 17 on Friday, had his measure in their other clashes.

In the Under 16 250cc races, South Australians Mitchell Grech and Brayden McGuinness will take on Victorians James Davies and Oliver Hamilton, while twelve younger riders from SA and Victoria will take part in the junior 125cc races on the infield track during the brief track grades.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 14 November 2015.

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

Gates open: at 5 pm. Entry via Western and Eastern gates. The Eastern gate will close at 8pm. Off-street parking areas near both gates.

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

Nominations:

500cc Solos (10): Dakota Ballantyne, Gary Fischer, Seth Hickey, Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Blake Ridley, Cooper Riordan (Vic), Justin Sedgmen (Vic), Jordan Stewart (Vic), Brodie Waters (Vic), Richie Worrall (Eng)

Sidecars (20): Chris Bichard/Brett Lewis, Keith Bichard/Michael Bell, Tim Bichard/Franco Vasile, Steve Browne/Scott Morris, Chris Dess/Brenton Kerr (Vic), Steven Fowler/Scott Kauschke, Neale Hancock/Brendon Johnson (Vic), Simon Hartley/Travis Debono (Vic), Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig, Paul Hemsworth/Rodney Russell (NSW), Dean Hobbs/Andy Westover, Klae Hobbs/Mitchell Spear, Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, Luke Puddy/Damian Egan, Mark Radford/Chris Walker (Vic), Shane Rudloff/Tom Adams, Aaron Silvy/Adam Pascoe, Brian Silvy/Josh Knott, Mick Tucker/Corey Palmer, Darryll Woods/Will Walker

250cc Junior Solos (4): James Davies (Vic), Mitchell Grech, Oliver Hamilton (Vic), Brayden McGuinness

125cc Junior Solos (12): Connor Bailey, Fraser Bowes, Patrick Bowes, Mitchell Grech, Hugh Evans, Patrick Hamilton (Vic), Liam May, Jack Norman, Teagan Pedler, Nicholas Possingham, Layne Riordan (Vic), Jack Sadler,

Admission prices: Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20 (*), Children 12-15 $5, Under 12 free. Family $55. Programme $5, Grandstand seating free, Parking free.

(*) Concession is limited Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession Card holders only. A family ticket covers 2 adults and children under 16.

Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, maximum 24, minimum 13 [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]

Seating: 216 seat grandstand; terracing and large grassed viewing mounds suitable for deck chairs.

Sponsor: Eagle Fuels, your one stop Adelaide based Fuel and Lubricants distributor.

Eagle Fuels are an independent fuel and lubricants supplier located and servicing the Adelaide market. They supply fuel and lubricants to the Road Transport, Construction, Manufacturing, Rail and Retail sectors, to name a few. Eagle Fuels are a proud distributor of Fuchs and Hi-tech Lubricants, so no matter what your requirements are for fuel or lubricants they are your one stop shop. They can also arrange onsite storage tanks up to 100,000 litres, complete site inspections with customers to assist with positioning of tanks or even which lubricant is required for your equipment. Their commitment to their customers is delivery on time every time, with “Old Fashioned Values and Service”. To discuss your requirements, and be pleasantly surprised by their level of service and competitive pricing, call Carsten in the Adelaide office on (08) 8268 9271 or call in to discuss your needs at 47 South Terrace Wingfield.

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, February 2015]

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, 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; and the Mawson Lakes Hotel and Function Centre, Main Street, Mawson Lakes, offer a discount to speedway fans but you must ring the venues direct and ask for the Gillman Speedway discount. Full details are on the Gillman website under the information/accommodation tab.

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