Sidecar series to go down to the wire at Gillman Speedway - February 2019

February 20, 2019 by Gillman Media

The Sidecar Super Series looks set to go down to the wire at Gillman Speedway this Saturday night (23 February) with only 5 points separating the top four riders going into the National Karate sponsored third and final round.

Local duo Damien Niesche and Mitchell Spear currently lead the series with 28 points, but they are only two points ahead of Mildura’s Neale Hancock/Brendan Johnson (26), with Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (24) and Sam Harrison/Luke McGrath (23) close behind.

Missing from the top bracket is 10-time Australian Champion Darrin Treloar, who missed the first round and is only on 19 points, but he is still an outside chance of overall victory if he can repeat his round two form when he scored the maximum possible points. That would give him a total of 38 points, meaning the current leading scorers would probably need to reach the final to take the series.

And reaching the final won’t be an easy task for the top four with Treloar/Jesse Headland, 2017 Australian Champions, and current SA and WA Champions, Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone, twice World Track Racing Champion Mick Headland (passenger Brenton Kerr), and former Australian number three Shane Hudson (passenger Jackson Gilbert-Dunn) amongst the challengers.

This is Trent Headland’s first appearance at Gillman this season and there will be no easing back into competition as he is drawn to meet Treloar in his first ride!

The Sidecar Series will be supported by 500cc Solos – with Dakota Ballantyne, Brayden McGuinness and Robert Medson continuing their head-to-head battles to be the dominant rider, along with rapidly improving Fraser Bowes — Classic Sidecars and Juniors.

Top photo: Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland (red), Neale Hancock/Brendan Johnson (blue) and Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris (yellow) during the Super Series round two final. Photo by Derick Thomas.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Date: Saturday, 23 February 2019.

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

Gates open: Gates open at 5pm. Free spectator access to the pits until approximately 6.30pm.

Racing starts: 7.30pm.

Riders:

Sidecar Super Series: 13-Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone, 15-Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris, 17-Andrew Gault/Adam Constable (NSW), 21-Aaron Silvy/Jaron Silvy, 21v-Adon Pearce/Eli Bock (Vic), 25-Sam Harrison/Luke McGrath, 40-Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear, 61-Chris Dess/Cameron Diwell (Vic), 68-Neale Hancock/Brendan Johnson (Vic), 69-Rick Stephens/Nick O’Brien (NSW), 71-Shane Hudson/Jackson Gilbert-Dunn (NSW), 77-Tim Bichard/Adam Pascoe, 84-Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland (NSW/SA), 89-Nathan Fleet/Ayrton Canning, 107-Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr (SA/Vic), 970-Dean Hobbs/Glen Zaworski

Sidecar Qualifying and Support: 11-Tom Adams/Matty Barkla, 019-Brad Ferguson/Dale Cox (Vic), 57-Chris Bichard/Michael Bell, 111-Ricky Adams/Alice Cox

Solos 500cc: 9-Robert Medson, 19-Brayden McGuinness, 51-Fraser Bowes, 82-Dakota Ballantyne

Classic Sidecars: 7-Sean Chapman/Matthew Ambrose, M7-John Bennett/James Knudsen, 68-Chris Holmes/Hannah Holmes (Vic), 82-Wayne Lethbridge/Grantley Simounds

Junior (Under 16) 125cc Solos on the infield track: 26-Jordan Hargreaves, 33-Jake Fleet, 47-Nicholas Possingham, 131-Ashley Jansen-Batchelor. Junior Sidecar practice: 28- Kaidyn Silvy/Hannah Silvy

Pee Wees (6.30pm-7pm): 03-Blake Schlein, 4-Riley Stout, 5-Jack Silvy, 10-Darcy Bennett, 13-Jackson McPherson, 15-Ayla Severe, 37-William Nicol

Admission: Adults $25, Age Pension & Student Concession $20, Children aged 12-15 $5, Under 12 free, Family $55, Programme $5. Parking free. 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. Cash only at the western (main) gate.

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 is only 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. Also note no pets, other than guide dogs, are allowed into the venue.

Souvenirs: There is a well-stocked souvenir shop. Eftpos is not available in the souvenir shop.

Meeting Sponsor: National Karate. Established in July 1993 by Professor Steve Miranda, now training in 3 States and 1 territory with over 55 clubs covering the nation. With over 49 years of training knowledge covering multiple styles, Professor Steve has developed a unique martial art system that caters for ages from 6 – 60 plus, with tailored junior and senior programs. A family friendly martial art that delivers quality street techniques which work, National Karate also provides specialised classes for children with disabilities. They are a community focused martial art that believes in giving back to the community through specialised programs, for more information please call them on 0437 523 913.

Weather Forecast: (As at 20 February) Maximum 34, minimum 17. 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. 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. 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: Live results are free to view on the MYLAPS phone app. (www.speedhive.mylaps.com). The Gillman programme is 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: Ivan Golding 0417 138 378 or email contact@gillmanspeedway.com