FIM Speedway Sidecar World Cup at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night - March 2016

March 23, 2016 by Gillman Media

It has taken four years of planning, negotiations, learning all about international regulations, and improving the stadium to meet those regulations, but finally the official FIM Speedway Sidecar 1000cc World Cup will take place at Adelaide’s Gillman Speedway Stadium on Saturday night (26 March).

The World Cup will be the highlight of the weekend, but it is just one part of a three day speedway carnival.

On Good Friday the promoters will open the stadium with free entry to a “festival of speed” which will see over one hundred classic and current day speedway bikes and cars on display. There will also be interviews throughout the day with riders and drivers, including the visiting overseas sidecar riders here for the World Cup, plus a rock band and activities for kids – and repeating, all for free entry. The festivities will run from 10am until 4pm and then it will be time to shut up shop and start the final venue and track preparations for the World Cup 24 hours later.

Gates will open at 4pm on Saturday with racing starting at 7.30pm. Spectators arriving early will have free access to the pits to get a close up look at the bikes and their riders/passengers, and then the action begins, when seven of the best Australian riders, as determined by last season’s Australian Championship results, will take on riders from Great Britain, New Zealand and the United States of America.

The World Cup will be decided over 20 qualifying heats with the top three point scorers going into a final to decide the meeting winner. They’ll be joined in the final by the winner of a “last chance” semi-final for the next four highest scorers.

Favourites to win the World Cup will be Darrin Treloar/Blake Cox (NSW), Mick Headland/Jesse Headland (SA), Mark Plaisted/Darcy Risstrom (SA/Vic) and Warren Monson/Matt Morgan (Vic/Qld).

These riders are the best of the best. Treloar is the most successful rider in Speedway Sidecar history, Headland is a former World Track Racing Gold Trophy and World Championship winner, Plaisted is a former Oceania Champion and Monson is the current Australia #2, so the rest of the field will have their work cut out just to reach the final ahead of any of these riders.

Fellow Aussies Trent Headland (and British passenger Darryl Whetstone) and Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear have been two of the most in-form riders this season however, so it would not be a shock if either, or even both, qualified for the final.

Being able to put together five good rides to consistently beat the top four will be the key, and likewise with the overseas riders. They showed in trials last meeting that they are going to be very competitive and entertaining against each other, but can they take enough points off the Australians to be in contention for a place in the semi-final? The Kiwis Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox, Derek Ramsay/Matthew Ramsay and Aiden Thwaites/Shane Twiss, and Americans Joe Jones/Tom Summers looked to be the best chances.

The action then continues on Sunday night when the riders will contest round one of the Oceania Sidecar Championship. A second round will be held at Undera Park Speedway in Victoria on the following Saturday night.

Sunday night’s meeting will be the last meeting of the season at Gillman so the last chance to see the international riders in South Australia.

Everything You Need To Know:

Meeting Dates: Saturday, 26 March 2016 (Sidecar World Cup); Sunday, 27 March 2016 (Oceania Sidecar Championship).

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

Parking and entrance: Patrons can enter via two gates, at the western and eastern ends of the venue. There are free parking areas near both gates. The eastern gate will close at 8.30pm.

Gates open: at 4 pm (Saturday) and 5 pm (Sunday).

Racing starts: at 7.30 pm. Free spectator access to the pits until approximately 6.30 pm.

Riders/Passengers:

Dylan Blain/Hamish Golding (Australia)

Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox (New Zealand/Aust)

Mick Cave/Sam Heath (Great Britain)

David Gannon/Raymond George (New Zealand)

Mick Headland/Jesse Headland (Australia)

Trent Headland/Darryl Whetstone (Australia/GB)

Joe Jones/Tom Summers (United States of America)

Warren Monson/Matt Morgan (Australia)

Bryan Motis/Cody Brant (United States of America)

Damien Niesche/Mitchell Spear (Australia)

Mark Plaisted/Darcy Risstrom (Australia)

Derek Ramsay/Matthew Ramsay (New Zealand)

Aiden Thwaites/Shane Twiss (New Zealand)

Darrin Treloar/Blake Cox (Australia)

Paul Whitelam/Damian Egan (Great Britain/Aust)

Rob Wilson/Liam Brown (Great Britain)

Reserves: Dave Bottrell/Christopher Bottrell (Australia), Shane Hudson/Eli Wright (Australia)

Support events: Vincent HRD Sidecar demonstrations on Saturday night only.

Admission prices Saturday night: Adults $30, Age Pension and Student Concession $25 (*), Children Under 16 $10 (aged 12-15 inclusive), Children Under 12 free. Family $70. Programme $5. Grandstand seating $5. Parking free.

Admission prices Sunday night: Adults $25, Age Pension and Student Concession $20 (*), Children Under 16 $5 (aged 12-15 inclusive), Children Under 12 free. Family $55. Programme $5. Grandstand seating $5. Parking free.

(*) Concession is limited to Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and Student Concession Card holders only. A family ticket covers 2 adults and children under 16.

Weather Forecast: Friday – mostly sunny, maximum 26, minimum 16. Saturday – partly cloudy, maximum 26, minimum 15. Sunday – partly cloudy, maximum 25, minimum 14.  [www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/Adelaide]

Seating: 216 seat grandstand; terracing and large grassed viewing mounds 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, nachos, doughnuts, coffee, cold drinks, sweets. “Gillman has far and away the best speedway tucker” [Peter White’s Speedway World, February 2015]

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 including the latest Blackchrome manufactured shirts and jackets. Eftpos available only in the souvenir shop.

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, 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 kilometres).

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; and the Mawson Lakes Hotel and Function Centre, Main Street, Mawson Lakes, offer a discount to speedway fans but you must ring the venues direct and ask for the Gillman Speedway discount. Full details are on the Gillman website under the information/accommodation tab.

Contact for this meeting: Speedway Manager, David Parker 0403 364 658

Photo (by Mike Gerlach JDM Photos: Andrew Buchanan/Denny Cox and Joe Jones/Tom Summers