A field most worthy of fighting for the Dudley Bradshaw Memorial Trophy has been gathered for Saturday night’s Kelly Panel Refinishers 2016 Sidecar Shootout at Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway.
Riders from NSW, Queensland, SA and Victoria will contest the event which will culminate in a repercharge event for riders placed from fourth to seventh place on points for the chance to meet the top three points scorers for the night to decide the winner of the Dudley Bradshaw Memorial Trophy.
Some very tough racing will be seen by our discerning patrons, who know to expect that some fine skills and massive speed will be a feature of the night from those riders who are the best Sidecar riders in the World.
World Champion, Darrin Treloar / Blake Cox, now with another NSW State title on the mantelpiece from Tamworth just two weeks ago and dual World Champions, Mick and Jesse Headland, who make up the best father and son combination in the sports history will be amongst those expected to do well, however their party could be easily spoiled by any of the other fourteen teams which include NSW Title top point scorer, Ricky Howse / Adam Commons from Broken Hill, the evergreen and last meeting Team Captain and winners of the Invitation Feature race, Byren Gates / Mick O’Loughlin, last week’s Gillman winner, Shane Hudson / Eli Wright or the consistent SA team of Damian Niesche / Mitch Spear, who have regularly placed on the podium at many recent meetings.
Amongst these top riders one could not discount are the affable Queenslander, Brodie Cohen / Josh Sinnott, who want race time at Mildura as planning for their assault on the Australian Title later in April and locals Neale Hancock / Brendan Johnson, Clint Mayes / Sean Coleby, Chris Dess / Brenton Kerr and AJ Pearce / Brodie Gebhart, all of whom will use their good local knowledge to their advantage. Of recent times, the Hancock / Johnson combination has taken some good scalps both in Mildura and at Gillman while Clint Mayes / Sean Coleby looked to settle into a good rhythm at their first race outing last meeting.
Broken Hill will also have Darren Howse / Kyle Jarvis and the laconic Rick Stephens / Scott Morris to back up the efforts of Rick Howse / Adam Commons. The younger Howse, Darren, did well at Tamworth in the NSW Title finishing in the top half of the field, so they would be expecting to collect points along the way in the Bradshaw meeting as would Rick Stephens / Scott Morris. The “Bartman” always rides Mildura well and he will be looking for a strong showing as an indicator that more than one rider should represent the Silver City in the upcoming National Championship on Saturday 9th April. A qualifying contest berth on Friday 8th April is most likely for the lads from Broken Hill, but this week all riders will need to be aware and prepared for the skills of our Silver City guests.
A strong contingent of SA riders will join the fray with last meeting Team Captain, Klae Hobbs / Jack Spear and Shane & Angus Rudloff keen to show their skills. Hobbs is a class rider and will do well in this company while Rudloff is progressing well.
The most difficult task for patrons this week will be to try to pick the top seven riders who will contest either final. There are plenty of riders who will collect good points, but the whole of the field can be nasty and steal points off any rider, such is the quality and depth of this field.
There will be many spoilers who could take away from riders expected to do well, so every race will be hard fought, with riders perhaps even scoring from the luck of their starting gate position against the other riders. Positive starts and good drive will be important for every team.
Recent form is usually the best indicator for future success, as long as a rider does not just have bad luck and in this field there are plenty of riders who are bringing great current form to the meeting. Gates / O’Loughlin and Hancock / Johnson have been consistent and good over the last few meetings and should be quietly confident that they can mix it with the very best. Treloar / Cox, the Headlands, Niesche /Spear, Hudson /Wright and Howse / Commons are amongst the very best and will want to make it to the Bradshaw Trophy final, but it will not be easy given the desire of Hobbs / Spear, Stephens / Morris, the Rudloffs and Cohen / Sinnott from up north.
Mildura speedway fans are just in for a treat with such a talented field which has been assembled. Predictions will be hard, so be there to watch for yourselves.
Support events are from the three listed meeting Reserves, Dale Milner / Nick O’Brien, Mark Radford / Blake Halls, Ash and Mitch Duncan, Nathan Cock / Kane McMahon and Paul Donnelly / Jake Roberts, who will race a regular set during the night.
Extra support will also come from our Classic Sidecar contingent which includes Rod Gebhart / Jamie Knudsen, Simon Cohrs / Reece Farr and Chris Wakefield / Jason Pinnock who will contest against Broken Hill stalwart Rob Kemp / Peter Harvy, who may have the choice of riding Rob’s 750cc Suzuki 2 stroke machine or from an even further era beyond, the magnificent Vincent owned by regular speedway benefactor John Waters. One thing for sure is that amongst these old machines the spirit is always keen and the racing exciting for patron enjoyment.
Olympic Park gates will open at 5:00pm with patrons having access to great grandstand accommodation or a choice of bring a chair or blanket to use on the grassy banks. Patrons are reminded that Olympic Park offers a full and excellent catering service and that our License provisions include that there must be no BYO by law.
A small Junior program will open the night from around 6:15 and the Bradshaw Trophy parade will commence at 7:15 sharp, with racing to follow at 7:30pm.
Attached is the entry forms for the Classic Speedway championships on Sunday June the 7th Please get your entry forms Read more
The bikes flew and thrilled a large crowd in attendance at the Coomealla Memorial Sporting Club – 2014 Easter Arena Read more
[add_eventon pec="ft" fixed_date="31" fixed_month="10" fixed_year="2015" ] [add_eventon pec="ft" fixed_date="31" fixed_month="11" fixed_year="2015" ] Mildura Motorcycle Club to host 2015 FIM Speedway Read more