An adrenalin charged Warren Monson and Deven Gates, on a new concept race machine, stormed to a massive win in the 2011 North West Funerals – Sidecar Spectacular, at Olympic Park last night.

The Monson / Gates team was in scintillating form for the entire night, not beaten over their four heat rides, a semi-final and then the North West Funerals final to win the Keith “Curley” Carmes Trophy for the thirty-fourth running of the popular Mildura event.

The event lived up to the name of “Spectacular”, as the racing was superb on an excellent track. All riders were strong in their praise of the consistency of the surface which provided predictable grip and no dust for the entire night. Whilst the track had mostly sidecar events during the night a small field of solo riders took to the track and showed great skills in the “drivier” conditions. Classics, too were on song for the night.

Some wonderful contests were seen during the event where both Monson / Gates (12 points) and Jason Bradshaw / Steve Behsmann (11) dominated one division from teenage sensations, Dylan Blain / Aaron Stewart and O’Rourke / Mayes on countback from Radford / Stagg, while Queenslanders Scott Christopher / Trent Koppe (12) lead the other set from Gates / O’Loughlin (8) and Chris Holmes / Neale Hancock (8) with Kiwi visitors Andrew Buchanan / Phillipa Burns (7) and Mayes / Summerhayes being the other finalists.

Massive crowd support was out for the “Dad’s Army” team of Holmes / Hancock, who were keen to send a message to the MA selectors for leaving them out of the Australian Title Qualifier, when they went on a “Barnstorming” ride to success during the latter part of the night. They were particularly unlucky to have a race red – lighted” whilst they were leading over the Christopher / Koppe team and then again in the semi-final when they had had some wonderful racing, again against the Far North Queensland team and would have qualified first into the Carmes Trophy event, but for a small infield excursion on the last turn of the final lap of the semi. A gutted Holmes limped back to the pits wondering what could have been, although they should acknowledge that they were in fine company and had already done so well – the sport can sometimes be so cruel.

The large crowd enjoyed the racing for the whole night as there was action in every heat from the eighteen sidecars in the field. The Club is particularly grateful to Adelaide’s, Mark Mitchell and Broken Hill’s “Bart” Stephens for assisting getting some fill-in riders to take the vacancies in the program. Former Aussie Champ, Gary Moon, was flood locked in Townsville and had to be replaced and the young Headland brothers had machinery issues in their race preparation.

The best sidecar team to come from New Zealand in Buchanan and Burns continued to impress with some excellent racing. The team enjoyed the opportunity to practice informally at Mildura last Wednesday night and then at Gillman last Thursday night.

The NZ couple were full of praise for Mildura having a dedicated motorcycle track and one where racing and racecraft was able to be practiced. They were glowing in their praise too, of the excellent preparation of the track for such a heavy amount of traffic and said that they could get drive all the way around the Olympic Park circuit. The Kiwis have declared that they will be back and will base themselves in Mildura again next season in a bid to improve NZ Sidecar speedway by just racing against the best, whenever they can.

The night’s racing was chock full of incidents, with some riders suffering machine problems, or in some cases terminal engine issues, as was the case with Mildura’s top team of Byren Gates and Mick O’Loughlin. The “Gater Racing” machine came to an instant stop when the engine destroyed itself when Gates was part way down the back straight. The instant loss of momentum saw Gates veer slightly to the right, a natural reaction and was clipped by Munro / Gates coming past just slightly to Gates’ inside, sending the Gates and O’Loughlin combo into the air and a big fall. After First aid attention the score line was, bodies fine, engine – bad.

Another sad “out” for the night was with visiting four times national Champion, Glenn O’Brien and Aaron Maynard from Perth, who suffered a blown head gasket whilst leading in their second heat ride for the night. A very apologetic O’Brien addressed the large Mildura crowd, telling them that he would be a regular competitor at Olympic Park next season with his rejuvenated team and that the Olympic Park track holds a very special place in the O’Brien family’s hearts, as he just loves to race at the very testing venue.

Perhaps O’Brien and Gates are fortunate that their mechanical woes have occurred just two weeks before Championship time rather that at either the Qualifying meeting on Friday 25th March or at the Championship meeting on Saturday 26th March. Fill in rider, Shane Evans and Alan Gale were also the victims of “gremlins” during the day as they blew a trailer tyre on the way to Mildura and then had some mechanical issues causing them to also withdraw from the last half of the meeting.

Monson, a race mechanic by profession has been working on a different firing configuration for his one litre, four cylinder machine, which effectively turns the four cylinder engine in to a “big banger” twin, as is now used in some World Superbike racing. The Monson machine shows incredible torque characteristics and drives so positively from the turns, that it has taken Monson and passenger Gates, in particular, some weeks of trials to come to terms with the huge power which is so readily and sometimes, instantly available.

The Keith “Curley” Carmes event was always going to be a hot event with Monson winning the toss from Christopher and selecting the inside gate position. The Queensland pair, who have been away from serious racing for more than two months due to the regular FNQ flooding and bad weather of the top of Queensland, selected the second gate position. The Kiwis chose the number three gate, leaving local stars, Bradshaw and Behsmann, to the outside position.

