Trent Headland and Jaxon Rayner win again at Gillman

Gillman Media 10 December 2025

Paintmaster SA Sidecar Spectacular winners Trent Headland and Jaxon Rayner, with Byren Gates and Damian Egan in the background. Photo by Derick Thomas.

Trent Headland and Jaxon Rayner backed up their win in the Safe Fire Electrical Gillman Sidecar Championship a fortnight earlier with a dominating display in the Paintmaster SA $2000 Sidecar Spectacular at Gillman Speedway on Saturday night (6 December).

Headland and Rayner were never challenged as they went through the card unbeaten, winning the final comfortably from Taylor Green/Callum Innes, Nate Headland/Harry Hearne and Byren Gates/Damian Egan (with Gates a non-finisher with a blown tyre).

Despite Headland’s dominance the event was an intriguing one with some upset results and a good spread of points which left the names of the finalists unknown until the very end.

The upset results started with the very first heat when Mildura’s Simon Cohrs and Cameron Diwell came from behind to beat one of the meeting favourites, Justin Plaisted/Brian Anthony, and continued in heat two when comeback rider Nate Headland, and rookie passenger Harry Hearne, beat Kym Menadue/Shane Dolan, Max Howse/Riley Commons and Shane Rudloff/Jake Doyle.

Simon Cohrs/Cameron Diwell (red) about to pass Justin Plaisted/Brian Anthony in heat one, but the meeting was to ultimately be an unhappy one for Cohrs and Diwell. Photo by Derick Thomas.

With the wins shared around, only Trent Headland and Jaxon Rayner were still unbeaten after eight heats.

With one round of heats to go, Headland/Rayner were assured of a place in the final, but ten other riders were still in with a chance of a final or semi-final berth, with Gates/Egan, Green/Innes and Shane Hudson/Jack Spear on 9, Plaisted/Anthony on 8, Menadue/Dolan, Cohrs/Diwell, Nate Headland/Hearne on 7, Rudloff/Doyle, Howse/Commons on 6 and Byron Mordaunt/Scott Cameron on 5.

Unfortunately what had been, until that time, a very smooth running meeting, went badly wrong in heat 17, which brought together Cohrs/Diwell, Rudloff/Doyle, Hudson/Spear and Gates/Egan.

Hudson won the start and was leading from Cohrs and Rudloff, with Gates on the higher line, when Hudson’s bike slowed on the back straight on lap two. With no power his bike went to the right, into the path of the closely following Cohrs and Rudloff, who had no chance of avoiding a collision, the result of which was a badly broken leg for Cameron Diwell, and a sad ending for the Mildura duo who had, until then, had enjoyed one of their best meetings, and their joy had been clear to see after their heat one win over Plaisted/Anthony.

With a lengthy delay while the on-site medics, and the paramedics who came with ambulance vehicles, attended to Cameron, racing was not resumed until 10.50pm and it was decided the delete some events, including the Sidecar semi-final, and go with the final to be decided between the top four point scorers.

The rerun of heat 17 was won by Rudloff ahead of Gates, leaving Rudloff on 9, and Gates on 12. Nate Headland then won heat 18 to advance to 10; Green won heat 19 ahead of Howse and Byron Mordaunt, to go to 12; and Trent Headland completed his maximum by beating Plaisted in Menadue in heat 20 which left Plaisted tied with Nate Headland on 10, with Headland gaining the start in the final by virtue of his three heat wins to Plaisted’s one.

The Final, like the heats, saw an easy win for Trent Headland/Jaxon Rayner. Gates/Egan went around the Kiwis Green/Innes at the end of lap two and held a narrow, but safe second only to suffer a blown tyre on the last lap, handing second to Green/Innes and third to Headland/Hearne.

A blown tyre on the last lap cost Byren Gates and Damian Egan second place. Photo by Derick Thomas.

The placegetters, left to right, back row: Nate Headland, Harry Hearne, Trent Headland, Jaxon Rayner, Taylor Green, Callum Innes; in front Byren Gates, Damian Egan. Photo by Derick Thomas.

The support events were eight heats and a final for the Flat Track Solos and it is fair to say they put on the best racing since they have been on the Gillman programme, with close racing between Tyler Battams, Harry Sadler and Jaxon Rayner, closely followed by Jesse Headland, Chloe Ackerley and David Footner, while the division two riders Graeme Eberhard, Greg Laanekorb, Matt Paterson and Con Twist had their own private battles going on further back.

Tyler Battams made an impressive first-up appearance, scoring a 12 point maximum, ahead of Sadler and Rayner on 9 but it was Sadler who took the final, with Battams second, Rayner, who was unbeaten in the two previous meetings, third, Ackerley fourth and Headland fifth after an early race fall.

Flat Track action from Jaxon Rayner (red), Tyler Battams (white) and Harry Sadler (blue). Photo by Judy Mackay.

In the Under 16 125cc Solo events, Hayden Pascoe was unbeaten on 12 points, with Chase Maul-Dunn second on 10, and Koby Smith third on 6, on a countback from Nate Sadler and William Nicol.

125cc Solos, Hayden Pascoe (white), Chase Maul-Dunn (blue) and Cooper Karpinski (red). Photo by Judy Mackay.

The next meeting is the Ray White Gawler South Australian Solo Championship on Sunday night, 28 December. Riders will include USA rider Luke Becker, and British riders Scott Nicholls, Leon Flint and Luke Harrison. The full list of nominations can be found under the Nominations tab on the Gillman Speedway website. Nominations are updated daily and close on 14 December.