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Quality field for State Solo titles

Posted on December 2, 2011

A QUALITY field has been put together for tomorrow night’s 2011 Victorian Solo Speedway Championship, with the event to take place at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway.

Justin Sedgmen. Photo: GHOST RIDER PHOTOGRAPHY.

Heading the field will be veteran Merbein rider, Mark Lemon, who has twice been named Victorian Solo Champion. Lemon rode last week in the Leigh Adams Benefit Meeting in Adelaide, and was joint top-points scorer.

Lemon only arrived in Australia last week to ride in the Adams meeting, and was still jet-lagged for the Gillman meet, where he finished contesting the ‘A’ final.

In other top news for the Australian international, he has been appointed by Motorcycle Australia as the Australian Speedway team manager for the coming season, which is a wonderful position for the well-travelled star.

Lemon will bring a tenacity to the Australian team, one that has been missing for quite a while, and should prove a good team manager, hopefully refocusing the Aussies to the form they had a decade ago.

The younger riders will not want to see Lemon get his own way, with the likes of Cory Gathercole, Justin Sedgmen, Tom Hedley and Robert Ksiezak to do their best to take the main prize and a podium position.

Gathercole – the 2007 Western Australian and Victorian champion – has returned to Mildura after a couple of consistent seasons in England.

He is now a regular top-scorer for his Premier League team, Somerset, scoring a 7.75 point average and collecting good points for his Elite League Club, Swindon.

Cory is expected to be a huge threat for the top place given his recent form and skills, especially after the ‘double up’ job he does for both the ‘Rebels’ and the ‘Robins’ in the Elite and Premier Leagues.

The younger Sedgmen brother, Justin, came home from England quite a few weeks ago, stale from the grind of continual racing.

He has cleared his head by working at his regular job in Mildura, and just last week collected his machinery, which has been freighted from England for his assault on both the Victorian and Australian Championships.

He rode well in Adelaide last weekend, and will be a force to be reckoned with. A specialist at Olympic Park, Justin will join Gathercole as a favourite for the podium.

Former international Tom Hedley, and South Australian rider, Rob Ksiezak, will be keen to put themselves in contention with consistent riding, while Mark Jones, Ryan Sedgmen, Dakota North and Jake Anderson will be amongst the other young riders set to take points.

Ksiezak has recovered from a broken leg and will be looking to gain form ready for another assault on the British League, while Jones is also a skillful rider who, like North, could be a surprise packet in the field.

A much more relaxed Ryan Sedgmen will also do battle, as will Jake Anderson, who has stayed in Australia this past season, working to better fund his racing.

Another veteran, Jason Stewart, can never been discounted, as he is a most talented rider who always makes the most of his opportunities.

Stewart is a fast racer who always gives his best, and is the type of ride who will often take the wide line in the corners, using his long track experience to his advantage.

Brock Gates and Chris Ferguson have good experience in Mildura, and could easily figure in taking significant points from any riders who happen to struggle on the night.

Michael King will also be an unknown quantity on the tight Olympic Park circuit, with Adam Briggs to use his small experience at Mildura to best advantage.

The youngsters in the field are Brenton Barnfield – who took a baptism of fire last season when he came into the Australian Title field at Kurri Kurri and performed creditably until a spill saw him break a wrist and put him out of action.

Barnfield is an accomplished rider, who has learned that patience is a great virtue on the race track.

Along with Barnfield is the newest graduate to the senior scene, Brayden Paver. The elder boy in the Paver family has been riding his 350 machine for some time, while practicing on the senior bike at meetings through the winter.

Brayden will look after himself, knowing that he is in the field for the enjoyment and the experience in top company.

All 20 heats will be exciting, as riders push for supremacy. It will be great to see some veteran riders, along with some new comers contest the 2011 Title, which will be decided after the top four point scorers have completed the all-important Championship Final.

Support events for the meeting will be a mix of Sidecars, with Mildura teams Jason Bradshaw/Steve Behsmann, Clint Mayes/Andrew Summerhayes and Simon and Mark Cohrs to be pitted against Broken Hill’s Darren Howes/Matt Ward and Daniel Stephens.

Racing in the three-wheeled class will be fast and furious as always, with nomination support from these Sidecar teams highly valued by the Mildura Motor Cycle Club.

A junior meeting – starting from 6.30pm – will be the curtain raiser for the event, with a rider presentation to take place at 7.20pm, and the senior racing to follow at 7.30pm.

Gates will open at 5pm, with patrons reminded that the venue provides a full-catering service and that there is no BYO by law. More information is available by contacting 0419 174 225.

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