Once the start was affected there was the regular “final type”, close riding and jostling for position, going into turn one, although Bradshaw at fourth, realizing that there might be no way through, switched back to the inside of the track from his wide start position. Some nudging amongst all riders then trapped Bradshaw, perhaps not unfairly, into an infield excursion which left him on the centre green and out of the race. Christopher got a marginally better start than Monson and lead into turn two, although the latter had amazing acceleration from turn two and by the start of turn three was in command of the event. Monson continued to dominate, even though Christopher chased hard and extending his lead with every drive from every turn.

The Monson machine certainly looks the goods with the way it delivers the power to the ground. The noise is also quite distinctive as it does just sound like a massive ‘twin” cylinder with that guttural growl as it tears at the ground.

Monson fully deserved his win and celebrated the awarding of the “Curley” Carmes Trophy, presented to them by Curley’s great grandson, Bradley, who made the presentation on behalf of the family and in front of family matriarch, Betty.

Solo action showed good racing with all riders showing skills and determination on a track that was deeper than what they would normally ride.

The spoils were shared amongst Brenton Barnfield, Rob Medson and Chris Ferguson, who has made a return to racing. All solo heats were strongly fought with all riders showing improvement as they learned to cope with the conditions. This small group are keen to learn and keener to gain experience in all conditions, which is a switch from some of their more experienced International colleagues.

The rider of the night, however, was the youngest rider in the field, just having his second senior ride, in Sean Peterson, who was still grieving from the passing of his great grandfather, the late centenarian, Ray Slade, from Merbein. The young Peterson rode with a heavy heart, but would have well pleased his “Pop” with the effort which he showed.

Classic sidecars again put on a good show, with Dale Milner, with Rex Byrne on side being the best with a ten point haul. Brodie Gebhart / Mick Powell on seven, were next from Tim Byrne / Adon Pearce, who finished just one point in arrears. Visitors Graham Rowley / Terry Hutchinson were outclassed by the locals, who are getting plenty of practice and plenty of rides.

Next meeting at Olympic Park will be the “Atlas Sheds – Mildura Sidecar Masters to be held on Saturday 2nd April. Again Club organisers are expecting full fields to nominate, especially with some of the northerners, who will be returning home after the Australian Titles which will be held in Adelaide in a fortnight. As the Mildura Club has such a strong contingent of quality of Sidecars a great meeting is expected for the final meeting of the year.

Easter too, brings the Easter Arena Motorcross as part of the Mildura Easter Power Sports promotion. Olympic Park will host the Arena Motorcross, under lights, on Easter Saturday night, 23rd April.

Written by Brendon Gledhill

Download the Press Release: POST – 2011 NWFunerals – Sidecar Speccy 120311

A capacity field will contest the 34th running of the North West Funerals – Mildura Sidecar Spectacular at Mildura’s Olympic Park, on Saturday night.

The massive eighteen team contest will be run with the winners to receive the Keith “Curley” Carmes Trophy, a prestigious award for the longest running, non -Title speedway meeting in the country.

Past Australian Champions, Glenn O’Brien, from Perth and Queenslanders, Gary Moon and Scott Christopher / Trent Koppe are all engaged as well as State Champions in Byren Gates, Jason Bradshaw and current Victorian Champions, Warren Monson / Deven Gates, who will all use the Olympic Park meeting as their primary hit out before the Australian Championship to be held in just two weeks time.

All States are present in the entry list, which represents one of the strongest fields put together for a Sidecar Spectacular in many years. Mildura Club officials had difficulty in making the final selection and format, given that the field was so even.

Pressure will be on all eighteen teams right from the outset as in each set of nine teams, only the top four will race off for a position in the North West Funerals Final, where only two teams from each division will make it into the main event.

Last week’s Sidecar Shootout was the precursor for this week’s Spectacular, as the field is considerably stronger, especially with the in – form, Glenn O’Brien making a welcome return to Mildura by popular demand. O’Brien has resumed his Sidecar career after a few years of lay off. The spark which has re-ignited O’Brien’s passion is possibly the chance to now win a World Championship in Sidecar Speedway which was only imagined when O’Brien retired. O’Brien is in charge of a very professional outfit, with the team travelling from WA to Adelaide and Mildura each week prior to the Australian Title meeting, to get the track craft back on edge, with a hope to add another Australian Title to his already full mantle.

Moon too, is in great form and like O’Brien, he covers massive distance to play his sport. Moon was one of the first riders to ever go to England. He took Sidecar speedway to the UK back in the 1990’s, just after he won his Australian Championship.

Fellow banana benders, Scott Christopher ./ Trent Koppe, have also been long term travelers, but living in Townsville and Cairns, that is part of the accepted fate of living so far north. They are making a heafty start to their 2011 Australian Championship assault by riding into the Mildura Spectacular as their first key meeting for a little while.

One should never discount the very fast, Warren Monson / Deven Gates. Monson has been playing with a new machinery concept, which sees him riding a brutish Suzuki machine, altered by crankshaft design, to have his four cylinder engine operate as a massive compression, “twin” cylinder machine. Monson has learned well from his vocation as mechanic for Team Suzuki in Australian Superbike racing, where he has spannered for Shawn Giles and this year for Mildura’s Josh Waters team mate, Troy Herfoss. This inside knowledge has made many sidecar stalwarts sit up and take plenty of notice of the usually quiet, except for when he is on the race track – Monson.

