Justin Plaisted Farewell Cup at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night. - November 2017

November 15, 2017 by Gillman Media

Gillman Speedway fans get the opportunity to acknowledge the career of one of the track’s most successful competitors with a farewell meeting for former Australian Sidecar champion Justin Plaisted at the Adelaide track this Saturday night (18 November).

35-year-old Plaisted started his speedway motorcycle career at the Sidewinders Junior Speedway Club, before moving into senior racing as a sixteen-year-old, and his senior career has paralleled the 20-year history of the Gillman venue.

During that time he has been a four-time Australian Champion, three as a passenger for Darrin Treloar, and once as a rider in 2015, but bad injuries suffered in a track crash at the Whyalla Speedway in March, and a young family, has convinced him to retire from Sidecar racing and move into four-wheel racing at the wheel of a Modlite.

In an even looking field, favourites to win the Justin Plaisted Farewell Cup will include three of the finalists from the opening meeting, Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, Tim Bichard/Derick Thomas and Aaron Silvy/Jaron Speyer-Silvy, two teams making their first appearances at Gillman this season, Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris and former Victorian Champion Byren Gates (passenger Ayrton Canning), and a first-time pair at Gillman, Kiwis Dylan Moohan/Tyler Berger.

The supporting 500cc Solo events will see the first appearance this season of British League rider Robert Branford. Robert Medson and Dakota Ballantyne look to be his major challengers.

Photo: Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (white), who are making their first appearance for the 2017/18 summer season, and runners-up in the opening meeting final Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, are amongst the favourites to take home the Justin Plaisted Farewell Cup. Photo: Judy Mackay.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 18 November 2017.

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

Gates open: 5 pm.

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

Nominations:

Sidecars : Ricky Adams/Alice Cox (SA), Thomas Adams/Katelyn Silvy (SA), Chris Bichard/Brett Lewis (SA), Tim Bichard/Derick Thomas (SA), Byren Gates/Ayrton Canning (Vic/SA), Kym Menadue/Eric Melton (SA), Dylan Moohan/Tyler Berger (NZ), Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (SA), Aaron Silvy/Jaron Speyer-Silvy (SA), Brian Silvy/Cameron White (SA), Mick Tucker/Corey Palmer (SA), Darryll Woods/Will Walker (SA)

Solo 500cc : Dakota Ballantyne (SA), Robert Branford (SA), Mitchell Grech (SA), Seth Hickey (SA), Brayden McGuinness (SA), Robert Medson (SA), Blake Ridley (SA)

Solo 250cc Under 16 : 51-Fraser Bowes (SA)

Solo 125cc Under 16 on infield track : Fraser Bowes (SA), Patrick Bowes (SA), Hugh Evans (SA), Teagan Pedler (SA), Nicholas Possingham (SA)

Sidecar 250cc Under 16 on infield track : Clay Burnett/Kaidyn Silvy (SA), Mike Sheather/Kayden Gates (Vic)

Admission: Adults $25, Age Pension & Student Concession $20, Children aged 12-15 $5, Under 12 free, Family $55, Parking free. Programme $5. Grandstand $5.

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

Seating: Grandstand seating for 216 people. Large grassed viewing mounds and terracing 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]

Bar facilities available but 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. Eftpos available in the souvenir shop.

Weather Forecast: Maximum 26, minimum 12. Sunny. [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]

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 from the airport, 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 kms.

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.

Live results: download the MYLAPS Speedhive app to your phone or tablet. Free to view. Gillman programme also available to download from the Gillman Speedway website (under the Shop tab) from Friday afternoon for $5.50 payable by credit card or PayPal.

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