Solos and Sidecars vie for President’s Trophy at Gillman Speedway Saturday night - Marc

March 16, 2016 by Gillman Media

The action continues at Gillman Speedway this Saturday night (19 March) with riders from around Australia, and the World appearing in what will be the final meeting before the FIM Speedway Sidecar World Cup, and the FIM Oceania Sidecar Championship meetings at Easter.

The feature events on Saturday night will be the President’s Trophy for Solos and Sidecars, presented by The Rise Littlehampton, and with all but one of the international sidecars also appearing in separate trials, plus local and interstate 250cc Junior Solos, the programme has been pushed out to 46 events, but with no increase to the normal admission prices.

Favourite for the 500cc Solo Trophy will be recently crowned Gillman Champion Robert Branford, with his main opposition coming from last year’s winner and runner-up, Cooper Riordan and Brodie Waters, with teenagers Dakota Ballantyne and Jaimon Lidsey the most likely to gain the other berth in the four-rider final.

The Under 16 250cc Solo events will be contested by riders from three states including the past two Australian Champions Brody Eves (Qld 2015) and Declan Knowles (WA 2016); and the 125cc Solos on the infield junior track will also see riders from three states with Adelaide based Australian Pairs Champions Jack Norman and Brayden McGuinness taking on Connor Bailey (Vic), Jacob Hook (Qld) and Keynan Rew (Qld).

This will be the last appearance of all three Solos classes this season.

The Sidecar Trophy has four standout nationally ranked pairs, including three who have qualified for next week’s World Cup – Mick Headland/Jesse Headland, Mark Plaisted/Darcy Risstrom and Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear. And the pair who did not qualify for the World Cup are the current President’s Trophy holders Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig.

Both the Solo and Sidecar Trophy events will be decided over the same format with twelve heats plus a qualifying final, semi-final and a final.

The support events will be something special with eight riders from the USA, UK and New Zealand taking part in eight trial events to get valuable track time before taking on the Aussies in the World Cup and Oceania Championship.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 19 March 2016.

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

Gates open: at 5 pm.

Parking and entrance: Patrons can enter via two gates, at the western and eastern ends of the venue. There are free parking areas near both gates. The eastern gate will close at 8.30pm.

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

Riders:

President’s Trophy 500cc Solos (14): Dakota Ballantyne, Robert Branford, James Davies (Vic), James Dimmock (ACT), Gary Fischer, Seth Hickey, Kane Lawrence (NSW), Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Jake Mitchell, Jack Morrison (Vic), Blake Ridley, Cooper Riordan (Vic), Roy Stout, Brodie Waters (Vic)

President’s Trophy Sidecars (14): Tom Adams/Katylen Silvy, Keith Bichard/Michael Bell, Tim Bichard/Anthony Schulz, Steve Browne/Vasile Franko, Stephen Fowler/Benny Goodridge, Mick Headland/Jesse Headland, Arron Hartwig/Teagan Hartwig, Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear, Mark Plaisted/Darcy Risstrom, Luke Puddy/Damian Egan, Aaron Silvy/Adam Pascoe, Brian Silvy/Josh Knott, Mick Tucker/Corey Palmer

Overseas Sidecars (8): Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox, David Gannon/Raymond George, Derek Ramsay/Matthew Ramsay, Aiden Thwaites/Shane Twiss (NZ), Mick Cave/Sam Heath, Rob Wilson/Liam Brown (GB), Bryan Motis/Cody Brant, Joe Jones/Tom Summers (USA).

250cc Solos (5): Brody Eves (Qld), Mitchell Grech, Jacob Hook (Qld), Declan Knowles (WA), Brayden McGuinness

125cc Solos (on the infield track) (12): Connor Bailey (Vic), Fraser Bowes, Patrick Bowes, Jacob Hook (Qld), Liam May, Brayden McGuinness, Jack Norman, Teagan Pedler, Nicholas Possingham, Keynan Rew (Qld), Jack Sadler, Angus Vandenberg

Admission prices: 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.

(*) Concession is limited to 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 25, minimum 14. [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]

Seating: 216 seat grandstand; terracing and large grassed viewing mounds 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. Any number from one up to fifty 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.

Sponsor: The Rise Littlehampton. The Rise Littlehampton is a premium land release in the Adelaide Hills proudly developed by Tali Corporation, a quality land developer, and highly experienced builder, that works closely with landowners in partnership to deliver a premium return on their assets.

Their latest development, The Rise Littlehampton, is located in the heart of the beautiful Adelaide hills region in the picturesque town of Littlehampton, a short 18 minute drive on the freeway from the Adelaide city. Within walking distance of a vast range of lifestyle amenities including recreation, schools, shops, medical facilities, walking trails, restaurants, family activities and much more, Littlehampton is one of the iconic villages of the Adelaide hills and only minutes from others including Hahndorf, Balhannah, Stirling, Mt Barker, Oakbank and more.

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, nachos, 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 kilometres).

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