Motorcycling SA

Ride, Race, Enjoy

Geoff Battle

NEWS – 2022 SAMX CHAMPIONSHIPS ENTRIES OPEN NOW!

Filed Under: Motocross, News, SA Women in Motorcycling, State Championship

The official Championship poster for the Eagle Trailers, Campers & Caravans 2022 South Australian Motocross Championships, presented by AMX Superstores – has now been released – and with entries for MRA’s Club Series Round 1 topping 200, South Coast and Port Pirie going over 100 signatures for Come & Try and Ride Days, as well as good numbers riding the 2022 EP Series – and an expected 200+ at Pirie at Easter – this year’s Championship is shaping up to be one for the ages – so get those entries in!

For the 2nd year running, Motorcycling SA and the SAMX Committee is proud to announce that Eagle Trailers, Campers & Caravans are on board as the major partner, and will be joined in the naming of the event by AMX Superstores, and again, for the second straight year.

Also exciting is the Girls & Women’s Classes once again enjoying the support of Titanium Security Australia (juniors) and Butler’s Mechanical Services (senior), and we thanks them for their continued support of the girls and women in motocross – and if the Women’s Ride Days at South Coast and MRA are anything to go by, there may well be record numbers across the three (3) classes in 2022 – which would be awesome!

Also signing on to be great supporters of the 2022 Championship are GBF Clothing, Coast Powersports, Banks Race Development and Prestige Paving and Landscaping, and we do ask all riders to thank them for their continued support of this great Championship.

 

A full range of seven (7) senior and nine (9) junior Championship classes will be on offer, along with the 50cc 4-U9 Non Comp Class for the newbies to the sport, making for 17 classes of competition over the 2 days of racing at each of the 4 rounds of the 2022 Championship.

JUNIOR CLASSES

  • 50cc Auto Non-Comp
  • 50cc Auto 7-U9 Years
  • 65cc 7-9 Years
  • 65cc 10-U12 Years
  • 85cc 2str/150cc 4str S/W 9-U12 Years
  • 85cc 2str/150cc 4str STD & B/Wheel 12-U16 Years
  • Girls 85cc 2str/150cc 4str 11-U16 Years
  • Girls 125cc 2str/250cc 4str 13-U16 Years
  • 100-125cc 2str 13-U16 Years
  • 122-150cc 2str/200-250cc 4str 13-U16 Years

 

SENIOR CLASSES

  • PRO MX 1
  • PRO MX 2
  • Expert All-Powers
  • Clubman All-Powers
  • Veterans 35-44 Years
  • Veterans 45+
  • Women All Powers

 

**Check the Championship sup regs for required entries to constitute a Championship class – and minimum entries must ALSO be attained at least 3 of the 4 rounds for the class to be an official Championship, and riders must START at least 3 of 4 rounds to be eligible for Championship awards:

 

THE 2022 CHAMPIONSHIP

2022 is certainly looking to be a huge year with numbers on the up across all events, and disciplines, so far, with most clubs seeing more and more new riders, as well as some returning after a few years – seems coming out of COVID lockdowns everyone is keen to throw a leg over and have a ride – which is awesome for the 2022 Championship!

What is also exciting is the number of young riders who are coming out of juniors and will be looking to challenge the established senior riders, and word is that there are a few senior riders already looking over their shoulders at the coming talent – Sunday’s racing could be top notch in 2022 for sure!

In the juniors, there are more than a few names across most classes that are being spoken of as possible podium place-getters in 2022, with round 1 certainly offering up more questions and unknowns than answers if pre-season ride days are anything to go by.

With that said, the 4 clubs that will be hosting the rounds in 2022 are certainly going to be in for some great action at their venues, and they are venues that are going to offer something different for each round, with the 4 rounds of the 2022 Championship being;

Round Date Club Address
1 April 23 & 24 Motocross Riders Association 65 Wilkins Rd, Gillman
2 May 21 & 22 Riverland Junior Motorcycle Club 19695 Sturt Hwy, Old Calperum SA 5341
3 July 16 & 17 Port Pirie Motorcycle Club Port Broughton Road, Port Pirie SA 5540
4 August 27 & 28 Keith & Districts Motorcycle Club Andy Caldecott Park, Charles Well Rd, Keith

     

ENTRIES OPEN FOR EACH ROUND;

Entries for each round will open, with all entries to be through Ridernet – as per the sup regs, which are now up on the MSA website for all to view – and there are some changes for 2022, especially in regards cross entering and finalising of results, so best have a read beforehand.