Byren Gates / Mick O’Loughlin have been in good recent form, taking second place in each of the Victorian and NSW Titles for this year and Byro having a great night last week when he, with brother Deven, took second place behind Mark Mitchell / Tom Golding in the Shootout final. Jason Bradshaw / Steven Behsmann and Andrew O’Rourke / Jason Mayes are not without chances nor is Clint Mayes / Andrew Summerhayes, after a good third place last week in strong company. The Headland brothers, Trent and Jess have taken some significant scalps, including that of Trent’s father-in – law, Glenn O’Brien at their most recent outing at Gillman.

Our Kiwi visitors, Andrew Buchanan / Phillipa Burns showed good skills last week, only to have their chances curtailed by mechanical problems once they had been tipped over in a contest. They have shown to be the best team to come to Mildura from the land of the Long White Cloud and have been like sponges soaking up information and track advice from the local riders in the Pits last weekend. It is pleasing to see folk who are prepared to travel to better themselves and “Spud” and Phillipa make no secret that they are here to learn and take back skills and set up information to their homeland.

Another team who will be very interesting to watch are the teenage Queenslanders, Dylan Blain / Aaron Stewart, who are sure footed and smooth on their machine. Blain, while now resident of Townsville has strong connections to Mildura as his grandfather, John Blain is a former Mayor of Mildura City. The Blain and Stewart families travel countless miles in their search for improvement. It is predicted that they are future Australian Champions and their present skills demonstrate that it may well be true. The youngsters have ridden at Gillman already this season, getting in some valuable practice ready for the Nationals later this month.

Munro / Yetman, Holmes / Hancock, Milner / Gates and the Cohrs brothers, Simon and Mark, are more local teams who will take good points off good riders, such is the nature of the racing format. Broken Hill’s Ricky Stephens / Dean Hobbs and last week’s semi finalist, Mark Radford / Matt Putkins, are also not without their chances. Patterson / Gawne are a new combination although, they did podium at the Victorian Title at Broadford a few weeks ago.

Great support will again be provided by a keen group of Solo riders, who entertained us well last week. SA rider Rob Medson, will resume his battle with Brenton Barnfield and last week’s first timer Sean Peterson, who made a splendid debut taking a win and a second place in his first night of competition, with local rider Chris Ferguson making a come back to the track after some time away.

Classic Sidecars will again see themselves as the feature event on the program. This collection of “gentlemen” enjoy their riding to the full, with their satisfaction only being exceeded by their enthusiasm for riding their older machinery and mixing good racing with lots of fun.

Gates will open at 5:00pm, with Senior Practice set to start at 600pm. A junior meeting will follow, although it will be much reduced as many riders will be in Gippsland for a junior meeting there. The North West Funerals  – Sidecar Spectacular will get under way at 7:30 sharp, with patrons being reminded that there must be No BYO by law. Olympic Park has a full catering service with great food and hot and cold drinks.

Written by Brendon Gledhill

Download the Press Release: PRE – 2011 NW Funerals Sidecar Spectacular 090311

2009 Australian Sidecar champions, Mark Mitchell and Tom Golding, blasted their way through strong opposition to win the Dudley Bradshaw Trophy and take the prize in the 2011 Riordan’s Paint & Panel Sidecar Shootout at Olympic Park on Saturday night.

The Birdwood, SA, based pair rode solidly all night qualifying highest in their group of seven teams, but just on countback from fellow SA riders Damien Niesche / Jack Spear and Mal German / Sean Colby, with locals Clint Mayes / Andrew Summerhayes taking the last chance into the semi-final.

In the other set of seven, Andrew O’Rourke / Jason Mayes topped the score from Jason Bradshaw / Steven Behsmann on countback from Byren Gates, with brother Deven on side and Mark Radford / Matt Putkins in the fourth qualifying place.

Some excellent riding was seen during the course of the heats, with NZ visitors, Andrew Buchanan / Phillipa Burns enjoying their first ever outing, riding in Australia.

The Buchanan / Burns team were very tidy and soaked up the atmosphere and information gleaned from fellow riders, saying that they totally enjoyed their experience and rated Olympic Park as the best track that they had ever ridden.

Hard but clean racing was the order of the night as all teams gave no quarter and provided some wonderful entertainment to the good crowd in attendance.

As was expected the last three events were the features of the night, with the first semi-final making an impact right before the start when one of the night’s fast men, Niesche, could hear an engine noise immediately when the machine was “bump” started. Niesche and his crew worked on the bike for the full two minutes allowed, but on restart the machine still had the bad noise. Niesche decided that the race was not worth blowing an engine so, withdrew from the start.

Mitchell made good from his inside gate start and lead the hard charging Mal German for just over half the race. Local tea, Mayes / Summerhayes, had been closely watching the German lines for the entire journey and when German drifted slightly wide on the corner due to high entry speed, the wily Mayes was able to duck underneath and take the second place, which would mean a place in the Riordan’s Paint & Panel final for the night. The partisan crowd, roared their approval of every good move made by the locals and were generous in their applause for good track work shown by any of the teams.

The second of the semis was also not without drama, as right from the start it was obvious that there would be no quarter given, especially as there were our top three local tams fighting for just two spots in the main event.

The tapes flew and O’Rourke, Bradshaw and Gates all moved together, with Bradshaw, between O’Rourke and Gates, just lifting slightly from the line. When his machine came down it clipped Gates’ machine putting Bradshaw slightly off angle, which then took him to the infield and out of the race. Bradshaw maybe expected a race stoppage, but he was deemed to have contributed to his own demise. Gates made the best of the start and went on the take the event, although O’Rourke chased very hard as though it was the main final.

