Australian Solo Championship decider at Gillman Speedway

January 7, 2020 by Gillman Media

The Australian 500cc Solo Speedway Championship will be decided in the Eagle Fuels fifth and final round at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway this Saturday night (11 January).

The line-up of riders for this season’s championship is one of the strongest for many years with 11 current British or Polish League riders, including five previous Australian Champions – defending champion Max Fricke, five-times winner and former World champion Chris Holder, Brady Kurtz (2016), Sam Masters (2017) and Rohan Tungate (2018).

Despite the presence of all these former champions there are other riders not only capable of winning the Gillman meeting but the overall championship, in particular Jack Holder and Jaimon Lidsey. Holder won the Oceania Championship at Gillman earlier this season, and has since won the New South Wales Championship and the Jason Crump Invitational Classic, while Lidsey is the series leader after round two at Albury on Monday night (round one at Kurri Kurri was cancelled after four heats).

The leading scorers after the Albury meeting were Jaimon Lidsey 19, Max Fricke 18, Rohan Tungate 14, Jack Holder 13, Sam Masters 12, Chris Holder 11, Brady Kurtz 10, Josh Pickering 9.

Photo: Max Fricke (W), Jaimon Lidsey (B), Rohan Tungate (R) and Jack Holder (Y) in the final of round two at Albury, New South Wales on Monday night. Photo by Judy Mackay.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 11 January 2020.

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

Gates open: Gates open at 4.30pm. Free spectator access to the pits until approximately 6.20pm.

Parking and entrance: Patrons can enter via gates at the western and eastern ends of the venue. There are free off-street parking areas near both gates.

Racing starts: 7.30pm.

Riders:

Australian 500cc Solo Championship Eagle Fuels Round 5

As selected by Motorcycling Australia, alphabetical order, Ben Cook (NSW), Zach Cook (NSW), Ryan Douglas (Qld), Jaimon Lidsey (Vic), Max Fricke (Vic), Chris Holder (NSW), Jack Holder (NSW), Zane Keleher (Qld), Brady Kurtz (NSW), Sam Masters (NSW), Rob Medson (SA), Jack Morrison (Vic), Josh Pickering (NSW), Justin Sedgmen (Vic), Jordon Stewart (Vic), Rohan Tungate (NSW).

Championship format: 20 heats. The top eight point scorers go into two semi-finals. First and second in each semi-final go into the final. Points scored in all races count towards the series points. The rider with the highest total of series points from all rounds is the Australian Champion.

500cc Solo Support Races: Dakota Ballantyne (SA), Fraser Bowes (SA), Aden Clare (NSW), Liam May (SA), Brayden McGuinness (SA), Jake Mitchell (SA)

250cc Under 16 Solo Support Races: Maurice Brown (NSW), Lewis Monaghan (Vic), Bradley Page (NSW), James Pearson (NSW)

Meeting Sponsor: Eagle Fuels. Proudly Australian owned and operated, Eagle Fuels is your local South Australian and Victorian Fuel and Lubricants Distributor.

Admission: Adults $30, Age Pension & Student Concession $25, Children aged 12-15 $10, Under 12 free, Family $70, Parking free. Programme $5. Grandstand free.

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

Eftpos is only available at the eastern gate. The western (main) gate is cash 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, tea, cold drinks, sweets. “Gillman has far and away the best speedway tucker” [Peter White’s Speedway World] Eftpos available at the main canteen.

Bar facilities available but please note a condition of our liquor licence is no byo alcohol or glass can be brought into the venue. Products available are on the Gillman Speedway website under ‘A night at Gillman Speedway’

Pets: No pets, other than guide dogs, are allowed into the venue.

Souvenirs: There is a well-stocked souvenir shop, including 2020 Australian Speedway Championship T shirt. Eftpos is not available in the souvenir shop.

Weather Forecast: Maximum 27, minimum 15. Partly cloudy. Forecast as at 7 January. [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. 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). Continue down Port Road for about 1 km to the first intersection which is Grand Junction road and turn right. 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 onto Bedford Street. Keep going on that road until you get to the speedway. About 2km.

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. Speedway supporter discount available at the Mansfield Park Hotel, 426 Grand Junction Road, Mansfield Park (3 km from the track). Call 08 8445 3300 or use the link https://hotels.cloudbeds.com/reservation/VgHXNT#promo=GillmanSpeedway

Live results: Live results are free to view on the MYLAPS phone app. (www.speedhive.mylaps.com).

Live streaming: If you are outside of the Adelaide area you can watch live streaming of this meeting, with commentary from three-times World Speedway Champion Jason Crump, on this link https://mailchi.mp/ma/oz-speedway-championships-to-be-live-streamed-to-the-world?e=a8b459d098

Contact for this meeting: Ivan Golding 0417 138 378 or email contact@gillmanspeedway.com (there have been some problems with the email address since Sunday, so ring if your email rejects)