Once entered, a copy of the sup regs, plus the self-scrutineering form will be emailed to everyone as well.

ROUND VENUE ENTRIES OPEN ENTRIES CLOSE LATE ENTRIES CLOSE
1 GILLMAN WED 30TH MARCH MONDAY 18TH APRIL WEDNESDAY 20TH APRIL
2 Riverland Friday 22nd April Monday 16th May Wednesday 198h May
3 Port Pirie Friday 17th June Monday 11th July Wednesday 13th July
4 Keith Friday 29th July Monday 22nd August Wednesday 24th August

     

CAMPING

Camping facilities will be at the discretion of the host club – competitors should refer to the Final Instructions for event specific camping arrangements.

CATERING

Canteen and any special catering (eg; Saturday night dinners) will be at the discretion of the host club – competitors should refer to the Final Instructions for event specific camping arrangements.

VENUE ENTRY

Entry to the venues for the Eagle Trailers, Campers & Caravans 2022 South Australian Motocross Championships, presented by AMX Superstores, will be at the discretion of the host club. Competitors should refer to the Final Instructions for times and locations for venue entry.

 

 

RESULTS – 2022 AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Filed Under: News, Road Racing

It was a huge few days at Mac Park Road Race Circuit, for the 2022 Australian Historic Road Race Championships. Held from March 31 through April 3, we were stoked to see some SA Riders up on the podium across the event!

Full details below.

Photos courtesy of Pit Lane Studio.

  

PERIOD 2 – UNLIMITED

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 750 Ross BOLDING 20 25 25 20 90
2 913 Murray JOHNSON (SA) 18 20 18 18 74
3 312 Dan GLEESON (SA) 25 20 25 70

 

PERIOD 3 – 250cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 65 Fred SCHAFER 20 20 25 18 83
2 26 Martyn CHAMBERS (SA) 17 25 20 20 82
3 80 Darrell BAILEY 25 25 50

 

PERIOD 3 -350cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 150 Peter O’NEILL 20 25 20 25 90
2 70 Doug CHURCHER 25 20 25 20 90
3 197 Philip PRICE 18 17 17 18 70

 

 

PERIOD 3 – 500cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 174 Adam DONOVAN 18 18 20 25 81
2 75 Darren TROTTER (SA) 25 25 25 75
3 41 Bob ROSENTHAL 17 15 16 17 65

 

PERIODS 3  UNLIMITED

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 75 Darren TROTTER (SA) 25 20 25 25 95
2 6 Brendan ROBERTS (SA) 20 25 20 20 85
3 311 Dan GLEESON (SA) 18 18 18 18 72

 

PERIOD 3 – SIDECARS

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 26 S. SCOTT / B. DARCY 25 12.5 25 20 82.5
2 97 G. FRANCIS / P. KENNY 20 20 25 65
3 43 D. WAIN / G. DITCHFIELD 18 10 18 18 64

 

PERIOD 3 – FORMULA 700

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 225 Robin TURNER 20 20 25 25 90
2 39 Bradley ASTILL 25 25 20 20 90

 

PERIOD 4 – 250cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 15 Ben LIEBIG (SA) 25 25 25 25 100
2 14 Terry MORRIS 17 18 20 20 75
3 35 Peter HELES (SA) 20 16 18 18 7

 

PERIOD 4 -350cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 19 Tim KINGSTON 25 20 25 25 95
2 48 Anthony LOGAN 20 25 20 20 85
3 51 David CAMPBELL 17 18 17 15 67

 

PERIOD 4 – 500cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 106 Christian CARLSON 25 25 25 25 100
2 48 Anthony LOGAN 20 20 18 20 78
3 19 Tim KINGSTON 18 17 20 18 73