The next point of interest was the toss of coin and gate selection for the main final, where Gates selected correctly and took the inside gate position. Toss loser, Mitchell, then made the bold step of selecting the outside gate with his choice, leaving the two second placed semi-finalists to pick between gates two and three.

Gates flew from the start ahead of Mitchell who stayed wide on the track, while Mayes consolidated in third, with O’Rourke, who nearly lost passenger Mayes, then charging from behind. By half race distance, O’Rourke had picked up Mayes and set out to chase Mitchell, who was gathering a lot of momentum. Gates meanwhile was looking good, even though his regular, and very lightweight passenger was replaced by brother Deven and they continued on riding good lines.

Mitchell, however, who is a meticulous planner of events and circumstances, was positioning himself to jump whenever Gates allowed a small space in which Mitchell could fit. Mitchell and passenger, Tom Golding, have an uncanny understanding and communication of where to be and what to do and this final was no exception. Mitchell was able to just muscle in on Gates, when Gates was just half a bike width off the inside line. Mitchell carried excellent corner speed and put his nose right beside Gates and then the advantage went to Mitchell as they raced into the straight again.

Once Mitchell had established his lead Gates was not able to retaliate, nor were Mayes, who finished in third or O’Rourke at the rear. Mitchell enjoyed his well planned win and was congratulated infield by “Noddy” Riordan and delighted to win the beautifully presented, Dudley Bradshaw trophy from the family.

Solo support was great, with a wonderful debut to youngster, Sean Peterson, who picked up a good second place and then a win in his opening meeting. Best on the night was SA visitor, Rob Medson, who showed that his efforts to travel to many tracks and not be scared of any of them, was paying dividends already. Medson has benefitted from a couple of good outings as a reserve in the recent Australian Solo Titles. He is a good watcher and listener and is reaping the rewards of his learning and humility.

Classic Sidecars were also classic in the meeting with some wonderful challenges being thrown to stalwarts, Roly Paver / Rex Byrne, especially from Byrnes’ son Tim, with Mick Powell and Brodie Gebhart / Adon Pearce, who both worked hard as they each rode the top division as well as the classic supports.

The night was not without some potential drama, as Corey Gates / Adon Pearce just clipped the fence with their sidecar wheel coming down the back straight and flipped and cartwheeled down the straight. A big fall, especially to Gates, saw immediate Ambulance attention given to both men, with Gates being the recipient of a lengthier first aid. Thankfully both rider and passenger got up and walked back to the pits unaided. The Gates machine was badly damaged in the many cartwheels before coming to a stop near the fence.

An interested spectator in the Olympic Park crowd last night was also, current and first ever World Sidecar Speedway Champion, Mick Headland and his new wife Karine. Mick’s passenger, Paul Waters, is having his operation this week to remove the steel work from his leg, which was the result of their big crash last year at the home track of our current NZ visitors.

Mick is letting his sons, Trent and Jess, get back together for their tilt at the Australian championship in three weeks time and will wait himself until Paul is fine to ride. Headland senior has been seeded directly into the 2011 Australian Title as the current World Champion.

Action will continue at Olympic Park in just a week’s time as the Club will conduct the North West Funerals – 2011 Sidecar Spectacular, which will be jam packed with Australian Champions and those who are contenders for this year’s Australian Title which will be held at Gillman, Adelaide on the 25th and 26th March. The Sidecar Spectacular is the longest running, non title meeting in Australian Speedway and has drawn entries from the best riders ever in three wheeled speedway in Australia and overseas.

Glenn O’Brien, four times Australian Champion and still track record holder at Mildura is back, by popular demand as is former Champ, Gary Moon from Queensland. O’Brien has made a massive and very professional return to the sport, travelling from his WA base now with a very young and talented passenger and big ”Slim” back on the spanners.. The advent of a possible World Title is obviously part of the reason for O’Brien’s return, but Australian sidecar speedway is all the better for one of the hardest chargers ever in the game to make a comeback.

Joining this talented field will be a lad with strong Mildura roots in sixteen year old, Dylan Blain / Aaron Stewart. Blain is the grandson of former Mildura Mayor, John Blain and is already touted as the future of Australian Sidecar speedway. Blain has graduated from Juniors and straight onto the massive one litre machine. Returning too, will be NZ pair of Buchanan / Burns, who will be better for their ride last night. Mechanical problems lead to their early retirement, but they looked the best of any NZ visitors of the past.

Written by Brendan Gledhill

Download the Press Release: POST – 2011 Riordan’s Sidecar Shootout, 060311

Despite some rumours to the contrary on several internet chat lines and some uninformed local advertising, there will be no speedway at Olympic Park this weekend, 19^th February.

The NSW Sidecar Titles had to be fitted in before the running of the Australian Sidecar Championship late in March, so Mildura Club moved our February 19 date, now to be held on Saturday 2^nd April, with the NSW Title being held in Broken Hill this Saturday night.

This Broken Hill meeting will be well worth visiting, as it is chock full of NSW stars, who will enjoy the wide expanses of racing at the 400 metre Silver City circuit.

Rain water in our gully at Olympic Park, from the recent heavy storms of 2 weeks ago, has also influenced our decision. The rising river has also increased the level of the “water table” under the track and Club surrounds.

Patrons are reminded of the remaining SIDECAR events which will be the Clubs focus until seasons end.

