GILLMAN SPEEDWAY: SIDECAR SPECTACULAR WIN BY MARK PLAISTED AND BEN PITT

Feature photo by: Derick Thomas…Sidecar Final, left to right, Tyler Moon/Adam Lovell (white), Trent Headland/Jaxon Rayner (blue) and Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt (red)

Mark Plaisted and Ben Pitt took home the cash from Gillman Speedway on Friday night January 10, and made the score 2-0 in their clashes with Trent Headland and Jaxon Rayner this season, after another thrilling final between the two former Australian Champions.

The duo combinations first clashed in the final of the International Speedway Masters on December 27, and on that occasion Headland/Rayner led all the way only to be beaten on the line by Plaisted/Pitt.

On Friday night it was the opposite scenario with Plaisted/Pitt leading all the way and having to hold position despite several aggressive passing moves by Headland/Rayner – the most serious of which came in the last corner of the race when they collided and Plaisted half spun. It looked like he would run off the track but he kept control, straightened and beat Headland in the race to the line, leaving the crowd cheering both teams.

Queensland Champions Tyler Moon and Adam Lovell were always close behind in third place but never close enough to challenge the leading two, while fourth placegetters Max Howse and Riley Commons were never in the picture after suffering a bike problem at the start of the race.

In the earlier qualifying heats, which it has to be said were mainly lack-lustre compared to most Gillman meetings, Plaisted/Pitt, riding the borrowed NZ1 bike belonging to Mark Zachan, finished unbeaten with 15 points, Headland/Rayner finished with 14 and Moon/Lovell with 13.

Starters in the last chance semi-final were Josh Pascoe/Greg Black (12 points), Kym Menadue/Shane Dolan (11), Max Howse/Riley Commons (10), and Byron Mordaunt/Jarrad Katzorke (8) in the best result of their short careers together. Visiting NSW pair Zac Campbell/Jason Williams, also on 8, beat Mordaunt/Katzorke on count back but were unable to start in the semi-final. Pascoe won the start but was passed by Howse and Menadue on the opening lap, and Mordaunt on the second lap before suffering bike trouble on the last lap, while Howse and Commons went on to win.

During the heats there was a lengthy delay after Kane Golding and Hayden Kuchel clipped the fence and rolled in heat 16. Kuchel was complaining of neck pain so the medical crew took all the necessary precautions in case he was suffering a serious injury. Thankfully, despite some sensationalist reporting by some media outlets, he was not seriously hurt and went home from hospital on Saturday with only minimal injuries.

The 500cc Solo Scratch races, as expected, saw Fraser Bowes clean sheet with five wins, but they were a worthwhile exercise for all involved (except the unfortunate Steven Graetz). For Bowes he got clear air to choose his lines and get valuable track time before the FIM Oceania Championship meeting coming up on 25 January, and clocked quick times comparable with the Australian Championship round times, while 16-year-olds Ashley Jansen-Batchelor and Harry Sadler got to follow him around watching what lines he took, while also having their own duels against each other. The Solo events started in alarming fashion, however, when Graetz’s bike just took off, literally, as they went towards turn one in the opening heat. Graetz got dumped off the back, and the bike went flying through the air, collected Sadler, knocking him off, and then cleared the air fence and almost went over the secondary fence. Graetz was straight up, but out for the night with a wrecked bike, while Sadler stayed down holding his leg. He eventually got up and slowly hobbled back to the pits, and although he did not come out for the rerun he took all of his other rides and beat Jansen-Batchelor in his last two.

Adam Lovell had a busy night. As well as his six sidecar rides with Tyler Moon, he took five rides in the Flat Track Solos where he was the dominant rider on a bike borrowed from Roy Stout. Lovell easily won three of his heats and the final, with his only dropped points coming in his third heat when he let the others go at the tapes and then fell as he was lining Dale Knights up to take the lead on the second lap. The best racing was between Knights and Chloe Ackerley who were side by side throughout most of their races together, but it was Knights who finished second (behind Lovell) in the final with Ackerley third, ahead of Graeme Eberhard, Greg Laanekorb and Matt Paterson.