 

PERIODS  4 – UNLIMITED

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 86a Beau BEATON 25 25 25 25 100
2 22 Corey FORDE 20 20 20 20 80
3 268 Owen WARD 18 18 18 18 72

 

PERIOD 4 – SIDECARS

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 38 P. CLANCY / C. CLANCY 25 25 25 25 100
2 8 T. CAMPBELL / W. WILKSCH 20 20 20 20 80
3 30 G. GRANT (SA) / C. LAWSON 18 18 18 18 72

 

PERIOD 4 – FORMULA 750

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 24a William SAYER 25 25 25 25 100
2 17 David ELLIS (SA) 20 20 20 18 78
3 96 Clive HUGHES 18 20 38

 

PERIOD 5 – 125cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 92 David SHORT (SA) 25 25 25 25 100
2 31 Lindsay RUSSELL 20 20 20 20 80
3 89 Gemma KERNICH (SA) 18 17 17 18 70

 

PERIOD 5 – 250cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 67 Brett METCALF (SA) 25 25 25 25 100
2 4a David HALL 20 20 20 20 80
3 85 Ben SHAW 18 18 18 18 72

 

PERIOD 5 – 350cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 4 Lachlan HILL 25 25 25 25 100
2 82 Andy PITMAN (SA) 20 20 20 20 80
3 67 Brett METCALF (SA) 18 18 18 18 72

 

PERIOD 5 – 500cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 4 Tom BRAMICH 25 25 25 25 100
2 38 Jamie BANKS (SA) 20 20 20 20 80
3 111a Richard OLBRICH 16 18 18 18 70

 

PERIOD 5 – UNLIMITED

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 86a Beau BEATON 25 25 25 25 100
2 2 Brad PHELAN 18 20 20 20 78
3 40 Simon COOK (SA) 17 17

 

PERIOD 5 – SIDECARS

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 888 B. BEATON / N. BEARE 25 25 25 25 100
2 68 P. SEARLE / P. MONTIFORD 20 20 20 60

 

PERIOD 5 – FORMULA 750

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 38 Jamie BANKS (SA) 25 25 25 25 100
2 104 Royce ROWE (SA) 20 20 18 20 78
3 111a Richard OLBRICH 18 18 20 18 74

 

PERIOD 6 – 125cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 6 Tait COGHILL 25 25 25 25 100
2 92 Andrew COGHILL 20 20 20 20 80
3 83 Edward MARSDEN 16 17 18 18 69

 

PERIOD 6 – 250cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 4 Lachlan HILL 25 25 25 25 100
2 6 Tait COGHILL 20 20 20 20 80
3 82 Andy PITMAN (SA) 18 18 17 17 70

 

PERIOD 6 – 500cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 4 Lachlan HILL 25 25 25 25 100
2 29 Colin SLEIGH 20 20 20 20 80
3 81 Max JORDAN 18 18 18 18 72

 

PERIOD 6 – 250cc PRODUCTION

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 85 Ben SHAW 20 25 25 25 95
2 106 Christian CARLSON 25 20 20 20 85
3 9 Chris TYLER (SA) 16 18 16 18 68

 

PERIOD 6 – FORMULA 750cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 62a Phillip BURKE 20 20 20 25 85
2 2 David TROTTER (SA) 25 18 18 18 79
3 22a Corey FORDE 25 25 20 70

 

PERIOD 6 – FORMULA 1300cc

 

PROVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Leg Leg Leg Leg
Pos No Name 1 2 3 4 Total
1 1 Joshua MATHERS 25 25 25 25 100
2 2 Brad PHELAN 20 20 20 20 80
3 62a Phillip BURKE 18 18 18 18 72

 

The crowd was treated to some incredible racing, with numerous lap records set across the four days :

P4 250 Ben Liebig (SA)

P4 Unlimited Beau Beaton

P4 Sidecar Patrick Clancy & Chrissie Clancy

P5 250   Brett Metcalf (SA)

