Nation’s Sidecar stars return to Gillman Speedway on Saturday night

January 24, 2018 by Gillman Media

The nation’s Sidecar stars return to Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway this Saturday night (27 January) for the second round of the $35,000 Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Series.

The four round series was hyped during the winter as being “like four Australian Championships” and the first round lived up to the hype with three of last season’s championship finalists reaching the final, and round two will again feature the top eight place getters from last season’s championship.

Although Darrin Treloar produced a vintage Treloar display, with new passenger Jesse Headland, to blitz the opposition and go unbeaten in the first round, all riders only count their best three point scores in the series so there is still everything to race for, and a rider who had a disappointing first round can still win the series.

Current Australian Champions Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone finished second behind Treloar in the final of the first round, with former Oceania Champion Mark Plaisted (passenger Ben Pitt) third, and current World Cup Champions Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes fourth, and the top point scores currently are Treloar/J. Headland 19, T. Headland/Whetstone 15, Plaisted/Pitt 15, Monson/Summerhayes and Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear 10.

As in round one, the top eight riders from last season’s Australian Championship — Trent Headland, Andrew Buchanan, Warren Monson, Darrin Treloar, Dave Bottrell, Mark Mitchell, Damien Niesche and Mark Plaisted — are seeded into the main event Saturday night, but for this round they are also joined by the top scoring qualifiers from round one, Neale Hancock/Brock Gates, meaning nine seeded riders with seven to qualify from nine pre-meeting races.

With another hot afternoon predicted, the qualifying races will start later in the afternoon, at 5pm, with each rider getting three rides and the fastest seven by their 4 lap times qualifying. Riders in the qualifying events include former World Track Racing Champion Mick Headland, former Victorian champion Byren Gates and New Zealanders Dylan Moohan and Jamie Moohan.

The main event starts at the regular time of 7.30pm and admission prices have been kept at the normal cost of $25 for Adults, Age Pension & Student Concession $20, Children aged 12-15 $5, Under 12 free and Family $55.

Top photo: Seeded riders Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox (blue) and Neale Hancock/Brock Gates (yellow) sit just behind the top point scorers with 9 points each and will be trying to push into the top four on Saturday night. Photo by Mike Gerlach JDM Photos.

Photo at the bottom of the page: The start of the round one final, Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone (white), Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland (red), Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt (blue), Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (yellow). Photo by Mike Gerlach JDM Photos.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 27 January 2018.

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

Gates open: Eastern gate (near pits) open from 3pm; Western (main) gate from 5 pm. The Eastern gate will close at 8pm. Off-street parking areas near both gates.

Racing starts: Qualifying events (9) at 5pm; Super Series heats at 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits before Qualifying, and between Qualifying and the Super Series.

Riders/Passengers:

Seeded: Aust 1-Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone (SA), Aust 2-Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox (NZ), Aust 3-Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (Vic), Aust 4-Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland (NSW), Aust 5-Mark Mitchell/Dale Knights (SA), Aust 6-Dave Bottrell/Chris Bottrell (Qld), Aust 7-Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear (SA), Aust 8-Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt (SA), 68-Neale Hancock/Brock Gates (Vic).

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 (5pm): 11-Thomas Adams/Katelyn Silvy, 12-Brian Silvy/Cameron White, 14p-Jamie Moohan/Bayley Ogilvie (NZ), 15-Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris, 21-Aaron Silvy/Jaron Speyer-Silvy (out 26/1), 25-Clinton Crabb/Michael Bell, 27a-Dylan Moohan/Tyler Berger (NZ), 50-Byren Gates/Michael O’Loughlin (Vic) (out 27/1), 77-Tim Bichard/Brett Lewis (out 26/1), 89-Nathan Fleet/Glen Zaworski, 107-Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr, 111-Ricky Adams/Alice Cox, 970-Dean Hobbs/Justin Richards

Format: Nine races, riders with the fastest seven times go into the Super Series heats; the others go into reserves’ races.

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

Concession is limited to holders of the Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession card holders only. A family ticket covers 2 adults and children under 16.

Seating: Grandstand seating, large grassed viewing mounds and terracing 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]

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. Souvenirs can also be purchased online (see the Shop tab on the Gillman Speedway website).

Weather Forecast (as at 26/1/18): Maximum 41, minimum 21. Very hot and mostly 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) for $5.50 payable by credit card or PayPal.

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