Justin Plaisted and Damian Egan take the Bob White Cup

Gillman Media 25 March 2024

Justin Plaisted and Damian Egan won their first Bob White Sidecar Cup in an exciting final ride with defending cup holders Darrin Treloar and Blake Cox at Gillman speedway on Saturday night (23 March).

Leading up to final the qualifying heats were quite straight forward at the top end of the score chart. Treloar and Cox were unchallenged to score the maximum possible 12 points, while Plaisted and Egan were only beaten by Treloar/Cox to finish with 11 points.

Below them things were not quite as clear cut as most of the field were either in contention for the third direct qualifying berth in the final, or for a place in the last chance semi-final.

Ultimately the third berth in the final went to Max Howse and Riley Commons ahead of Kym Menadue and Shane Dolan on countback after both teams scored 9 points. The countback was decided by the result of heat two which Howse/Commons won with Menadue/Dolan second.

Joining Menadue/Dolan in the semi-final were Brian Silvy/Glen Zaworski 8, Rick Stephens/Nick O’Brien 6 and Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris 6. Going into the last heat, Menadue and Stephens were safe but Silvy/Zaworski 5, Rudloff/Morris 4 and Dean Hobbs/Daniel Low 4 were all drawn together and the result of the race would determine which two would go through. Silvy/Zaworski scooted away to score a narrow but convincing win to book their place, but the race between Rudloff/Morris and Hobbs/Low for the other berth was the race of the night as they were side-by-side for three laps before Rudloff was able to edge ahead on the last lap.

In the semi-final Menadue/Dolan took the early lead but Stephens/O’Brien went around them after half-a-lap and went on to take the win and add to a fine record of qualifying for the final for the fourth time in the six stagings of the event.

So to the final and the showdown between Treloar/Cox and Plaisted/Egan did not disappoint. Plaisted, from gate three, got a good start and led from Treloar (gate one) down the back straight. Treloar nudged his way ahead in turn one on the second lap only for Plaisted to regain the lead through turns three and four. Despite several challenges from Treloar, Plaisted was able to hold the lead to win by a couple of bike lengths. Max Howse/Riley Commons finished third and Rick Stephens/Nick O’Brien fourth.

500cc Solos were also on the card but the main support class was the Flat Track Solo Gillman Championship.

The Flat Trackers produced some close racing in two halves, with half a dozen riders in the top half of the scorecard all with a realistic chance of winning the title, and those in the bottom half of the scorecard figuring in some close finishes in the battle for the odd point or two to earn a place in the semi-final.

The top scorers, who earned direct qualification to the final, were Kyle Machin, Nigel Sadler, both with 12 points, Liam May and Roy Stout, both with 9. Qualifiers for the semi-final were Sean Curtis 7, Kane Golding 6, Seane Chapman 6, Greg Laanekorb 3, Dale Knights 3 and Kristy Schultz 2, although Curtis was a non-starter. He’d earlier only been beaten by Machin and Sadler in his first three rides before pulling out of the meeting to allow Sadler to use his bike.

Unsurprisingly Chapman won a close race with Knights for them to qualify for the six-rider final.

It was a strong line-up with May a current speedway rider and Sadler, Stout and Chapman all former riders, but it was 19-year-old dirt track rider Kyle Machin who took the win after a close race with Sadler who finished second. May was third, Stout fourth and Knights fifth with Chapman a non-finisher.

In the speedway solo class Sam Martin was clearly the top rider but he had an eventful night on his way to top scoring with 9 points, ahead of Teagan Pedler 8, Shaun Sampson 4 and Lilly Cottrell 3. In the first heat his throttle was stuck open for the last three laps before he fell after the finish of the race; in the second heat he suffered a flat tyre; in the third he had engine trouble; before a trouble free run in the last heat which was cut short when Sampson fell on the third lap.

Former junior speedway rider Harry Sadler turned 16 during the week and rode in the Flat Track class rather than the speedway class, but fell in his first two rides before sitting out the rest of the meeting. He and his former 250cc rival Ashley Jansen-Batchelor will now be practising regularly over the winter before making their senior speedway debuts next season.

In the 125cc Junior Solo class, Kobi Canning (12 heat points) was unbeaten and won the final ahead of Hayden Pascoe (9), Riley Stout (8) and Connor Machin 7. Hayden Kuchel won the consolation race in his final race as a junior.