Solos chase track championship at Gillman Speedway Saturday night - February 2017

February 16, 2017 by Gillman Media

Three divisions of Solos are chasing Championship honours on Saturday night (18 February) in the annual Gillman Speedway Championships.

The feature event is the 500cc Championship, and as has been the case throughout the season, it is not easy to pick a winner.

There has been nothing to choose between Robert Medson, Dakota Ballantyne, Brayden McGuinness and Arlo Bugeja in recent meetings with the race wins, and the placings, well spread between the four, with results changing from race to race, so nothing to give any clue who will be the top rider come final time.

To further confuse any predictions Perth’s Blake Russell is added to the mix, and he has the score on the board in his home state this season, successfully defending the WA Under 21 Championship and finishing second to British League rider Cameron Heeps in the WA title. Gillman is a lot different to his home track, Pinjar Park, which is only 142 metres, so his chances will depend on how quickly he can get dialled in on the bigger track, but he has ridden well here before.

With an uneven heat draw, all riders outside of the top three will get a second chance to qualify for the final this week, with a qualifying final in addition to the usual last-chance semi-final, so although the five riders already mentioned with be the favourites to reach the semi-final and final stages, every rider can get into the final if they are good enough, as Dakota Ballantyne showed only last season, as a 16-year-old, when he won the qualifying final, and then the semi-final to make the final four.

One thing is certain – there will be a new name on the honour board as there is no previous winner in the line-up. In fact a quick check of the previous titles shows that only Bugeja and Medson have been on the podium before, so there should be an interesting night ahead.

The supporting 250cc championship looks a little easier to predict. The well-travelled Keynan Rew, from Queensland, will be the favourite for the 250cc championship as he beat the world number three, Jedd List, to win the SA Championship last month, while Connor Bailey was the favourite for the 125cc championship, but a blown motor means he will most likely not be riding in this class, leaving the title wide open with perhaps Patrick Bowes the new favourite.

Top photo: Robert Medson (yellow), Seth Hickey (green), Brayden McGuinness (red). Photo by Derick Thomas.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 18 February 2017.

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

Gates open: 5 pm. The Eastern gate will close at 8pm. Off-street parking areas near both gates.

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

Riders

Solos 500cc : 73 Oliver Hamilton (Vic), 19 Brayden McGuinness, 42 Seth Hickey, 82 Dakota Ballantyne, 13 Blake Russell (WA), 10 Declan Knowles (Vic) 18 Jake Mitchell, 9 Robert Medson, 56 Arlo Bugeja, 44 Doug Hayden (SA)

Solo 250cc (Under 16) : 51 Fraser Bowes, 11 Connor Bailey (Vic), 69 Tom Dixon (Vic), 14 Liam May, 027 Keynan Rew (Qld), 15 Shani Cole (Vic)

Solo 125cc (Under 16) : 18 Patrick Hamilton (Vic), 20 Ben Dixon, 04 Angus Vandenberg, 80 Patrick Bowes, 17 Hugh Evans, 211 Teagan Pedler, 41 Jackson Milner (Vic)

Sidecars : 970 Dean Hobbs/Justin Richards, 14 Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, 12 Brian Silvy/Josh Knott, 43 Daniel Puddy/Luke Puddy, 77 Tim Bichard/Brenton Marsh, 71 Shane Hudson/Jesse Headland (NSW/SA), 25 Clinton Crabb/Michael Bell, 56 Steve Browne/Colby Higgins (SA/Vic), 05 Klae Hobbs/Liam Cox, 11 Thomas Adams/Katelyn Silvy, 40 Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear.

Pro Open Flat Track Solos : 117 Jake Doyle, 96 Mark Stevens, 72 Adam Pascoe, 15 Chris Pascoe, 10 Bruce Russell, 19 Lincoln Tucker, 271 Shane Casey, 44 Doug Hayden, 115 Kane Golding (NT), 777 Matthew Ambrose, 127 Jesse Headland, 40 Mitchell Spear, 273 Dale Knights, 312 Dylan McKenzie, 420 Shaun Allen, 74 Ian Andrews, 75 Steve Batchelor, 11 Tim Dowbnia, 65 Jack Spear

Junior 250cc Sidecars : — Jackson Milner/Damien Niesche (Vic/SA), 21 Jaron Speyer-Silvy/Kaidyn Silvy, 25 Mark-John Papastamatis/Teagan Pedler.

Admission prices: Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20 (*), Children Under 16 $5, Under 12 free. Family $55. Grandstand seating free. Programme $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: maximum 20, minimum 15, partly cloudy, medium chance of showers. [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. 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.

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]

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 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. An exciting new accommodation venue, Quest Port Adelaide, has recently opened only five minutes from the track. Quest Port Adelaide has modern studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments.

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