Classic Speedway Championships on this Saturday night

October 31, 2018 by Gillman Media

Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway hosts its annual Gillman Speedway Classic Championships this Saturday night, 3 November.

The Classic meeting gives fans the chance to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the bikes of yesteryear before the modern-day summer international season starts (on 17 November), and admission prices are an affordable $20 for adults and $15 for age pensioners and student concession. Children Under 16, Grandstand seating and Parking are all free.

As always the meeting will feature multiple championship classes of Solos and Sidecars, plus Three Quarter Midget demonstrations.

Racing starts at 7.30pm but the gates will open at 4pm so spectators have plenty of time to have a close look at the old bikes and cars before the pits are closed to the public.

The British Sidecar class is the most popular class with old-time fans and Saturday night’s meeting will include two Vincent powered bikes not previously seen at Gillman. One will be ridden by former Broken Hill champion Robert Kemp, and the other by Perth’s Dennis Nash, the first rider to win five Australian Sidecar Championships.

Nash owned three Vincents in his early racing days but when the Japanese motors took over he sold the Vincents for $2,000 to buy a ute for work. In 1985 he purchased another Vincent, which had been ridden by fellow Claremont Speedway rider Red Skelton, and the bike has been stored in a container until last November when Dennis started to restore it for this season’s Gillman meeting.

Other well-known names in the Sidecar classes are former South Australian Champion Kym McConnell, who is defending the Post Classic Championship, former Australian Champion Clarry Jones, and Broken Hill’s Chris Fraser, also both in the Post Classic class, and current day riders Shane Rudloff, Aaron Silvy, Brian Silvy and Victorian Paul Donnelly who is defending the Evolution Championship.

The Solo classes also include some well-known names including four riders with some British League experience, Robert Ksiezak, Darrell Branford, Arlo Bugeja and Scott James.

Defending champion, Kevin Webb is the favourite to win for the 2 Valve class for riders aged 40 or over, while in the 2 Valve under 40 class, current day rider, and another defending champion, Brayden McGuinness is the favourite ahead of Bugeja, Seth Hickey and Blake Ridley.

The Upright 4 Valve class is the hardest to pick with all the riders former riders at the now-defunct North Arm Speedway. This class has Ksiezak, Branford and James plus Steve Graetz, Gary Fischer and Darryl Christopher.

The Three Quarter Midget demonstrations always evoke memories of Rowley Park in the 1960s, with replicas of some well-known cars from that era.

Top Photo: Dennis Nash and the late Ray Barber in their first appearance in South Australia, at Rowley Park Speedway in 1973. Photo by David Brock. Bottom Photo: Former South Australian Champion Kym McConnell, and Shane Edwards on their way to victory in last year’s Post Classic Sidecar Championship. Photo by Judy Mackay.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 3 November 2018.

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

Gates open: at 4 pm.

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits for a close look at the bikes and cars until approximately 6.30 pm.

Nominations:

Solo 2 valve (Riders aged 40 or over): Darryl Christopher (SA, Jawa), Trevor Henderson (SA, ESO), Barry Kennington (WA, Jawa), Jim Phillips (WA, JAP), Kevin Webb (WA, ESO), 86 Martin Williams (Vic, ESO)

Solo 2 valve (Riders aged under 40): Arlo Bugeja (SA, Jawa), Seth Hickey (SA, Jawa), Brayden McGuinness (SA, Jawa), Blake Ridley (SA, Jawa),

Solo upright 4 valve: Darrell Branford (SA, Weslake), Darryl Christopher (SA, Weslake), Gary Fischer (SA, GM), Steve Graetz (SA, GM), Scott James (SA, GM), Robert Ksiezak (SA, Weslake)

Sidecar British/European/American: Robert Kemp/Steve Lewis (NSW/SA, Vincent & JAP 8/80), Dennis Nash/Dennis Mortimer (WA, Vincent), Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (SA, Norton 750)

Sidecar Japanese: Sean Chapman/Matthew Ambrose (SA, Honda 750), Hanno Kohn/Chris Donaghey (SA, Datsun 1000), Wayne Lethbridge/Grantley Simounds (SA, Yamaha 650), Steven Lewis/Shane Rudloff (SA, Suzuki 750), Aaron Silvy/Jaron Silvy (SA, Suzuki 500), Chris Thomson/Shayne Thomson (SA, Honda 750), Chris Wakefield/Dale Cox (Vic, Honda 750), Rocky Warren/Adam Lange (SA, Yamaha 650)

Sidecar post classic: Chris Fraser/Cec Fraser (NSW, Kawasaki 1000), Clarry Jones/Peter Marriage (SA/Vic, Suzuki 1000), Kym McConnell/Shane Edwards (SA, Yamaha 700), Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (SA, Suzuki 1000)

Sidecar evolution: Paul Donnelly/Jake Roberts (Vic, Suzuki 1000), Wayne Lethbridge/Grantley Simounds (SA, Kawasaki 1000), Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (SA, Kawasaki 900), Brian Silvy/Aaron Silvy (SA, Kawasaki 1000), Paul Snadden/Peter Engels (SA, Kawasaki 1000)

Three Quarter Midget demonstrations: NSW4-John Catford (ESO Ray Platt replica), SA5-Peter Glassenbury (BSA Peter Glassenbury replica), E8-Eric Klenke (SV B33 BSA Jeff Holding replica), MB19-Bob Holland (JAP ex-Viv Wilks), 55-Mostyn Bray (BSA), SA88-Wayne Hamilton (AJS Norm Price replica)

Championship formats: All championships decided over three heat rides for each rider, with the top four point scorers qualifying for the finals. Finishing order in the finals will determine the championship placegetters.

Awards: Sashes for the placegetters in the final for each championship class. Presentations in the pits after the meeting.

Admission: Adults $20, Age Pension and Student Concession $15, Souvenir programme $5. Children Under 16 free. Grandstand seating free. Parking free.

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

Seating: Grandstand seating is free for this meeting but is limited to 216 people. There are 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]

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 21, minimum 13. Partly cloudy. Forecast as at 31 October. [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.

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