P5 350   Lachlan Hill

P5 500 Tom Bramich

P5 Unlimited Beau Beaton

P6 250 Lachlan Hill

P6 500 Lachlan Hill

P6 F1300 Joshua Mathers

P5 F750 Jamie Banks (SA)

P4 F750 William Sayer

P3 F700 Robin Turner

P6 F750 Corey Forde

NEWS – LOCAL SPEEDWAY RIDER ASHLEY JANSEN-BATCHELOR 3RD PLACE IN THE AUSTRALIAN SPEEDWAY 125CC INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Filed Under: News, Speedway

Saturday night, Ashley competed in what was probably the most hotly contested Australian Championship in a number of years with 16 riders from all over Australia competing. This Championship was delayed more than 12 months due to Covid-19 Restrictions.

Ashley had a great night over his 5 heats progressing straight through to the final with only 1 point separating each of the top four riders and no single rider had won every one of their heats. Any one of the top four riders could have come away with the win. In the end NSW’s Beau Bailey come away with the win followed by WA’s Mitch Mcdermit, SA’s Ashley Jansen-Batchelor and SA’s Harry Sadler

Ashley said he was “really happy to have made the podium at an Australian Championship and it is really a dream come true. It was great to finish my 125cc racing career on a high!! I had not done a lot of 125cc racing this season so to finish in 3rd place is really something I am very happy with. It’s not everyday you get to say you are Australia’s Number 3 at your chosen sport so I would like to thank everyone that has helped get me here over the years, it means a lot to me.”

Ashley along with team mate Harry Sadler finished in 2nd place in The Best Pairs Australian Championship the following day.

RESULTS – TEAM SA 2ND AND 6TH AT THE CBS BINS 2022 AUSTRALIAN UNDER 16 125cc TEAMS (BEST PAIRS) CHAMPIONSHIPS

Filed Under: News, Speedway

Motorcycling SA’s official State Teams, Team SA, featured for the first time in 2022 at the CBS Bins Australian Under 16 125cc Speedway Championships, held at Sidewinders Speedway over the weekend of April 1-3 2022.

Team SA had 2 teams entered for the Championships, and were led by the defending Champions (from 2020 – thanks to COVID there was no 2021 Championship), Harry Sadler and Ashley Jansen-Batchelor in Team 1, with Team 2 being made up by debutants, Kobi Canning and Darcey Timmis.

In mixed results, Hazza & Ash finished with the Silver Medals this time, with the Western Australian team of Mitchell McDiarmid and Linkin Metcalf extracting a little revenge by reversing the result from 2 years ago. It went down to the 6th round of heats to decide the winners, with WA sneaking in by a solitary point, 25-24.

Darce and Kobi had a troubled day, being beset by mechanical woes (Darcey whilst leading home an SA 1-2 in their 2nd heat), and a couple of crashes where fatigue seemed to be the contributing factor, especially as it was a huge 3 day event, with this final day being run in warm conditions, with little or no rest between heats, but still managed to finish in the top 6 at their first attempt.

OVERALL NO. RIDER   R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 TOTAL TOTAL
2 3 Ashley Jansen-Batchelor Team SA 1 3 1 1 3 2 3 13 24
  4 Harry Sadler Team SA 1 2 2 2 0 3 2 11
6 13 Kobi Canning Team SA 2 3 3 2 1 E N 9 11
  14 Darcey Timmis Team SA 2 0 R R 0 1 1 2
  RESERVES
  17 Haydon Kuchel Team SA 2 0

 

Shout out also to Haydon Kuchel, who subbed in for Kobi for the last heat, great to see Haydon get a ride as a Reserve and see what teams riding is all about!

All up, it was still a great effort by our 4 riders, who will be among the youngest to represent SA this year, and with the talent also coming through, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a team from South Australia on this podium for many years to come!

Huge well done to all, and their teams behind the scenes (read parents!) who helped them get to the meeting, the MSA Speedway Sports Manager, Adam Possingham, who acted as Team SA Team Manager for the event.

