Victorian rider favoured to win South Australian Solo Championship at Gillman - November 2017

November 29, 2017 by Gillman Media

Justin Sedgmen, from Merbein in Victoria, will head to Adelaide this Saturday night (2 December) as a hot favourite to win the Littlehampton Clay Bricks and Pavers South Australian Solo Championship at the Gillman Speedway.

Sedgmen, a former Victorian Champion, has never won the SA Championship, but is a proven performer on the Gillman track.

He was runner-up to Troy Batchelor in the championship last season, and third behind fellow international riders Jason Doyle and Rohan Tungate in 2015. He has also been on the rostrum in each of the last three Gillman rounds of the Australian Championship, and last season won the Jack Young Cup.

His biggest challenger looks to be local rider Robert Branford, another former Jack Young Cup winner. Branford won the Cup in 2014, and was runner-up in 2015 and 16, but for various reasons has rarely ridden in the State title and this is his first appearance since he finished third in 2014.

While Sedgmen and Branford are the favourites to win the final, the field is wide open for the other two final berths which will earn the riders eligibility for a visa to ride in the UK if they are offered a team place.

The riders likely to be vying for those two places, are current Victorian Under 21 Champion Jordan Stewart, fellow Victorians Jaimon Lidsey, Cooper Riordan and James Davies, and SA riders Dakota Ballantyne, Robert Medson and Brayden McGuinness.

The Championship will be staged over 20 heats with the top three point scorers going into the final along with the winner of the last chance semi-final for the next four highest scorers.

The Solo Championship will be supported by a full field of Sidecars, with local stars Mark Mitchell/Dale Knights returning to take on the stars of the last Gillman meeting, Victorians Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin. Gates/O’Loughlin were unbeaten in the Justin Plaisted Farewell meeting a fortnight ago, an also clocked the fastest one and four lap times recorded this season by the new MYLAPs electronic timing system. Fellow Victorian Neale Hancock is also hoping to take on Mitchell and Gates, and is burning the midnight oil trying to ready after crashing in his opening ride at the last meeting.

This will be the last Gillman meeting before Christmas, with the following meeting not scheduled until 28 December.

Photo: Justin Sedgmen (left) and Cooper Riordan in a heat last season’s SA Championship. Photo by Judy Mackay.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 2 December 2017.

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

Gates open: 5 pm. Entry via Western and Eastern gates. 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 until approximately 6.00 pm. Practice at 6.15 pm.

Sponsor: Littlehampton Clay Bricks and Pavers

Littlehampton Clay Bricks and Pavers have been the leading supplier of quality clay bricks and pavers to Australians for over a century.

Nominations:

SA 500cc Solo Championship riders : Dakota Ballantyne (SA), Robert Branford (SA), Aden Clare (NSW), Josh Coyne (Qld), James Davies (Vic), Mitchell Grech (SA), Oliver Hamilton (Vic), Seth Hickey (SA), Declan Knowles (Vic), Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Brayden McGuinness (SA), Robert Medson (SA), Blake Ridley (SA), Cooper Riordan (Vic), Justin Sedgmen (Vic), Jordan Stewart (Vic). Reserves: Jack Morrison (Vic), Zane Keleher (Qld)

Sidecars : Peter Adams/Belinda Silvy, Ricky Adams/Alice Cox, Chris Bichard/Brett Lewis, Clinton Crabb/Michael Bell, Stephen Fowler/Adam Pascoe, Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin (Vic), Dean Hobbs/Justin Richards, Mark Mitchell/Dale Knights, Aaron Silvy/Chris Cuthbert, Brian Silvy/Cameron White, Darryll Woods/Ayrton Canning, Neale Hancock (Vic, to be confirmed)

Solos 250cc Under 16 : Fraser Bowes (SA), Patrick Hamilton (Vic), Liam May (SA), Teagan Pedler

Solos 125cc Under 16 on infield track : Patrick Bowes, Ben Dixon, Hugh Evans, Jackson Milner (Vic), Teagan Pedler, Nicholas Possingham, Harry Sadler

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.

Pets: 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 21, minimum 14. Chance of morning showers. [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