Plaisted & Pitt retain SA Sidecar Championship

Gillman Media 26 February 2024

Pic: Winners of the Safe Fire Electrical SA Sidecar Championship, Mark Plaisted and Ben Pitt. Photo by Judy Mackay.

Defending champions Mark Plaisted and Ben Pitt retained their South Australian Sidecar Championship at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night (24 February).

The win was their fifth as a team, equalling Darrin Treloar/Justin Plaisted for the most wins, and it was Plaisted’s sixth win as rider, putting him just one win behind Treloar for the most wins by a rider. Plaisted is also the first South Australian rider to win three times in succession.

Unfortunately celebrations were somewhat muted, and the trophy presentation was seen by very few people after a four-bike crash in the semi-final caused the final to eventually be cancelled, and the championship decided on the heat points of the four finalists, after a lengthy delay while injured teenage star Nate Headland received medical attention.

The direct qualifiers for the final, and ultimately then the first three placegetters in the championship were Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt with 14 point, Justin Plaisted/Damian Egan 13 and Trent Headland/April Cottrell 12. Nate Headland/Jaxon Rayner (9) were awarded the win in the semi-final and with it fourth place in the championship.

Mark Plaisted dropped his only point to Trent Headland in their first ride, heat four, which Headland led from start to finish. Plaisted was untroubled to win his other four rides to score his 14 points. Headland also won four of his five rides but unfortunately for him and April Cottrell, they were excluded from their third ride for going infield in the first corner. Likewise, Justin Plaisted also won four of his rides, but he dropped two points in his second ride when beaten by his brother Mark, and surprise packets Damien Niesche/Adam Niesche.

Pic: Heat 4, Trent Headland/April Cottrell (yellow), Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt (blue), Nate Headland/Jaxon Rayner (white), David Bottrell/Darcy Risstrom (red). Photo by Judy Mackay.

Niesche is, or course, a recognised A grade rider, but this was his first appearance for the season at Gillman, and more importantly his first with teenage son Adam as passenger (replacing the injured Mitchell Spear), but they looked good and potential finalists for much of the night, chalking up 10 points from their first four rides. A win against Trent Headland in heat 19 would have put them into the final. It was a big ask as Trent was looking a serious threat to take the title from Plaisted, but surprisingly Niesche was off the pace and finished last behind Headland, Chris Walker/Jamie Flood and Rick Stephens/Nick O’Brien, leaving them on 10 points. That was still enough for a semi-final berth though and they lined up against Mick Headland/Jesse Headland (11), Nate Headland/Jaxon Rayner (9) and Max Howse/Riley Commons (8). Just missing a place on countback were Dean Hobbs/Daniel Low. The final place was decided in the final heat when Howse finished second, and Hobbs third behind Mark Plaisted.

Pic: Heat 20 decided the final qualifier for the semi-final. Dean Hobbs/Daniel Low (white), Brian Silvy/Glen Zaworski (red), Max Howse/Riley Commons (yellow). Photo by Judy Mackay.

Mick Headland, riding with son Jesse for the first time in about eight years (replacing injured Brenton Kerr), took a few races to get dialled in but won his last two heats and after seeing off several strong challenges from his grandson Nate, looked set to win the semi-final until a terrible last corner crash. Realising Nate was looking for an inside pass, Mick rode a tight line on the last lap, rather than his usual high, fence-scraping line, but going into the last corner his bike seized. Nate was right behind him and could not avoid a collision which threw him and passenger Jaxon Rayner onto the track in front of the closely following Niesche and Howse who were exchanging third and fourth places. Like Nate, neither rider had any chance of avoiding a collision, Niesche unfortunately running straight into Nate, while Howse crashed in Mick’s bike. Amazing everyone walked away from the crash except for Nate who required lengthy medical treatment.

With the meeting already running well over time after two previous crashes (by Wayne Lethbridge/Grantley Simounds and Aaron Silvy/Jaron Silvy), no indication how long the badly injured Headland would be on the track, and with Nate, who was awarded the win in the semi-final, and father Trent unable to start in any final, it was decided after consultation with the riders, to cancel the final and decide the championship on the heat points of the four finalists.

The news on the injured riders on Sunday was Nate Headland has broken the femur bones of both legs and will have an operation in the next day or two, while Wayne Lethbridge, Grantley Simounds, and Jaron Silvy were all at home, sore but without any serious injuries.

Pic: Heat 3, Justin Plaisted/Damian Egan (red), Mick Headland/Jesse Headland (white). Photo by Judy Mackay.

The SA Division 2 Championship was not held due to insufficient riders. Programmed as a 12 rider event, the field was down to 7 before the meeting had started, then 4 by the first heat, and then 3 after Wayne Lethbridge crashed.

The various medical delays resulted in several Flat Track Solo races being deleted but in those that were run Kyle Machin was unbeaten in Group One, and Julian Timmis was unbeaten in Group Two. Riley Stout won he 125cc Junior Solo final ahead of Connor Machin, with Hayden Pascoe and Hayden Kuchel both excluded.