Big Australia Day weekend of speedway at Gillman - January 2014

January 14, 2014 by Gillman Media

Those fans thirsting for more speedway action after last Saturday night’s Australian Solo Championship will be fully catered for at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway over the Australia Day weekend with two high profile meetings over two days.

On the Saturday night the feature event will be the CBS Bins Australian Under 21 Solo Championship.

This is often the most exciting meeting of the Australian speedway fixture list because most of the riders are of a similar standard to those in the open Australian Championship, but the racing can be even more exciting because the variation in skill between the riders at the top of the scorecard and the bottom is much closer.

This year’s line-up includes five of the riders from the Australian Championship – Mason Campton, who finished third, Max Fricke, the current Under 21 champion, Jack Holder, the NSW Under 21 champion, Tyson Nelson and Robert Medson – and several who would have done well in the Australian Championship but have chosen to concentrate on the Under 21 title with the long term aim of reaching the World Under 21 Championship, including British League riders Nick Morris, Cameron Heeps and Ryan Douglas.

The support events for the Under 21 Championship will be the Sailun Tyres Australian Under 16 250cc Solo Championship with riders from Western Australian, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. These are 14 and 15 year-old lads riding full sized bikes with 250cc engines rather than 500cc and their race times are usually only a couple of seconds different to the Under 21 riders over the four lap race distance.

“If you are a Solo fan this will be a meeting not to miss” said Gillman Speedway manager. “Not only will you see some top class racing, especially in the Under 21 championship where you just can’t pick a winner, but you’ll see the next two generations of Australian speedway stars on the one programme.”

“The Under 21s are the lads waiting in the wings to push for a place in the overseas leagues and the Australian test and world cup teams, while the Under 16s lads have their eyes on a step up into the Under 21 championship next year or the year after.”

An example of the standard or rider you’ll see in the Under 21 championship, 17-year-old Brady Kurtz. Kurtz did not ride in the open Australian Championship but last month won the New South Wales Championship ahead of many riders who did, including new Australian #2 and #3, Jason Doyle and Rohan Tungate, Mason Campton, Jack Holder and Sam Masters. Another Under 21 rider Hunter Anderson finished sixth in the same meeting. Photo by All Action Motorsport Photography.

On the following night, Sunday, 26 January, the feature events will be the Jack Young Cup for Solos, honouring the great Adelaide riding who won the 1951 and 52 World championships (the first rider to ever win the title twice), plus Sidecars.

“This will be another great night” said Parker. “We have many of the interstate riders from the Under 21 Championship staying over, including the current champion Max Fricke, but there will also be riders who are too old for the Under 21s, such as our local stars Shane Parker, Robert Branford, Arlo Bugeja and Nigel Sadler. Victorian riders Jack Fallon and Brodie Waters who both proved to be very popular with local fans before Christmas will also be there to take on the Queensland and WA riders who have already nominated.  And, of course, we will have our usual line-up of world class sidecar riders.”

“We are also expecting a good roll up of spectators from intestate. Quite a few from last Saturday night have told me they are returning for these two meetings, while there are others that decided to spend their holiday money on these two meetings rather than follow the Australian Championship rounds.”

“There is a real buzz about Gillman for the Australia Day weekend. I know I’m bias, but I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to be there.”

The full line-up for the Jack Young Cup, and the Sidecar events, will be posted next week after nominations close this weekend.