Excitement continues to build with just days to go before Mildura will get its best look ever at a tight International troupe of Sidecars who will compete at Olympic Park Speedway on Wednesday 16th November. All of Australia’s top riders have confirmed to ride the Mildura Challenge.
Those confirmed bookings of the World’s and Australia’s top Sidecar exponents will see the meeting as the best ever International meeting, seen at Mildura – a real opportunity for Sunraysia fans to see something quite different to our regular speedway meetings.
A four team tournament format will be used to decide the winning team on the night, with riders keen to carry their flag high against some tough opposition. Four machines will be engaged for each team and all riders will ride against each other over the twenty event heats.
The biggest highlight of the meeting will be from events seventeen to twenty, where the riders taking part in those heats will not be confirmed until after the finish of heat sixteen.
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 comes in the final four heats, where the riders from each team with the lowest points will ride against each other in heat seventeen. Heat eighteen 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 nineteen 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 twenty heats will decide the winning team of the night.
The facility for a “Joker” to be used in the early sixteen heats if a team is eight points in arrears, could also be used to keep the score line interesting for all fans. 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 where a Joker is utilised. 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 who have ridden Mildura in previous years and the most recent star of British sidecar speedway Roy Spreadbury, with his English passenger, Gareth Little, will fill the British team. Wilson is somewhat of an enigma in England and is most keen to add, “riding at Olympic Park, Mildura” to his list of things to do. Wilson did compete at Wayville in 2007, when the top Sidecar event in the world was for a “Gold Cup”. Last year Wilson finished second behind Mick and Jesse Headland to claim second place in the world. Cave, Spreadbury and Tyrrell will all have Australian passengers, so that local passenger knowledge will be of great assistance to the British team.
Team New Zealand has Buchanan, a visitor to Mildura last season, with his wife, Phillipa. They will be joined by fellow Kiwis, Dave Gannon and Les Plummer.
Buchanan / Burns proved to be good competition for Mildura regulars, so watch for them to use that experience to their best 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 rider 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 being joined by Chris Pascoe, who will have local rider and Mildura Club, Vice – President, Simon Cohrs, in the chair; as they were at the Australian Championships held at Gillman back in March of this year. 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 grueling 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. Late changes could also be made if there are any issues coming from the World Title on Saturday night at Murray Bridge.
Patrons are reminded that the Gates will open at 5:00pm sharp, with many fans expected to come to Olympic Park straight after work.
Riders briefing will be held at 5:30 before the start of Practice, which will be from 5:45 until 6:15. A Junior support meeting will be held from 6:30 until 7:15 with a riders parade commencing at 7:20. Senior racing will get under way at 7:30.
The meeting will be strictly scheduled and will be kept in motion, as any early finish is desired and expected, so as patrons can get home and then to work for Thursday.
Full catering will be available and patrons are reminded that there must be NO BYO by law.
