jacknmarg

Not surprising really if you know how these things work. The rule book states that the first 2 from each state in their state titles goes thru to the Australian titles. In my tally this makes 10 riders so how do you end up with 4 NSW and 3 Qld riders. It looks as though WA only seeded 1 rider so this then should leave 7 spare berths if you run by the rule book. All other riders wanting to compete should then go thru the qualifying or all 16 riders should be selected without a qualifying round (after all WA is a long way to go for only 4 berths up for grabs). I have just had a look at the sup regs and there is nothing about seeding riders after the first 2 from each state so who made up the rules and why have a rule book if you aren't going to follow it. To me this looks more personal than ability based and maybe it's more a case of who you know not how good you are. Jack

probably one of the better sidecar meetings I have seen for a while pleased to see mark plaistead and his passenger were unhurst after turning their chair over in the first heat. no disrespect to the treloar/plaistead team but it was probably a better meeting without them cause they are always in a class of their own and make winning look so easy. as i said no slight on either Darren or justin just acknowledgement of great talent and a great team. there was a bit of biffing and barging in the meeting but nothing dangerous only good hard racing. young corey gathercole proved again he is able to handle different types of tracks. the track was a bit rough for solos i think but corey showed the other young locals how to ride it. shame that lee redmond travelled all the way from WA only to have an ordinary practice and then pull out of his first heat when he was coming fourth and not be seen for the rest of the night. very disappointing for him i would think. im looking forward to the sidecar spectacular in 2 weeks jack

The Solo section of the Gillman meeting on Saturday was won by Brett Woodifield, 2nd went to Corey Gathercole and 3rd was Aaron Summers. Arlo Bugeja was a DNF after falling in the final. The B final was won by Ford Keane, Scott James was 2nd, Sean Chapman 3rd and Harley Liersch 4th. Surprise rides of the night came from Aaron Summers. Aaron was the 2004 under 16 Australian solo champion and this is his first full season in the senior ranks. Although he didn’t have any wins on the night, his smooth riding and consistency won him a berth in the final. Aaron has been a very steady improver since joining the seniors. After a clean sweep in the heats, the sidecar section was taken out by the pairing of Darrin Treloar and Justin Plaisted, 2nd went to Ronnie Parker/Shane Rudlof, 3rd Niesche/Arbon and 4th Evans/Schwartzer. Darrin Treloar also broke the track record in the first sidecar heat of the night. Jack

Saturday night was another clash of the young guns. The wins on the night were shared around between Ford Keane, Tyrone Proctor, Arlo Bugeja and Nathan Hedley all having 1 win each. Chris Ferguson and Cory Gathercole each had 2 wins and Robert Ksiezak had 4. The final was contested by 6 riders. Gathercole won the final after getting a good start from gate 2 and was never headed. The minor placings were hotly contested with Ksiezak eventually taking 2nd place narrowly from a hard riding Ferguson. Ford Keane took 4th place with Bugeja 5th and Hedley 6th. Heartstopper of the night came from Arlo Bugeja when his bike lifted to 90 degrees in the back straight after pulling off a brilliant outside pass on Cory Gathercole. Without missing a beat Bugeja went on to win the race. Some of the best racing I have seen this season has come from the duels between these young up and coming riders. Well done. Jack

Joel did ride on the night but had a very ordinary meeting and after falling withdrew towards the end of the night after Bugeja pulled off a brilliant inside pass which left Joel in the heavy dirt mid track. It was a night of primary chain problems however. I believe Schlein used 5 or 6 on the night and other riders had to change them regularly. Young Scott Blackwell was one of the primary chain casualties. It was the primary chain coming off which caused his fall and withdrawal from the meeting. I don't know if I was more impressed with the way the local non uk riders took the competition to their counterparts who have recently returned from overseas or less impressed with the level of competition from the overseas riders. The win to Schlein was a foregone conclusion after the withdrawal of Leigh Adams from the meeting and then Brett Woodifield's withdraw with engine failure after practice. Jack

Sorry to hear that. Also i find a glaring omission from the card for this round is that of Joel Parsons. Considering his recent good form around S.A. including beating Chris Ferguson in some meeting he must felt hard done by. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes you are quite right. The reason Chris is in the line up is what you might call 'policitcal' within speedway. A few things happened here in England and lets just say he never even entered for the Aussie titles whereas Joel and Karlis did. But his promoter in Oz, whom he bragged how good he was in the UK CL amongst other things about certain goings on in the UK felt sorry for him. His promoter Brendon Gledhill, from Mildura is a board member for the Motorcycling Australia -do I need to say more. Gledhill has a good heart and has done his upmost for the sport and would take someone as genuine. Chris' results have more than shown that he shouldnt have been there and Gledhill will feel a little red faced now.He hasnt even managed to match Cam, Matthew, Ashley etc Even Robert Kieszak who won all the support races didnt get a look in for the Gillman round when Ford and Tom did. You come to realise in speedway that sometimes it's who you know not what you know. Always a shame for the sport and the supporters because then they dont get to see the best of the racers. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Joel Parsons and Robert Kseziak were both offered rides in the Australian titles but neither accepted the offer. I think it was a very wise decision for Robert as the rules concerning riders averages on entering the leagues is very grey at present and he would not have wanted to jeopardise his recent signing to ride in the UK. Also I don’t think he has turned 18 yet so has a lot of racing years ahead of him. He doesn’t need to jump into this sort of field at this stage. The field contained only 2 or 3 riders who are not currently competing or have not previously competed in the UK. I don’t think any of us underestimate how difficult it would have been to compete in this field for an unseasoned rider. A number of experienced riders struggled during these rounds which says how tough it really was. Even though Robert won all but 1 of the support races at Gillman his times, while respectable, were a bit off the pace. He will have more than enough time in the future once he has completed a season or two overseas in the company of these riders. Robert’s continued improvement during the off season at home I think shows he has an long and rewarding career ahead of him. I look forward to following his progress. Jack

Jason Doyle is only 17 years of age at present so I doubt you would have raced him in 2002. He would have only been 14 turning 15. Having not seen him I don't think it is fair to cast doubt on his ability Jack