Next up for Team SA should be the endure crew who will be taking on the best in Australia at the Australian 4 Day Enduro Championships in Victoria at the start of May – stay tuned ……

Team SA 2022 – (from left) Adam Possingham, Harry Sadler, Ashley Jansen-Batchelor, Kobi Canning, Darcey Timmis

Harry Sadler, Ashley Jansen Batchelor

Kobi Canning, Darcey Timmis

Harry & Ashley with their runner up awards

All pics – Terry Scriven (Terry’s Proshots Photography)

SIDEWINDERS PUT ON AN AWESOME WEEKEND OF SKIDZ WITH NSW’S BEAU BAILEY CROWNED THE AUSTRALIAN UNDER 16 125cc INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA THE TEAMS CHAMPIONS FOR 2022!

Filed Under: News, Speedway

The weekend of April 1-3 saw the Sidewinders Junior Speedway Club host the CBS Bins 2022 Australian Under 16 125cc Championships, both individual and teams – and what a huge weekend it was for some outstanding and talented speedway sKidz from around Australia.

Friday night saw a quick practise session happen just for the 16 riders and 2 reserves who were taking part in the Individual Championship on Saturday evening, with many of the interstate riders never having ridden on a track with a fence before, but all came to grips with the Sidewinders surface quickly, and were singing the praises of the junior specific venue (the only one of its kind in Australia).

It didn’t take long for the favoured riders in the Championships – Bailey, Sadler, McDiarmid, Jansen-Batchelor, Grabham, Loftus – to all look comfortable as they sized each other up in readiness for Saturday night’s ‘hostilities’, while Anika Loftus and Darcey Timmis were also looking each other over to see who would come out of the Championships with the Aussie #1 speedway girl bragging rights.

AUSTRALIAN INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP

With a huge amount of work by the dedicated crew from Sidewinders, Saturday dawned fine but cool, with track prep continuing during the day, led by Roy Stout, who continued to cut laps on the grader and water truck to prepare, what turned out to be, a brilliant surface to go sideways on!

As the sun slowly set, a huge crowd flowed through the gates and quickly filled Graham Baker Hill in anticipation for a great nights racing – and with round 1 of the Championship kicking off under a brilliant sunset, the 2022 Championship was underway.

And in a relatively incident free night – only a couple of laydowns and no injuries – with some fantastic rides by all who entered (and all 18 riders need to be congratulated for such a high standard of competition), the scores at the end of the heats were as follows – with not one rider scoring a maximum on the night!

OVERALL NO. RIDER   R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 TOTAL SEMI FINAL
1 14 Beau Bailey NSW 3 3 2 3 3 14 1
2 9 Mitchell McDiarmid WA 3 1 3 3 3 13 2
3 16 Ashley Jansen-Batchelor SA 2 2 3 3 2 12 3
4 11 Harry Sadler SA 2 3 1 3 2 11 1 4
5 1 Noah Grabham NSW 2 3 2 1 3 11 2
6 5 Kobi Canning SA 1 0 3 2 1 7 3
7 7 Jordy Loftus QLD 3 2 2 2 1 10 4
8 13 Lachlan Russell NSW 1 2 3 1 EXC 7
9 4 Linkin Metcalf WA 3 3 0 EXC EXC 6
10 2 Anika Loftus QLD 1 2 1 2 0 6
11 3 Darcey Timmis SA DNF 1 0 1 3 5
12 8 Cooper Antone NSW 2 EXC 1 0 2 5
13 12 Jake Fleet QLD 1 DNF 2 0 2 5
14 6 Sonny Spurgin NSW 0 1 EXC 2 1 4
15 15 Ambrose Fraser VIC 0 0 0 1 1 2
16 10 Jordan Hargreaves SA 0 0 1 0 DNF 1
  RESERVES
17 17 Haydon Kuchel SA 1 1
18 18 Haydon Pascoe SA

 

With the scores as above, this meant the 3 riders to advance straight to the final were, the pre event favourite, Beau Bailey, WA’s Mitchell McDiarmid and local Ashley Jansen-Batchelor, with the semi-final to see who would be the fourth rider in the final made up of current SA Champion, Harry Sadler, Noah Grabham from NSW, Jordy loftus from QLD and the 3rd Croweater to make the semis, Kobi Canning.

