South Australian Sidecar Championship at Gillman Speedway this Saturday night - January 2017

January 11, 2017 by Gillman Media

Sidecars take over the Gillman Speedway Stadium on Saturday, 14 January, with the Nankang Tyres South Australian Sidecar Championship requiring 40 heats to narrow down the top seven to contest the last chance semi-final and the final.

Eleven riders have been seeded into the Championship heats, which will start at 7.30pm, but with 27 nominations the other five riders will be determined by a 20-heat qualifying meeting which will be held at 3pm.

The South Australian Sidecar Championship is one of the hardest meetings of the season anywhere in Australia; featuring line-ups equal to an Australian Championship, and this season’s title meeting is no exception.

“Just the qualifying events would be a good state championship on their own, but there are some good riders who aren’t even going to make it into the championship heats” says Gillman manager David Parker. “You could easily pick ten riders that are capable of finishing in the top five. Several have ridden in the Australian Championship but the standard for the SA Championship is so high the selectors have said they have to go through the qualifying heats.”

“So it is not going to be easy to qualify, some good riders are going to be disappointed, but for those who do qualify their “reward” is to then face even better riders in the championship heats. The fourth qualifier, for example, faces Mark Plaisted, Mark Mitchell and Justin Plaisted in his first ride — two former Australian Champions and an Oceania Champion!”

The Championship winner is impossible to pick with any confidence, with four previous winners in the line-up plus a host of riders who have never won the title but will some people’s choice as the likely winner.

The four previous winners are Sydney’s Darrin Treloar, former South Australian, but now living in Townsville, Dave Bottrell, and local riders Mark Mitchell and Mark Plaisted. Outside the previous winners are the likes of Justin Plaisted, a former Australian Champion, Trent Headland, second to Treloar in all the major events in Australia last season, and multiple Victorian Champion Warren Monson.

Monson is a five-time Victorian champion, former Australia #2, and always rides well at Gillman but he has never made it to the rostrum in the SA Championship, which again highlights just how tough this event is.

Also amongst the seeded riders are Damien Niesche, a former Australian Championship semi-finalist, Arron Hartwig – second last season, Kiwi Andrew Buchanan, a former Grand Slam finalist at Gillman, and another former Victorian Champion, Byren Gates. All are capable of reaching the semi-final, or even the final if they are in top form.

Very hard to pick a winner from those riders but don’t discount a “bolter” from the qualifying races. There are several former finalists and only two seasons ago Shane Rudloff came into the championship as the third qualifier and went through to reach the final – so it can be done.

If you are a Sidecar fan this is a meeting you can’t afford to miss!

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 14 January 2017.

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

Gates open: Eastern gate open from 1pm; Western (main) gate from 5 pm. The Eastern gate will close at 8pm. Off-street parking areas near both gates.

Racing starts: Qualifying meeting at 3pm; Championship heats at 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits before both events.

Riders/Passengers:

Nankang Tyres SA Sidecar Championship: 13 Trent Headland / Daz Whetstone, 27 Aaron Hartwig / Teagan Hartwig, 35 Mark Mitchell / Luke Mitchell, 36 David Bottrell / Chris Bottrell, 39 Andrew Buchanan / Denny Cox, 40 Damien Niesche / Mitchell Spear, 43 Warren Monson / Andrew Summerhayes, 47 Justin Plaisted / Simon Cohrs, 50 Byren Gates / Darcy Risstrom, 75 Mark Plaisted / Ben Pitt, 84 Darrin Treloar / Blake Cox plus the highest five point scorers from the qualifying races.

Championship Format: 16 riders x 20 heats plus a last chance semi-final and a final. The 4th to 7th highest scorers go into the semi-final; and the winner of the semi-final and the three highest scorers from the 20 heats go into the final.

Qualifying races (20 heats) : 05 Klae Hobbs / Liam Cox, 12 Brian Silvy / Josh Knott, 15 Shane Rudloff / Scott Morris, 21 Aaron Silvy / Adam Pascoe, 43 Daniel Puddy / Luke Puddy, 55 Ron Parker / Tom Adams, 56 Steve Browne / Colby Higgins, 57 Chris Bichard / Brett Lewis, 60 Peter Adams / Katelyn Silvy, 62 Mal Greig / Ayrton Canning, 68 Neale Hancock / Brendan Johnson, 69 Rick Stephens / Nick O’Brien, 77 Tim Bichard / Brenton Kerr, 256 Paul Hemsworth / Don Morris, 905 Rick Fechner / Cameron White, 970 Dean Hobbs / Justin Richards

Admission prices: Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20 (*), Children Under 16 $5, Under 12 free. Family $55. Grandstand seating $5. 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: Partly cloudy, maximum 26, minimum 16. [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.

Meeting sponsor: Nankang Tyres – value for money protection on the road. Nankang Tyres shares your passion for safety, comfort and reliability on the road. Be it Ultra High Performance, Passenger, 4WD, SUV, or Light Truck Commercial, Nankang Tyres are driven everywhere, every day, all over the Australia. Ask for Nankang Tyres next time you are looking to put the right tyres on your vehicle.

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