Gillman Classic Championships summary
The annual Gillman Speedway Classic Championships meeting went off well without any hitches last night and produced some close racing at times even though most classes had clear cut winners.
The first final to come to the tapes was the 2 valve Solo class, for riders over 40, and this was the hardest class to pick a winner after some close racing during the heats. The finalists were Steven Graetz, who was the defending champion, Roy Stout, Darryl Christopher and Kevin Webb and all four had scored wins during the six qualifying heats. Graetz and Stout both scored 8 out of a possible 9 points – Graetz was beaten by Stout, while Stout was beaten by Webb. Webb and Christopher both scored 7 points. Both had been beaten by Graetz and Stout, but were competitive against both, and Christopher beat Webb in one of the best dices of the night when they were side by side for the first three laps in heat six.
Graetz was probably the favourite for the final by virtue of being the defending champion, but Stout had beaten him convincingly in heat five, and it was Stout who clearly won the start in the final. As the race continued it looked like Stout would take the win but then his back wheel slid out as he approached the end of lap three and Greatz was able to get under him down the back straight on the last lap to retain his title by the narrowest of margins. Webb and Christopher meanwhile were having their own race for third and there was another last lap change when Webb managed to get under Christopher with less than half a lap to go.
The British Sidecar class disappointingly only had two bikes, Mark Mitchell and Tony Carter on the Vincent HRD and Rob Kemp and Brendan Johnson on the JAP 8/80, and Mitchell/Carter had a clean sweep, winning all three heats and the final, but the racing was much better than the results suggest and they were wheel-to-wheel in most of their races, for example Mitchell only got under Kemp on the line in an almost dead-heat the second heat.
It was a very different story in the Evolution Sidecar class with Jim Irwin/Kate Barnes winning by very big margins in every race. Not surprising given Irwin is a former South Australian Champion and was Australia #4 four times against the best riders of the time. Defending champions Wayne Lethbridge/Grant Simounds looked like taking second in the final until there was another last lap pass, this time with Queensland’s Guy Westerman and Gary Fludder getting under Lethbridge/Simounds to take the runner-up spot.
It was a similar story in the Evolution (4 valve upright) Solo class with Mildura’s Brendan Liddle a clear-cut win in every heat and the final. John Doolan surprised by leading for the first lap in the final but once Liddle hit the lead he cleared away for an easy win. Doolan, the defending champion, meanwhile came under threat from Mathew Bodger but he held on for second with Bodger third.
The Post Classic Sidecar class was similar to the 2 valve Solo class, with some close racing throughout the line-up. Chris Rae/Jamie Flood and Josh Pascoe/Michael Potts were the best in the heats with Rae unbeaten with 9 points, and Pascoe just dropping the one point to Rae to finish on 8. The racing was close between Michael Hoogland/Nick Johns, Lee Banks/Adam Lange and Kevin McDonald/Tony Carter, with McDonald the one missing a start in the final. His cause wasn’t helped by an infield exclusion when he spun off the track in his first heat. In the final it was Pascoe/Potts who won the start and they quickly established what looked like a winning lead before second place Rae/Flood spun on the second lap and were hit by the closely following Banks/Lange, who fell. Rae was excluded from the rerun which saw an easy win for Pascoe/Hobbs, with Banks/Lange taking second ahead of Hoogland/Johns.
Moz Pridham and Jana Pridham easily retained the Japanese Sidecar Championship after their only real challengers, Aaron Silvy and John Atherton Junior, dropped out of the meeting. Silvy gave Pridham a hard time in heat one, but was out of the meeting after only one lap in heat two and thereafter the Pridhams had not trouble winning by big margins. Wayne Lethbridge and Grantley Simounds took second and Peter Bodger and Shane Martin third in the final.
Port Pirie’s David Footner had a clean sweep of the Classic Flat Track Solo races to retain the Greg Nestor Perpetual Trophy but Mark Stevens and Rohan Clark kept him honest and were not far behind him. Stevens and Clark shared the second placings in the heats before Stevens took second in the final with Clark third.
Also on the programme were some demonstration races for under 16 250cc Solo riders William Nicol (age 13), Kobi Canning (15), Ruby Chapman (15) and Cooper Antone (14). Canning and Antone were wheel-to-wheel in each of the demonstrations but the New South Wales visitor, Antone, took the win on each occasion, while Chapman and Nicol had their own battles for third place.
