Gillman Speedway announces exciting new event – The Nankang Tyres Speedway Sidecar Super Series - May 2017

May 20, 2017 by Gillman Media

Gillman Speedway and Nankang Tyres, the sponsor of this season’s Australian Sidecar Championship, today announced an exciting new speedway event for the 2017/18 season.

Called “The Nankang Tyres Speedway Sidecar Super Series”, the event will feature Australia’s leading riders and will be conducted over four electrifying rounds at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway Stadium, starting on January 6 and followed by rounds on January 27, February 10 and the Grand Final on March 24.

The top eight riders from this year’s Australian Sidecar Championship — Trent Headland, Andrew Buchanan, Warren Monson, Darrin Treloar, Dave Bottrell, Mark Mitchell, Damien Niesche and Mark Plaisted — have been approached and all keen to compete in the Super Series which has an impressive prize pool.

In announcing the Super Series, Gillman Speedway manager, Dave Parker said: “It is fantastic news for Gillman and sidecar speedway that John Weeks from Nankang Tyres has come on board for these events. To have a global multi-national company supporting speedway sidecars is a great feather in our cap and that was the last piece of the puzzle to seal the deal.

“We are looking at over $35,000 in prize money in total, with a very attractive prize pool for each round and a healthy bonus at the end for the top four placegetters in the series, including an extra $5,000 for the overall winner. Every race will carry points towards the final standings so there will be very serious racing in every heat, no different to an Australian Championship.”

John Weeks, from Nankang Tyres, said: “I was very impressed with the way Gillman Speedway conducted the Australian Sidecar Championship with Nankang Tyres as the major sponsor, so I had no hesitation in having my company put its name to this new Sidecar Super Series”.

Current Australian Champion, Trent Headland, representing the riders, was also complimentary about the series and said: “As Australian Champions we are looking at a number of big events next season, including several state championships, but the Nankang Tyres Super Series is a welcome addition with dates that fit in nicely with our hectic program for next season.

“I know that wearing the number 1 on our backs will add more pressure on us to perform, but I am extremely confident that we have the right team, right sponsors and right bike to continue on from where we left off last season, and we are super keen to win the inaugural series.”

The Series rounds will be run over the popular 16 rider, 20 heat format, with a last chance semi-final, and final, with at least 8 seeded riders. The balance of the riders for each round will be decided by a qualification system, with the qualifying format dependent on the number of nominations received.