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Sidecars shoot it out

Posted on February 10, 2012

THE Mildura Sidecar Shootout will bring riders from throughout the southern States to contest the annual grudge match for the three -heeled warriors.

GIANT KILLERS: The ‘Dad’s Army’ combination of Chris Holmes and Neale Hancock will be a combination to watch after their performance at the Mildura round of the Sidecar Grand Slam. Photos: GHOST RIDER PHOTOGRAPHY.

Again, the Shootout has attracted some of the very best exponents of sidecar racing in Australia, with twice World Champions, Mick Headland and Paul Waters, heading the bill with the amazingly in-form Mark Mitchell and Tom Golding, who won their only Australian Sidecar Title at Mildura back in 2009, also well to the fore.

Joining the illustrious duo are all the stars of Mildura with Bradshaw/Behsmann, Gates/O’Loughlin, Monson/Morgan, the Cohrs brothers, Milner/Gates, Gates/Pearce and the giant killers of recent times, Chris Holmes/Neale Hancock, who raced so superbly in the Mildura Sidecar Grand Slam to take an A-final position as third top points scorers.

Former Queenslander and Mildurian, Rob Patterson, has Darcy Risstrom on the side and they will be joined by Radford/Putkunz from down south, who along with the young Curran/Walker team will wave the flag for the rest of Victoria.

The South Australian team of Damian Niesche/Jesse Headland are the new combination for this meeting, both riders bringing a wealth of experience with them.

Niesche will do well with former World Champion passenger, Jesse Headland along side.
Headland is probably the most mobile passenger of all as he is always moving his body to allow the machine to get maximum traction and manoeuvrability.

Newcomers to the Olympic Park line-up are some ‘next generation’ riders as Jason Hardy/Jeff Langdon will come from South Australia, with Hardy being the son of former great passenger, Rob Hardy.

The other combination are Victorians, Rick Curran and Chris Walker, who are the sons of Clint Curran and former Australian Champion, Jamie Walker, who rode so successfully with brother Ken to win their Australian Title mounted on a HRD Vincent.

Both the Hardy/Langdon and Curran/Walker teams have been itching to get a ride at Mildura for some time, as they remember from their dads how great it always was to race at Olympic Park.

These guys are no slouches when it comes to riding a sidecar machine very quickly and their genetic make-up is such that the throttle is positioned best when it is wide open.
Jastin Plaisted, after some great success as Darrin Treloar’s passenger for many years, has taken to the throttle on a machine of his own and has been riding with some success.

He is a late but welcome inclusion in the field. Plaisted is a man in a hurry who rides hard at times.

The team missing from the action in Saturday’s Shootout is local combination, Clint Mayes and Andrew Summerhayes, who had a big spill at Gillman in the Sidecar Grand Slam meeting last weekend.

Mayes/Summerhayes were left no room on the outside of the track and when hit by another rider, the Mayes machine went clear over the fence and landed on the grass outside the track.

Their machine and both rider and passenger were left sore and sorry and Mayes indicated to club officials that he would not be fit to ride in the Shootout, a meeting that he has always enjoyed and done well on the score card.

Patrons can expect to be entertained to the hilt, especially if the meeting follows on from the last occasion at Olympic Park, when fans were treated to an excellent meeting for the Grand Slam.

Once again riders will contest over 20 heats; the fairest format, and will then come to finals, which will encourage only the brave to venture to the line.

The fine line-up of Mildura-based talent always want to take it up to the visiting champions, especially the likes of Mitchell and Headland, who are always so ferocious on the track as they attack the corners with so much pace.

Observers believe that Mick Headland and Paul Waters carry more corner entry speed than any other sidecar team as they use the longer, by comparison, straights of Olympic Park to their advantage.

Mitchell/Golding, on the other hand, are so smooth off the line and get such positive drive that they are always positioned well when going into turn one on the very first lap.

Mitchell seems to be able to choose good lines from the exit of the turns and use his smooth delivery of power to get them an advantage before the first lap is very old.

On their day, any number of the Mildura riders can mix it and match it with the very best in the world and this weekend will be another opportunity for the locals to show their wares.

Gates/O’Loughlin, Bradshaw/Behsmann and Monson, now set with temporary passenger Morgan, could do anything at any time, but the ‘giant killers’ from their most recent outing are the Dad’s Army team of Holmes and Hancock, who just pegged away consistently during last meeting and finished the night with enough points, after beating the current World Champions fair and square, to take a nominated place in the A-final.

So elated are they, that this team is still telling people about their success and will conduct an audience with any patrons at any time.

The Cohrs brothers are always in contention and are just riding better together now that club vice president, Simon, has had some success with another rider in Chris Pascoe of Adelaide. Cohrs was formerly passenger with Jason Bradshaw, so he has taken up throttle duties with a wealth of experience in handling the tight situations which often arise at Olympic Park.

Don’t be surprised to see a very even middle of the field in the points scores, as we saw at the Grand Slam event, as so many of the riders just need a bit of good luck to travel with them and they can take valuable points from the more fancied riders.

Support events will again be some Classic Sidecars, who always show well for the crowd as they pilot their older machines around the circuit.

These guys will be using both this and the next meeting, the Annual Sidecar Spectacular, to sharpen up for the Ulysses Classic Speedway event to be held on Wednesday March 28 as part of the Ulysses Annual General Meeting, which will be held in Mildura from March 26 to April 1.

Olympic Park gates will open at 5pm, with senior practice starting at 5.45pm, a junior meeting to follow at 6.30pm and the rider presentations at 7.20pm. Racing set to commence at 7.30pm.

Olympic Park has full catering facilities and the club has reminded patrons that the no BYO law applies.

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