Saturday 5^th March – “RIORDAN’S PAINT n PANEL”– SIDECAR SHOOTOUT

Saturday 12^th March – “NORTH WEST FUNERALS”  — SIDECAR SPECTACULAR

Saturday 2^nd April  — “ATLAS SHEDS” — MILDURA SIDECAR MASTERS

The Club is delighted to have such valuable sponsors on board to assist with the running of these meeting, which are each side of the 2011 Australian Sidecar Championships, which will be held at GILLMAN Speedway, with Qualifying on 25^th March and the Individual Title on 26^th March. A planned Under 16 Sidecar Title is planned for Sunday 27^th March at Sidewinders.

Solid sponsorship, like the Club has with the “Coomealla Memorial Sporting Club” for our National Title event is vital and ensures the proper conduct of our meetings.

Entries for all these abovementioned Sidecar events are going through the roof, with riders from all over Australian wanting to participate both before the Titles, to get race fit and then after the Title, with some riders catching an extra meeting on their way home after the Titles.

Written by Brendon Gledhill

Download the Press Release: POSTPONE Shootout PRESS RELEASE 160211

In what could have only been described as the most difficult meeting ever staged at Mildura’s Olympic Park, dual World Under 21 Champion, Darcy Ward, from Queensland won the Coomealla Memorial Sporting Club, Australian Solo Title final round and Defending Champion, Chris Holder, held on the take his third consecutive National crown in a meeting whai was a poor one for him.

The meeting was marred by track consistency issues which were a result of “over watering” of the track surface during the many hours prior to the meeting, with Club officials being influenced by the hot conditions than may have been necessary.

The track was in need of some drying out in one corner, as too much water was under the track, which caused an unacceptable delay in the start time for the event.

Club officials were embarrassed with both the delay and the cause for the delay, which left patrons wondering what was happening, as clearly, the track was being constantly groomed to try to rid the soil profile of dampness. Referee, Dave Mills, from Sydney maintained a composure which demonstrated his long experience in the sport. Mills, at all times kept a mind on the requirements of the riders and the need for the meeting to progress.

Once the meeting started, it was obvious that conditions still were not suitable for good and safe racing, with some riders coming down in the offending turn, turn one. Further track work was ordered.

Finally the meeting got under way, with officials being most mindful of rider safety and thankfully, whilst some riders did hit the deck, they did so without major issues or injuries.

The eventual Title winner, Chris Holder, had a night of very mixed fortunes, as he was only able to manage a seven point score line for eleventh place overall.

Form rider on the night was Darcy Ward, who was only beaten by local star, Justin Sedgmen during the heats, but that was in the last heat of the night, when Ward’s place as first rider into the “A” final was assured.

Second top points for the Coomealla event, was Rory Schlein, who finished two points in arrears of Ward, but two points ahead of each of Kozza Smith, Ty Proctor and Cameron Woodward. It was Woodward who took the third place available in the main final on countback, with the other two tied riders needing to ride the “B” final, where only the winner would progress to the night’s main event.

Justin Sedgmen and Englishman, Kyle Newman were the last two into the secondary final and turned out to be the two to watch. Sedgmen got away well to take an early lead, which he consolidated, only to be attacked by the young English rider in the last lap. Newman moved Sedgmen wide in the final bend and made a better sprint to the line, to leave Sedgmen fifth place for the night.

The main event, was finally started, well after midnight, saw Ward get away from both Woodward and Schlein, who just headed Newman, until a coming together in lap three resulted in Newman tumbling down the track from about the start line down towards turn one. It seemed as though he may not have been left much room by the SA rider, Schlein, but the race was stopped and Newman was excluded from the re-run.

Ward again got away easily and went on to win comfortably from Woodward and Schlein.

The good result for Ward, also had further ramifications, in that Ward’s first place on the night, combined with the experienced, Davey Watt’s poor return for the night, left both Queenslanders on even points after the four Championship rounds. A run-off was required to decide overall second place for the Championship, even though the meeting was running well after the normal Mildura finish time.

Ward continued his good form of the night, by dispatching Watt into third place.

Watt was the rider most affected by his low points return, as he, like Holder, only finished with seven points for the Mildura meeting.

A good points return, combined with the low points of Holder, could have seen Watt take his first ever Australian Title as he could have swallowed up the points buffer which Holder took into the meeting. Watt later lamented his lost opportunity, but congratulated his Grand Prix colleague Holder, on his win, saying that he was not able to put pressure on the small points buffer which Holder took into the meeting.

Sadly for Watt, it wasn’t to be and he had to settle for third place behind each of his Poole team mates, Chris Holder, who now has three consecutive Titles, with Ward in second, Watt third and Schlein in fourth.

The three Mildura riders, Cameron Woodward, Cory Gathercole and Justin Sedgmen finished in fifth, sixth and seventh places respectively in the overall Championship.

Mildura Club apologises to our many valued patrons and sponsors and assures speedway fans,  that lessons are learned and the a repeat of the failure of the Club to provide good conditions does not continue.

Written by Brendan Gledhill

Download the Press Release: PRESS RELEASE – POST Aust Title 310111

SATURDAY 29^TH JANUARY 2011

With just five days to go before the 2011 Australian Solo Speedway Titles come to a head at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway, the Club advises that there are no issues with FLOODING to the grounds of the Olympic Park circuit. There is NO RISK to the meeting going on !

The level of the Murray River adjacent to the famous track is still within its banks and the Club is monitoring the situation well ahead of the expected “high river peak” at Mildura in some weeks time. The Club does not expect any issues at that time, given the Club’s long history at the Olympic Park site and our understanding of the river.

