A quality field has been put together for the 2011 Victorian Solo Speedway Championship at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway on Saturday night.

Heading the stack is veteran Merbein rider, Mark Lemon, who has twice been the Victorian Solo Champion. Lemon rode last week in the Leigh Adams benefit meeting in Adelaide and was joint top points scorer, when riding in his first meeting for a couple of months. Lemon only arrived in Australia last week to ride the Adams meeting, so 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 MA, as the Australian Speedway Team Manager for the forthcoming season, which is a wonderful position for the well travelled star. Lemon will bring a tenacity to the Australian team, which has been missing for a while. He will be a good Team Manager, and hopefully can refocus the Aussies to the form which they had as a team, a decade ago.

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

Gathercole, the 2007, WA 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 7.75 points average and collects good points for his Elite League Club, Swindon. Cory would be expected to be a huge threat for top place on the podium 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 as they come along. He rode very 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 a podium place.

Former International Tom Hedley and SA rider, Rob Ksiezak, will be keen to put themselves in contention for a podium spot, with some good consistent riding while Mark Jones, Ryan Sedgmen, Dakota North and Jake Anderson, will be amongst the other younger riders willing to take points from any riders in the field. 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 a skillful rider who, like North, could be a surprise packet in the field. A much more relaxed Ryan Sedgmen, will battle with most riders 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. He will often take the wide line in the corners, riding, using much of his Long Track experience, to his advantage. Stewart has a “never give in” attitude, but his different lines to other riders often see him “slip by” when the riders are not expecting to be passed.

Brock Gates and Chris Ferguson have good experience at Mildura and could easily figure in taking significant points from any riders who happen to struggle on the night, while Michael King will be an unknown quantity at the tight Olympic Park circuit. Adam Briggs will use his small previous experience at Mildura to his 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 twenty Title heats will be exciting, as riders push for supremacy. It will be great to see some veteran riders, along with absolute new comers to contest the 2011 Title, which will be decided after the top four point scorers have completed the all important Championship Final at the end of the night.

Support events for the Title meeting will be a mix of Sidecars, with Mildura teams of Jason Bradshaw / Steve Behsmann, Clint Mayes / Andrew Summerhayes and Simon and Mark Cohrs being the locals who are pitted against the Darren Howes / Matt Ward and the Daniel Stephens teams from Broken Hill. Racing in the three wheeled class will be fast and furious as always. Nomination support from these Sidecar teams is highly valued by the Club.

A Junior meeting, starting at 6:30pm, will be the curtain raiser for the main event, which will get under way with a rider presentation at 7:20pm and Senior racing set to follow at 7:30pm sharp.

Olympic Park gates open at 5:00pm and Patrons are reminded that Olympic Park provides a full catering service and that there must be No BYO by law.