First chance for Sidecars, last chance for Solos, to grab some silverware at Gillman - January 2019

January 30, 2019 by Gillman Media

The Eagle Fuels Gillman Speedway Championships on Saturday night, 9 February, will be the first chance for Sidecar riders, and at the same time the last chance for the Solo riders, to grab some silverware this season .

Earlier this season the Solos contested the Jack Young Cup, South Australian Championship and a round of the Australian Championship, won respectively by Brayden McGuinness (JY Cup) and Max Fricke.

McGuinness, Dakota Ballantyne and Robert Medson have shared the mantle as the leading local riders this season, and will all fancy their chances of taking the track championship, but the interstate riders are not known yet with nominations not closing until Sunday.

Ballantyne is the only past winner of the trio, with victory in 2017. Medson has been runner-up for the last two seasons, while McGuinness has been fourth both times.

The supporting 250cc Under 16 Solos have been low on numbers this season but riders at the next meeting will have a rare opportunity to race against a world champion with current champion, Ben Ernst, from Germany the first nomination.

The Sidecar riders are in the midst of the Sidecar Super Series, but the track championship will be their first chance to claim a title before the Super Series concludes on 23 February, followed by the South Australian Championship on 9 March.

The Gillman Championship is always a hard-fought event, regardless of the line-up, as proven by the stat that three SA riders, Mark Mitchell, Justin Plaisted and Trent Headland have won Australian Championships in the last ten years but have been unable to win the track championship.

The meeting will also be one of the last chances for riders to stake their claim for a place in the line-up for the state championship.

Top photo: Nathan Fleet/Ayrton Canning (red), Tim Bichard/Adam Pascoe (blue), Dean Hobbs/Glen Zaworski (white). Photo by Derick Thomas.