Sadler out of red led the semi from tapes up to never be headed, but the battle raged behind him for part of the journey as Canning had a cracking start from the outside gate to put himself into second going down the back straight for the first time, but Grabham wasn’t going to be denied and went inside going into turn 1 on lap 2 and by the end of the 2nd lap had the job done, with Canning then having to fend off Loftus for the final half to finish in 3rd.

This meant Harry Sadler went into the final, making for 2 South Aussies in the final, and with Kobi finishing 3rd in the semi, it made for 3 locals in the top 6, or 50% – a huge effort by all concerned!

After the support events did their thing while the finalists did their final preparations, it was then time to crown the Australian Champion for 2022 – with the final line up looking like this

RED GATE 1 Beau Bailey NSW
BLUE GATE 2 Mitchell McDiarmid WA
WHITE GATE 3 Ashley Jansen-Batchelor SA
YELLOW GATE 4 Harry Sadler SA

 

When the tapes went up to get the final underway, Bailey & Jansen-Batchelor made the best starts, but the pole line was the deciding factor with Bailey using it to full advantage to ensure he came out of the turn in front. McDiarmid also stuffed it up the inside of Jansen-Batchelor in turn 1 to put himself back into second by turns end, and with this pushing Jansen-Batchelor wide, it left Sadler with nowhere to go and he couldn’t make any move.

And that is the way it stayed for the duration, with Jansen-Batchelor all over McDiarmid until half way and Sadler all over Jansen-Batchelor as he tried to find a way round, but it was to no avail and as he crossed the line to a great cheer from Graham Baker Hill, Beau Bailey won his first Australian Championship – and then celebrated with a lap with the chequered flag – and a cool ‘doughy’ as well!

All riders spoke well at the presentations, which were hosted by emcee and commentator, Paris Charles, with the presentations done by Adam Possingham, Sidewinders President & MSA’s Speedway Sports Manager, Ivan Golding, MA Speedway Commission member, and Steve Baker from CBS Bins. To once again have CBS Bins involved as naming rights partner to the Championships is fantastic for the sport here in SA, and the Sidewinders Club as well.

The awesome trophies were made by Roy Stout, and the 4 riders who made the final also received a $50.00 voucher from AMX Superstores’s Blair Athol store, with a huge thanks to Beckz for making that happen. It certainly added to the event to have AMX Superstores involved, with the marquee looking the goods!

In the battle of the girls, Anika just finished in front of Darcey to have bragging rights as Australia’s #1 speedway girl for the next 12 months, although Darcey did get the only heat win between the girls in a top ride during the night.

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS (BEST PAIRS) CHAMPIONSHIPS

Not even 12 hours after the individual Championship was decided, 14 of the field from the night before were back at Sidewinders for the Australian Teams Championship, as 7 State Teams took on each other across 6 rounds of heats – with each team of 2 riders going head to head with another team on track (so still 4 riders), with the idea to get a maximum of 5 points per ride (your team finishing 1st & 2nd) to maximise the score for your team – with 30 points the maximum score possible.

To say that Sunday, in many ways was tougher then the night before would not be stretching it, as the riders were now in their 3rd straight day of sKidz, and with all aged 14 or younger, the fatigue was certainly starting to show, with a number of crashes marring the action – with, fortunately, all riders unhurt.

Add into that warm conditions and 6 rides with no support classes, it was a huge 3 hours of action to finish the weekend. When the dust had settled (there was none really – the track was once again on prime condition), the team from WA of Mitchell McDiarmid and Linkin Metcalf had gained a little revenge on the SA team of Harry Sadler and Ashley Jansen-Batchelor, as Hazza and Ash had grabbed the Championship back in 2020 on the WA’s home track, so it was only fair the result was reversed this time.

In 3rd place and completing the podium as the NSW team of Individual Champ, Beau Bailey and Noah Grabham, with Beau apparently a little sleep deprived after the excitement of the night before – which is probably understandable when you win your first Australian Championship – but again, what was great to watch was that no team went ‘maximum’ with the result going right down to the final heat.

