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International Sidecar first heads to Mildura

Posted on November 11, 2011

MILDURA’S Olympic Park Speedway will enjoy another ‘first’ next Wednesday, November 16, with the International Sidecar Challenge to be held.

Byren Gates will be among the four-man Mildura Sidecar Team. Photo: GHOST RIDER PHOTOGRAPHER.

The event will take the form of a four team tournament, where teams of four machines per team will represent England, New Zealand, Australia and Mildura.

The Mildura Motor Cycle Club has worked hard to gain approval for the meeting from the Federation Internationale de Motorcyclisme – the world’s controlling motorcycling body – to allow Australian riders – particularly Mildura locals – to ride against International company.

The four team format is popular in European speedway, where most of the speedway is based on a team aspect.

Sunraysia speedway fans, however, will have the chance to see this format for the first time next week, with excitement guaranteed.

The Mildura Motor Cycle Club has planned the meet at the most convenient time for those international and Australians riders who will attend this weekend’s World Sidecar Championship meeting at Murray Bridge, while also trying to fit it in with the local crowd.

Hence the reason for the meeting being a mid-week affair, with the hope that Sunraysia residents will attend the meeting.

Dual World Champion, Mick Headland, will lead the Australians, while veteran British rider – and current world number two – Rob Wilson, will lead the Great Britain foursome.

Last year’s kiwi visitor, Andrew Buchanan, and wife Phillipa will lead the New Zealand team, while Byren Gates will have the honour of leading the Mildura team in this historic meeting.

Each heat (20 will be held in total) will have one rider from each team participate, with the riders to be mixed up over both gate positions and by riding against each member of the opposite teams to ensure a fair result.

Sunraysia speedway fans will have the added interest of seeing who scores points for each team, rather than just being concerned with who wins the race.

The standard three, two, one point system for first through third placing will be allocated, with the rider finishing fourth receiving no points for the outing.

The biggest highlight of the meeting will occur between Heats 17 to 20, with riders in those heats to not be confirmed until after the finish of Heat 16.

The meeting will start with each of the four riders and passengers in each of the four teams riding against each other, using different gate positions for each heat in what Sunraysia patrons will know as a regular championship type format.

The variation will come in the final four heats, where the riders from each team with the lowest points will ride against each other in Heat 17.

Heat 18 will be for the four riders from each team who have scored third place in their team on the score chart.

The second placed riders will compete in Heat 19, and for the final event of the night, the top placed riders in each team will race off.

The points accumulated in each of the 20 heats will decide the winning team of the night.

The facility for a ‘Joker’ will also be used in the early 16 heats if a team is eight points in arrears. The Joker is not allowed in the final four heats, and when it is played there can be no substitute rider used, as in some other formats.

Many international speedway formats now use the Joker facility in team matches, so once again, Olympic Park fans could again see something quite new to Mildura.

Team Great Britain will feature the amazing Rob Wilson – a master of British grass track and speedway events over more than three decades – Matt Tyrrell and Mick Cave, both of whom have ridden in Mildura, and the most recent star of British sidecar speedway, Roy Spreadbury, and his English passenger, Gareth Little.

Team New Zealand will feature Buchanan – a visitor to Mildura last season – and his wife, Phillipa, with the pair to be joined by fellow Kiwis, Dave Gannon and Les Plummer.

Buchanan/Burns proved to be a good competition for Mildura regulars, so watch for them to use that experience to their advantage.

Work commitments for the other two participants in Saturday’s World Championship event at Murray Bridge sees a vacancy in the Kiwi team, which has been filled by local riders Dale Milner and Brock Gates.

Milner is keen to ride in the international meeting, and the Club has sanctioned his switch to ride with the folk from ‘across the ditch.’

Team Australia is a powerful unit, with Mick Headland, Darrin Treloar and Mark Mitchell to be joined by Chris Pascoe – who will have local rider and Mildura Motor Cycle Club vice president, Simon Cohrs, in the chair.

Headland will have his regular passenger Paul Waters along side, while Treloar will have young Jesse Headland as his swinger.

Team Mildura is probably the most even team of all, with former Victorian Champions Jason Bradshaw and Byren Gates being joined by Clint Mayes and Chris Holmes.

These locals, with their regular passengers, except for Gates, who will have brother Deven in the chair, could use their local knowledge to their advantage.

Most of the Mildura guys will know that accumulation of points in every heat will be vital, and while there is only one machine from each team in each heat, the onus will be heavily on each participant to score as heavily as possible in each outing.

Patrons will find this meeting very different to most meetings at Olympic Park, as it will be more like the meetings which are the staple of British speedway.

There are many examples of the four team tournament format being used for special testimonial meetings, British Premier League Knockout Cup, and other open meetings which are used either regionally or as season starters to give riders an opportunity to meld as a team before the start of the gruelling League season.

A small support sidecar group will race interspersed in the Tournament heats, and will also act as reserve riders for each of the teams.

Patrons are reminded that gates open at 5pm, with many fans expected to come to Olympic Park straight after work.

A riders briefing will be held at 5.30pm, with practice to take place from 5.45pm. A junior support meeting will be held from 6.30pm, with a riders parade commencing at 7.20pm before senior racing gets under way at 7.30pm.

Full catering will be available, with patrons reminded there is no BYO by law, with more information available by phoning 5027 4225 or 0419 174 225.

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