Today	Sat
Clear 22°/ 9°	Partly Cloudy 20°/ 7°

← Perfect weather for popular Willowfest Caitlin earns S.A cricket call-up →

New Year offers plenty of speedway action

Posted on December 30, 2011

MILDURA’S Olympic Park Speedway will be a hive of activity mere hours into the New Year, with a full field of both Solos and Sidecars to descend on the track for the Forbes-Wilson Group Solo and Sidecar Masters this Sunday evening.

Mildura sidecar riders Warren Monson and Devon Gates (left), and Jason Bradshaw and Steve Behsmann are two of the favourites for this Sunday’s Forbes-Wilson Group Solo and Sidecar Masters event. PHOTO: Ghost Rider Photography

A top field of Sidecars has nominated for the event, and will include former Australian Champions Mark Mitchell and Tom Golding – who are both fresh from winning their first South Australian State Title at the Gillman circuit in Adelaide last weekend.

There are also four former Victorian Champions in the field, who will all be keen to knock Mitchell off his newly achieved perch, as well as a number of other sidecar teams who have a strong focus on doing well in Mildura.

Mitchell and Golding are most comfortable riding the tighter lines at Mildura – the scene of their Australian Championship win in 2009.

The pair’s win in the SA Titles was based on being in the right spot at the right time, swooping immediately on two-time World Champions Mick Headland and Paul Waters – who made the mistake of drifting up slightly coming into the last turn of an amazing four lap final.

Local stars Byren Gates and Mick O’Loughlin, Warren Monson and Deven Gates, Jason Bradshaw and Steve Behsmann, Simon and Mark Cohrs, Clint Mayes and Andrew Summerhayes, the Dad’s Army team of Chris Holmes and Neale Hancock, Andy O’Rourke and Jason Mayes, and Corey Gates and Brodie Gebhart are also contenders, and will be looking to make life tough for their Adelaide Hills-based colleague Mitchell, who will also have to contend with another SA team in Shane Evans and Alan Gale.

Twenty heats and a final will decide the Masters in the three-wheeled division, with plenty of action expected from Broken Hill’s Rick Stephens and Dean Hobbs and Darren Howse and Matt Ward, while regular southern Victorians Mark Radford and Matt Putkunz, Simon Hartley and Nathan Chisholm, and Mal German and Steven Stagg are also strong chances.

The combination of Gates/O’Loughlin has tasted success in the Sidecar Grand Slam – which is currently travelling around the country – and are in top form at the moment.
They will still have to watch for both the Monson/Gates and Bradshaw/Behsmann teams, who both know the best way around the Olympic Park circuit.

The Mildura round of the Sidecar Grand Slam is the next event at Olympic Park, and will be held on Saturday, January 14.

A strong field of Solos will also be back in action at Olympic Park this weekend, with some of Mildura’s International riders having a hit-out prior to the Australian Championship series, which will be held in Queensland just five days after the Mildura event.

The solos are headed by new International signing, Brenton Barnfield, who has recently become a ‘Berwick Bandit’ for the UK Premier League’s 2012 season.

It’s an event that will also feature Mildura’s Justin Sedgmen – who has signed with the ‘Redcar Bears’ in the Premier League, and doubles for the ‘Lakeside Hammers’ in the British Elite League.

Joining the group will be current ‘Eastbourne Eagles’ captain, Cameron Woodward – who will be looking for a good hit-out prior to the Australian Title rounds – and former International Tom Hedley, who has returned to racing after a small layoff.

Chris Ferguson, Ryan Sedgmen, Brayden Paver, Brock Gates and Shaun Peterson are the remaining locals who will fight out the field, with youngster Luke Mitchell also in the running for the Solo Masters Title.

Woodward has not ridden locally this season, and will be looking to hit form as he gives away a few rides to his opponents. His fitness should be sound enough to get him up to speed quickly, although he will not be able to discount either Justin Sedgmen or Brenton Barnfield, with either lad capable of downing the more fancied opposition.

Both Sedgmen and Barnfield have been travelling to compete, and are in good form.

Visitors to Sunraysia are encouraged to attend an excellent family entertainment at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway, which can be found by following 11th Street west through the last roundabout.

Olympic Park gates will open at 5pm, with senior practice commencing at 5.45pm. Junior racing will start at 6.30pm, before a senior rider presentation will begin at 7.20pm, followed by racing action at 7.30pm.

A full catering service is available – no BYO by law – with some grandstand accommodation also available and chairs on the grassed areas encouraged.

More information is available by contacting 0419 174 225

Tweet This Post Post to Facebook