Adam Possingham was once again on hand to present the awards, joined this time by David Bitmead and Mark Baker, with this being special as it was Mark & David’s fathers that originally built Sidewinders, and they both raced on the track as juniors, so it was fantastic to see them present on behalf of their fathers.

A COUPLE OF SPECIAL MENTIONS – ON TRACK

Firstly Team Loftus – great to see the brother and sister team finish in the top 5 – and get a maximum score in one heat, when Anika led home Jordy in a fine team ride – and also to Team SA’s Darcey Timmis & Kobi Canning – they were on point for a maximum in their 2nd heat when Darcey’s bike let her down while leading, with Kobi nearly taking her out before recovering to take the heat win.

Here is the final rundown from the 2022 CBS Bins Australian Teams Championships.

OVERALL NO. RIDER   R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 TOTAL TOTAL
1 7 Mitchell McDiarmid WA 3 R 3 2 3 2 13 25
  8 Linkin Metcalf WA 1 3 0 3 2 3 12
2 3 Ashley Jansen-Batchelor SA 3 1 1 3 2 3 13 24
  4 Harry Sadler SA 2 2 2 0 3 2 11
3 5 Noah Grabham NSW R 0 1 3 3 0 7 22
  6 Beau Bailey NSW 2 3 3 2 2 3 15
4 9 Cooper Antone NSW 3 2 3 1 0 2 11 18
  10 Lachlan Russell NSW R 1 1 2 2 1 7
5 1 Jordy Loftus QLD 1 2 2 2 3 1 11 16
  2 Anika Loftus QLD 0 1 0 3 1 0 5
6 13 Kobi Canning SA 3 3 2 1 E N 9 11
  14 Darcey Timmis SA 0 R R 0 1 1 2
7 11 Ambrose Fraser VIC 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 10
  12 Sonny Spurgin VIC 2 1 1 1 1 1 7
  RESERVES
  17 Haydon Kuchel SA 0

 

AND A COUPLE SPECIAL MENTIONS – OFF THE TRACK

A big shout out needs to go to Tracy Turvey for lifting the Championship up a level by live streaming the whole event over Facebook, with hundreds of people watching the action live from all around Australia, and even a few from overseas, like Scotland and mainland Europe. Hopefully all future Championships will follow suit and have live streaming for all those who can’t attend in person!

To Brian Tickle and his canteen crew, who kept everyone fed all weekend – Sidewinders can boast one of the best track side canteens going around here in SA, and they proved it once again with a great selection of hot and cold food and drinks available all weekend – and not to forget the sausage sizzle put on for all riders on Friday night as a welcome to the Championships – simply brilliant!

AND – FROM THE BRILLIANT TEAM AT SIDEWINDERS;

Not to steal anything from Bugs Bunny – but ‘that’s all folks’!

The 2022 Australian 125cc Speedway Championships have been run and won in both the Individual and Pairs and we can safely say it has been a MAMMOTH task!

To get our ageing ol’ girl into Australian Championship nick was no mean feat and behind the scenes there have been numerous people who have worked TIRELESSLY to ensure the event went off without a hitch. Those people are too hard to name as someone will undoubtedly be missed off the list, so from the Sidewinders Committee we say an ENORMOUS THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts to EVERYONE who played a part in the events’ success – YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

To the riders and their families who despite the ‘tough times’ we are still facing, travelled thousands of km (and those from SA as well who were a lot closer) to make their kids dreams come true – THANK YOU!

To the supporters who came to the venue and supported the riders and to those who watched on Facebook from afar – THANK YOU!

AND

Don’t forget that now the event is over that if you want a piece of Speedway history to contact Mick Hargreaves directly for DVDs and to keep an eye on Terry Scriven (Terry’s Pro Shots) and Mike Gerlach’s (JDM Photos) Facebook pages this week for all of the photos!

 

 

Terry Scriven’s pics are here – Mike Gerlachs are yet to be uploaded

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.7078681805535431&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.7085665544837057&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.7085744178162527&type=3