Star line-ups for Darcy Ward Benefit Meeting at Gillman Speedway - November 2015

November 4, 2015 by Gillman Media

The 2015/16 summer speedway season opens this Saturday night, 7 November, with a special benefit meeting for injured Australian international star Darcy Ward.

Ward was seriously injured in a crash in Poland in August and is in hospital in England undergoing rehabilitation for spinal injuries.

A strong line-up of Solos and Sidecar is expected to attract a bumper crowd to the meeting and Gillman Speedway manager David Parker said when announcing the line-up recently: “We’ve had wonderful support from the riders and also from sponsors, but now it is up to the supporters to show their support for Darcy. He’s receiving the very best care and treatment in hospital in England but that comes at a considerable price and I really hope that we can boost the fund by a significant amount. We have kept the admission prices at an affordable level and all the gate money will go to the Darcy Ward Rehabilitation Fund.

“This is the fourth benefit meeting held around the world with the first in Sweden, followed by Poole in England and recently Nepean in New South Wales.

“I think the meeting in England attracted over 2,000 spectators so we’d love to beat that number if we could.”

Headlining the Solo line-up will be 2012 World Champion Chris Holder and fellow GP rider Troy Batchelor, along with the two reserves from the recent Grand Prix at Etihad Stadium, Victorians Justin Sedgmen and three-time Australian Under 21 Champion Max Fricke.

They will be joined by fellow Australians Kevin Doolan, Brodie Waters, Tyron Proctor, Jack Fallon (Vic), Nick Morris, Josh Coyne (Qld), Brady Kurtz (NSW) and Arlo Bugeja (SA), and four overseas riders making their first appearance at Gillman — Emil Grøndal (Denmark), Anders Thomsen (Denmark), Richie Worrall (England), Kai Huckenbeck (Germany).

Morris, Kurtz and Fricke were all members of the Australian team in the recent World Under 21 Team Championship, while Doolan and Proctor are both former Gillman track champions. Doolan has not ridden in Australia for many years, but was named Berwick Bandits rider of the year in England this year, and has been a strong campaigner to raise funds for Ward so was one of the first to step up for this meeting.

Grøndal, Thomsen and Richie Worrall all race in the British League, while 22-year-old Huckenbeck in a twice German national champion. Anders Thomsen finished second behind exciting Polish GP rider Bartosz Zmarzlik in this year’s World Under 21 Championship.

Saturday night’s meeting will be Holder’s only appearance in South Australia this season, and one of only two Australian meetings he will ride in this season.

The attractive Solo line-up will be supported by an Australian Championship standard Sidecar line-up, with six of the seven riders from last season’s championship final and semi-final competing. They are 8-times Australian Champion Darrin Treloar (passenger Blake Cox), current Australian Champions Justin Plaisted/Sam Harrison, former World Track Racing Champions Mick Headland/Jesse Headland, Damien Niesche/Jack Spear, Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone and Mark Plaisted/Darcy Risstrom, with former Australian Champion Mark Mitchell (new passenger Dale Knights) and Victoria’s Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin completing the eight rider line-up.

Several of Adelaide and Mildura’s young gun solo riders will also appear in support races, while on a lighter note, nine hearty souls have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support Darcy by paying a significant amount to ride a few laps as passengers for Saturday night’s Sidecar riders during a break in the racing. There might be a couple of other surprise events as well!

Admission prices for this meeting will be Adults $25, Age Pens & Student Concession $20, Children 12-15 $5, Under 12 free, Family $55, Grandstand $5, Souvenir Programme $5, Parking free. Due to the amount of interest shown in the meeting so far the gates will open an hour earlier than normal, at 4pm, with racing starting at 7.30pm and expected to finish around 10.30 to 10.45pm.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 7 November 2015.

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

Gates open: at 4 pm. Entry via Western and Eastern gates.

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits for a close look at the bikes until approximately 6.30 pm.

Riders:

Solos: Troy Batchelor, Arlo Bugeja, Josh Coyne (Qld), Kevin Doolan (Vic), Jack Fallon (Vic), Max Fricke (Vic), Emil Grøndal (Denmark), Chris Holder (NSW), Kai Huckenbeck (Germany), Brady Kurtz (NSW), Nick Morris (Qld), Tyron Proctor (Vic), Justin Sedgmen (Vic), Anders Thomsen (Denmark), Brodie Waters (Vic), Richie Worrall (England)

Support Solos: Dakota Ballantyne, Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Jake Mitchell, Luke Mitchell, Jordan Stewart (Vic).

Sidecars: Byren Gates / Michael O’Loughlin (Vic), Mick Headland / Jesse Headland, Trent Headland / Darryl Whetstone, Mark Mitchell / Dale Knights, Damien Niesche / Mitchell Spear, Justin Plaisted / Sam Harrison, Mark Plaisted / Darcy Risstrom, Darrin Treloar / Blake Cox (NSW), Reserves: Shane Rudloff / Tom Adams

Formats: Solos – 16 riders x 20 heats plus a last chance semi-final and a final. Sidecars – 8 riders x 8 heats plus a last chance semi-final and a final. The 4th to 7th highest scorers go into the semi-finals; and the winners of the semi-finals and the three highest scorers from the heats go into the finals. Solo Support – heats only.

Admission: Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20, Children Under 16 $5, Under 12 free. Family $55. Grandstand $5, Programme $5, Parking free.

Concession is limited to holders of the Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession card holders only.

Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny, maximum 28, minimum 12 [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]

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

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. Two limited edition Darcy Ward Benefit Meeting posters. 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 km.

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.

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