Heavy rains this season have caused the Mildura Club to postpone some meetings already, due to water lying in the Club grounds, but quick action with pumps can alleviate that situation very quickly. Car parking for patrons is always of concern when we get heavy rains, but flood activity will not stop the final round of the Title series from being held.

A contingency plan has been worked through by Club officials so rest assured “there will be a cracker meeting” for the Coomealla Memorial Sporting Club – 2011 Australian Solo Championship on SATURDAY 29^th January.

COOMEALLA MEMORIAL SPORTING CLUB – 2011 AUSTRALIAN SOLO TITLE

Gates open: 3:00pm

Sign on and Scrutineering: 3:30pm – 5:00pm

Practice: 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Riders briefing: 6:45pm

Rider Introduction and Parade: 7:15pm

Racing starts: 7:30pm

Tickets

Adult $25

Children (12years to Under 16 years) $15

Family $65

Children under 12 years FREE

Program $5

There is no need to pre purchase tickets

Excellent Grandstand accommodation is available on a “first come – first served” basis.

We ask that no chairs be placed on grandstands please.

For more information contact:

Brendon Gledhill

Ph: 03 5027 4225

Mob: 0419 174 225

Email: gledhill@hotkey.net.au

Download the Press Release: Website Press – Pre CMSC 2011 Aust Solo Title _Flood info_

Mildura speedway fans who had their enthusiasm for the sport re-kindled by an amazing Leigh Adams Testimonial; meeting last Wednesday, will be disappointed to learn that the current spate of wet weather has taken toll of the surrounds at Mildura’s Olympic Park forcing Mildura Motor Cycle Club to cancel the meeting scheduled for this Saturday night, 15^th January.

Club Secretary, Brendon Gledhill, in announcing the cancellation, said that “the Club regretted having to cancel a meeting which would have kept the impetus of great speedway leading up the Final round of the 2011 Australian Championships, which will be held here on Saturday 29^th January”. It is a great pity, as the meeting concentrated on some excellent Sidecar nominations and fans would come back in droves just to see the Sidecars, some of whom rode at the Testimonial meeting”, Gledhill said.

“The Club has a very busy month, as does Australian speedway in general. The Club would not  re-schedule the meeting to compete with the second round of the Australian Title, which will be held in Adelaide next Saturday night, 22^nd January. We then have Round three up in Broken Hill on Australia Day, 26^th January, with the final round back in Mildura on the 29^th January,” Gledhill added.

The most likely scenario was that the meeting would be added into the Club calendar, perhaps sometime in March, although there are some significant Sidecar focused events during that month as well.

Sunraysia speedway fans will need to keep in touch with Club announcements for the new schedule for this meeting.

Gledhill said “that the Club believed that an early cancellation was in order, given the rain up until Thursday morning and the predictions of further rains to come”. The Club surrounds would be much better left undisturbed as the Club is mindful that more rain is predicted.

Download the Press Release Written by Brendon Gledhill: Cancel – 15th January meeting

A second attempt will be made to get the two young visiting Swedish riders onto Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway this coming Sunday night, the 12^th December, when Mildura Motor Cycle Club re-runs the meeting which was postponed, due to poor conditions two weeks ago.

Club officials are hoping that the recent rains of last fortnight and again this week, will abate and allow the second meeting scheduled for the Mildura season to be conducted.

The Swedish pair, Pontus Apsgren and Ricky Kling, were due to have their next ride in Queensland, but have been able to stay in Mildura, as the guests of the Sedgmen family, to fulfill their duties in the “A” grade solo division, which will include both Sedgmen brothers, Ryan and Justin, as well as the “in-form” Brenton Barnfield and fellow local Tom Hedley. The four Mildura boys can hold their own in any company, so Mildura patrons will be keen to see how they all go against some additional first class opposition. This grade of racing will be exciting as the visitors, who are accomplished riders, come to terms with the tight corners of Olympic Park against the home ground advantage of the three Mildura Club members. Patrons again are expecting big things in the future from the newest contingent of local riders, so the pace will be furious right from the start of proceedings.

As usual the Mildura Sidecar competition will be savage, especially as last week’s filed will now be bolstered by the addition of the very fast Warren Monson / Deven Gates combination. Monson was on Australian Superbike duty last week with the conduct of a significant Six hour Endurance at Phillip Island, which had all three Waters brothers, Josh, Brodie and Nick, working hard on the bitumen.

Byrne Gates / Mick O’Loughlin have fixed their overheating problems of the Opening meet and Jason Bradshaw, with new passenger, Steve Behsmann will be looking to not dropping their guard against Bradshaw’s former passenger, in Simon Cohrs, who now rides with his brother Mark in the chair. The Cohrs combination scored a significant second placing in their first meeting ahead of the former Victorian Champion and celebrated long and hard in front of an amused and rejoicing crowd on the back straight of Olympic Park. Cohrs has always been a jovial individual and does know how to celebrate, but maybe the gloves could be off in the future as all of the Mildura riders fine tune their machines and their performance in readiness for the major Title meetings which will be on all participants earlier than they think.

The “Dad’s Army” team of Chris Holmes and Neale Hancock are riding into fine form, as are the “never give in” team of Andrew O’Rourke and Jason Mayes. The “Rooky” has taken some good scalps in the last two seasons and is looking for bigger things in 2011.

