Mick Headland & Paul Waters are SA Sidecar Champions - January 2014

January 6, 2014 by Gillman Media

Mick Headland and Paul Waters won the Speedway Racing News South Australian Sidecar Championship at Gillman Speedway last night, after the usual controversial final.

Headland/Waters were the top point scorers in the heats with 14 points from four wins and a second place to super-impressive British duo Mark Cossar/Darryl Whetstone in heat 7, and they were joined in the final by Cossar/Whetstone and Darrin Treloar/Damian Egan as the three automatic qualifiers.

Cossar and Treloar both scored 13 points, Cossar beaten by Aaron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig and Mark Plaisted/Brian Anthony in heat 9, and Treloar, on a sick-sounding bike, beaten by Cossar and Headland in heat seven.

The fourth starter was defending champion Mark Plaisted (11 points) who had to work overtime to beat Hartwig (11) in the semi-final. In a classic race Hartwig, despite serious challenges from Plaisted, led until the back straight on lap three when Plaisted was final able to get around him. Mark Mitchell/Tom Golding (9) finished third, with Trent Headland/Jack Spear (10) excluded for going infield on turn two.

The line-up for the final was Headland 1, Cossar 2, Treloar 3 and Plaisted 4 and it looked like being a tremendous race as Headland, Cossar and Plaisted raced virtually three wide down the back straight. Unfortunately Plaisted ran out of room, hit the fence and cartwheeled violently along the track towards turn three. The race was immediately stopped and Cossar was excluded as the cause. Despite his protests the decision stood and he was out of the rerun, as was Plaisted, whose bike was badly damaged, while Plaisted himself needed medical attention.

So the rerun was a match race between the two former World Champions, Headland and Treloar. It was Treloar who won the start in the rerun and was the early leader but Headland was able to get under him on the second lap and Treloar had no answer although there was only about five metres in it at the end.

The best of the pairs who did not make the two finals were Mick Cave/Gaz Williams (Eng) 8, Ron Parker/Derick Thomas 7, and Rob Patterson/Brenton Kerr 7. Cave only needed one point from his last ride to edge Mark Mitchell out of a semi-final place but he was excluded for running infield while holding third place on lap three.

The British riders Cossar and Cave will be part of a limited Sidecar support programme for the CBS Bins Australian Solo Championship Final at Gillman next Saturday night, 11 January.

Full heat results are on the Gillman Speedway website under the Results tab.