International Sidecars at Gillman Speedway Saturday night
March 21, 2018 by Gillman Media
Leading international Sidecar riders from Great Britain and the United States of America will compete at Gillman Speedway this Saturday night (24 March) as part of a big double-bill feature night.
Mark Cossar, Mick Cave, Paul Whitelam and Will Penfold, who finished first, second, third and fifth in the British Speedway Sidecar Championship, will compete against USA numbers one and two, Joe Jones and Bryan Motis, and Western Australian rider Jeff Bishop, in a ten event series, while Australia’s leading riders will compete in the fourth and final round of the $35,000 Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Series.
Although the Super Series is over four rounds, the overall series placegetters will be decided by each rider’s best three rounds, meaning the top money positions behind series leaders Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland are all still up for grabs.
Treloar has been in phenomenal form around Australia this season and has yet to be beaten by an opponent in the Super Series, dropping just three points through a time limit exclusion.
The leading scorers behind Treloar after three rounds are Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone and Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt, who are only two points apart, while Mark Mitchell/Tony Carter and Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr are also within striking distance of a top three series finish.
Riders looking to dent their chances include Australian Championship finalists Dave Bottrell/Chris Bottrell, Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear and Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes, and Kiwi Jamie Moohan.
With the FIM Oceania Speedway Sidecar Championship, and the FIM Speedway Sidecar World Cup, being held at Gillman over the Easter weekend (31 March/1 April), Saturday night will be the last appearance this season of the 500cc Solos and the junior riders.
Admission prices have been kept at the normal cost of $25 for Adults, Age Pension & Student Concession $20, Children aged 12-15 $5, Under 12 free and Family $55, with grandstand seating free for this meeting.
Photo: Joe Jones (USA, white helmet), Paul Whitelam (England, red), Bryan Motis (USA, blue). Photo: Ken Hurley.
Everything You Need To Know:
Meeting Date: Saturday, 24 March 2018.
Venue: Gillman Speedway Stadium, 65 Wilkins Road, Gillman – near the Port Adelaide area.
Gates open: 5 pm. Entry via Western and Eastern gates. Off-street parking areas near both gates.
Racing starts: 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits until approximately 6.30 pm.
Riders/Passengers:
Nankang Tyres/Mitch Chassis Sidecar Super Series: 1-Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone (SA), 11-Thomas Adams/Katelyn Silvy, 14-Kym Menadue/Eric Melton, 14p-Jamie Moohan/Ayrton Canning (NZ/SA), 15 Shane Rudloff/Scott Morris, 21-Aaron Silvy/Jaron Speyer-Silvy, 27a-Dylan Moohan/Tyler Berger (NZ), 35-Mark Mitchell/Tony Carter (SA/NZ), 36-Dave Bottrell/Chris Bottrell (Qld), 40-Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear (SA), 43-Warren Monson/Andrew Summerhayes (Vic), 61-Chris Dess/Cameron Diwell (Vic), 68-Neale Hancock/Brock Gates (Vic), 75-Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt (SA/Vic), 84-Darrin Treloar/Jesse Headland (NSW/SA), 107-Mick Headland/Brenton Kerr (SA/Vic).
Format: 16 riders x 20 heats plus a last chance semi-final and a final. The 4th to 7th highest scorers go into the semi-final; and the winner of the semi-final and the three highest scorers from the 20 heats go into the final.
International Sidecars: 1-Joe Jones/Tom Summers (USA), 2-Bryan Motis/John Bach (USA), 5-Mick Cave/Bradley Steer (Eng), 22-Will Penfold/Ricky Pay (Eng), 37-Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth (Eng), 81-Jeff Bishop/Daniel Bishop (WA), 92-Paul Whitelam/Alan Elliott (Eng), tba
Format: ten races.
Solos 500cc: 10-Declan Knowles (Vic), 19-Brayden McGuinness, 42-Seth Hickey, 51-Fraser Bowes, 121-Robert Branford.
Solos 125cc Under 16 on infield track: 04-Angus van den Berg, 47-Nicholas Possingham, 80-Patrick Bowes, 524-Harry Sadler.
Sidecar 250cc Under 16 on infield track: 15-Mike Sheather/Kayden Gates (Vic), 28-Clay Burnett/Kaidyn Silvy, 84-Jake Treloar/Keegan Caldwell (NSW).
Admission: Adults $25, Age Pension & Student Concession $20, Children aged 12-15 $5, Under 12 free, Family $55. Parking free. Programme $5. Grandstand free.
Concession is limited to holders of the Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession card holders only. A family ticket covers 2 adults and children under 16.
Seating: Grandstand seating, large grassed viewing mounds and terracing suitable for deck chairs.
VIP Area: The V.I.P. area is available to anyone who would like to treat their business colleagues, family or friends to the best view of motorcycle speedway action in Australia. Spectators can enjoy the elevated view overlooking the track, either from inside the temperature controlled room, on the timber decks, or the enclosed lawn area, for a very reasonable price per person. A fully stocked bar and a variety of food to suit all budgets is available and you can book the whole room or part thereof. Ring Gillman Speedway Manager David Parker on 0403 364 658 or e-mail dave@gillmanspeedway.com for more details.
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, cold drinks, sweets. “Gillman has far and away the best speedway tucker” [Peter White’s Speedway World]
Bar facilities available but please note a condition of our liquor licence is no byo alcohol or glass can be brought into the venue.
Pets: No pets, other than guide dogs, are allowed into the venue.
Souvenirs: There is a well-stocked souvenir shop. Eftpos available in the souvenir shop. Souvenirs can also be purchased online (see the Shop tab on the Gillman Speedway website).
Weather Forecast (as at 21/3/18): Maximum 33, minimum 23. Partly cloudy. [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. Once you are on Tapleys Hill Road you can’t really go wrong. You only have to make three or four turns and most of those are simple. Just 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, so pretty easy to this point). Continue down Port Road for about 1 km to the first intersection which is Grand Junction road and turn right. You only 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 (you can’t go straight ahead) onto Bedford Street. Just keep going on that road until you get to the speedway. About 2 kms.
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: download the MYLAPS Speedhive app to your phone or tablet. Free to view. Gillman programme also available to download from the Gillman Speedway website (under the Shop tab) for $5.50 payable by credit card or PayPal.
Contact for this meeting: Speedway Manager, David Parker 0403 364 658