Clint Mayes, with new passenger, Andrew Summerhayes, have a great start for a new combination at the season Opener, coming home in third place overall. Mayes always has fast machinery and the new team already looks to have matters sorted trackside.  Dale Milner / Nick O’Brien are also a consistent pair, although they will have worked hard, with Bryan Gathercole to right any possible wrongs possibly caused to their machinery by their “off highway” sojourn last Saturday night. After the Renmark meeting they hit an unexpected wall of water over the Sturt Highway just west of Merbein South. Gathercole’s vehicle came to a very abrupt stop in the floodwaters, but not before having the trailer “jack-knifing” and facing both vehicle and trailer back the way from whence they came; the bikes obviously having a wild ride.

Wheat farmers, Scott and Kane Munro, will not be engaged in harvesting their now ruining crop so will be keen to just get trackside and have some fun. The Munro boys are solid performers, who always take good points off sometimes more fancied teams due to just being consistent on the track.

Corey Gates and Adon Pearce had to wait two extra weeks for their Olympic Park debut, but the breeding is such that Corey will not be troubled either by the wait, nor the competition company that the team will be riding against.

The Quads section has been most entertaining over the last two seasons, but now Olympic Park fans are being treated to some fine performances as the riders are fine tuning suspension and engines to the anti clockwise way of going on the track. Three generations of the Mills family are engaged in the four wheeled division and will mix it hard amongst the eight quads in the field. The Quads guys will ride Handicap events all night, with the feature race being a “Black flag” race to end their night. The format of the black flag race is that after a few laps, the rider at rear of field then is excluded with the black flag, until there is only one rider remaining, who is the winner.

Olympic Park gates will open at 5:00pm, with a Junior meeting to start at 6:15pm, following senior practice. The senior meeting will commence at 7:30 pm sharp.

The Club advises that there is a full catering service provided and that there must be No BYO by law.

Written by Brendon Gledhill

Download the press release: SECOND TRY FOR SWEDES

Two young Swedish riders will race at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway this coming Sunday night, testing themselves against Mildura’s top local “A” grade solo riders.

The young Swedes are, Pontus Aspgren, from the well known speedway city of Avesta and Ricky Kling, from Virserum.  Kling is currently a team mate of Cam Woodward at the Eastbourne “Eagles”, having ridden British Elite League for the last three seasons, firstly with Oxford, then Lakeside, before moving south to Eastbourne. He has also been a past member of the successful Swedish Junior Speedway team, taking a podium place in the World Under 21 Teams Championships back in 2008. Kling has established himself as a good rider in the top flight in British League as well as riding in both the Swedish and Polish Leagues over the last three years.

Aspgren, the younger of the two boys at age nineteen, is already a well travelled rider, having ridden in Swedish league for Marsarna and in Poland for Lublin during last season. Aspgren was fourth in the World 80cc Speedway Title in 2007, held that year in Poland. He will move to the strong Vastervik Club in Swedish League for this year.

Riding in the top grade this week against these Internationals will be locals, Brenton Barnfield, Tom Hedley and the Sedgmen brothers, Ryan and Justin. Justin Sedgmen shared the top points from last week’s first Olympic Park meeting and will be looking for similar form this week, while Ryan will be trying to gather points for himself as will Barnfield, who showed great class at the season opener last week. Barnfield was late to start last season due to a football injury, but has picked up plenty of good reaction skills and last week was probably the most improved rider on the track holding some good race lines in his events. Tom Hedley was just a whisker behind the top two last week and will be keen to atone for his risky manoeuvre from the final solo event.

The six “A” grade riders will fight out over heats and finish with a final to decide the winner on the night.

“B” grade solos will again be involved, with two riders from last week; grade winner, Chris Ferguson and Brock Gates, up against a couple of visiting riders in Ben Turner, who visited from Adelaide last week and John Doolan, who has not raced at Mildura before.

Again the Sidecars at Mildura go from strength to strength, with another strong field in action and also another new Sidecar team being added to the extensive list of Mildura based competitors.

Corey Gates, with passenger Adon Pearce, becomes another member of the famous Gates speedway dynasty to grace the Olympic Park track. Corey, the son of Les and Ann, has three wheeled blood coursing through his veins. Gates and Pearce have has some success riding Dirt Track sidecars, where the direction is anti-clockwise and the sidecar is on the left hand side, but have now turned to the regular speedway or the clockwise way of going, with the chair on the right hand side. Versatility will come easy to Corey, who has ridden for many years, but will break out on Olympic Park for the first time in serious competition.

A meeting under the belt to the new combinations, Clint Mayes, with Andrew Summerhayes, who finished a creditable third overall last week and Jason Bradshaw, now with Steve Behsmann, will see them better for their first outings together. Ouyen brothers, Scott and Kane Munro, along with locals, Dale Milner with Nick O’Brien, who were missing last week, will add to the mix of competition. The Holmes / Hancock combination are always up for a contest, as are Andrew O’Rourke / Jason Mayes, with Byren Gates / Mick O’Loughlin looking to solve their overheating problems of last week and score good points.

Olympic Park patrons were buoyed by the first up performance of the Cohrs brothers, Simon, on the throttle and Mark in the chair. The experience of Simon, who previously passengered for former State Champion, Jason Bradshaw, showed through, as he worked his way steadily into a good position in most events, even taking a second place over his former rider. Humour has always been a large part of the Cohrs repertoire and the large crowd at last weeks meeting enjoyed the jest shown by Cohrs to Bradshaw when the latter was well beaten into third place by the newcomers. Such a spirit of camaraderie is enjoyed amongst the fraternity.

Once again the Sidecar division is so even amongst the competitors that the programmer has chosen to run all the Sidecars together in a series of heats and a final to decide the overall winner.

Support too, has been heavy from the Quad division, which just grows exponentially, with more machines being added to the field since last week. This meeting will see a full field of eight machines contesting over a series of handicap events, which will add to patron’s enjoyment.

Again the three generations of the Mills family will have some serious say in who does what to whom, but be prepared for plenty of action, as back markers look to move through the field over their five lap journeys from their particular handicap positions.

A special feature of the program for Quads will be a “black flag” race to conclude the night, where after a set period of laps, the rider who is in last place will be eliminated lap by lap until only one rider remains. Tactics will play an important part in this event and will create much interest for fans and riders alike. The benefit of having larger entry numbers means that different types of racing can be included on the program, such as the “black flag” concept.

Classic Sidecars will again be a good feature of the program, with the many machines from the Bryan Gathercole stable being readied for action. A family commitment took the Milner boys away from Olympic Park action last week, but they will be back with a vengeance for this week’s competition.

Gates will open at the regular 5:30pm and patrons can expect action on the track from 6:00pm for Practice, followed by a Junior meeting, with Senior racing set to start from 7:30 sharp. Olympic Park has a full catering service and patrons are advised that there must be No BYO by law.

Next speedway meeting at Olympic Park will be the Leigh Adams Testimonial, to be held on WEDNESDAY 5^th January 2011 where we will see top International and the best of the Australian riders all paying tribute to the great career of Leigh Adams. Joining them will beone of the “best ever”, the great Tony Rickardsson, 6 times World Speedway Champion, who will be in Mildura to pay tribute to Leigh.

Written by Brendan Gledhill

Download the Press Release: PRE – Meeting #2 281110

Bike speedway will kick off with a great ”first up” program at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway this Saturday night, where the action will be hot for Solos, Sidecars, Quads and Classic Sidecars.

Excellent entries have been received for the program, which will see the Senior meeting get under way with racing scheduled to start at 7:30 pm.

A strong field of Sidecars will face the “tapes” with some regular stalwarts, including the successful Byren Gates / Mick O’Loughlin combination, the “revamped and redesigned Dad’s Army” team of Chris Holmes and Neale Hancock, Wazza Monsoon / Deven Gates, former Australian Sidecar Champs, Mark Mitchell / Tom Golding and Andrew O’Rourke / Jason Mayes completing the “old guard”.

New combinations this season will be former Victorian Champ, Jason Bradshaw, now with Steve Behsmann along side and Clint Mayes now with Andrew Summerhayes swinging. The Bradshaw team has altered, as former passenger, Simon Cohrs, now has a machine of his own and will handle the throttle on that bike, while his brother Mark, will do the passenger duties. Team Cohrs will be worth watching right from the outset, as the skills learned by Simon while swinging for Fudz, will be transferred straight to his expertise on the throttle on his own machine. Historically, many of the best ever riders of Sidecars have done an “apprenticeship” as passengers before taking over the riding duties, with the great John Gates being one who comes to mind along with Bradshaw himself. Mildura Club is excited about new entrants to the Sidecar division which can only boost the sport at Olympic Park.

Joining the list is regular Melbourne riders Mark Radford and Steven Stagg, along with Broken Hill’s Rick Stephens and Dean Hobbs, who will make the sidecar action great to watch.

Solo action will be in two grades, with the top group consisting of returning star, Justin Sedgmen, with brother Ryan, Tom Hedley, Ben Turner from Adelaide and Brenton Barnfield, who will go well in the “A” grade section.

The younger Sedgmen has come back from the UK after a most successful season with his Premier League team, Birmingham, where he scored well and improved his average over the year. Justin also filled in at Elite League, Swindon on a number of occasions, where he rode well and is highly regarded. Sunraysia folk will be keen to see which areas Justin has improved in his set of skills as he will no doubt be focused on a spot in the 2011 Australian Solo Titles later in the season.

“B” grade solos with an even group of lads which includes, Brock Gates, Adam Briggs, and youngsters, Luke Mitchell, Robert Medson and Kane Turner all trying their luck at Olympic Park. Most of these youngsters are having their first crack at senior racing, although they have already done many laps of practice or on their smaller 350cc machines as Juniors.

Quad action will be fast and furious as all competitors are learning the craft of machine “set up” for the tight Olympic Park turns. It has been interesting to watch the development of the Quad

racer’s machines as they guys learn more about the vagaries of setting up their machines to turn left. Two generations of the Mills family will contest the night, with the middle generation out of action temporarily.

Classic Sidecars will also be featured with Roly Paver / Rex Byrne being taken on by the next generation of Tim Byrne and Rod Gebhart and Neil Murtagh / Nick O’Brien getting a sponsored ride from Bryan Gathercole on his Classic Honda.

Gates will open as usual at 5:30 pm, with Senior Practice scheduled from 6:00pm. A Junior program will follow and the Senior meeting will get under way at 7:30 pm sharp.

Full catering is available at Olympic Park and the Club advises that there must be No BYO by law at the venue due to licensing requirements.

Written by Brendan Gledhill.

Download the Press Release: PRE – Opening Meeting 201110 (SScQ and Classic)