Saturday night, December 9th 2023, at the Eagles Function Centre at Woodville South saw Motorcycling SA host their annual ‘Night of Champions’, with a number of highlights during the evening, but none more than David ‘Dave’ Basham becoming the 10th inductee into the Motorcycling SA Hall of Fame in front of the 150 attendees.
With the 4 time National Champion and 26 time SA Champion (across 3 disciplines) unable to attend, and then his family denied the invitation at the last moment by COVID-19, it was left up to MSA Board Member, Mr David Parker, to accept the induction on Dave’s behalf, with all in attendance paying great respect to Dave’s career and agreeing that his is a very worthy inductee to Motorcycling SA’s most exclusive ‘club’!
Another highlight was an emotional Ivan Golding accepting the Frank Franklin Trophy for 2023. With ‘The Frank’ only presented to those who have made an outstanding contribution to motorcycle sport in SA over many years, there can be no denying that the 88 year young Ivan has done more than most and fully deserved to have his name added to that honour roll!
The MSA Rising Star Award for 2023 was an amazing award to present, because it was felt that the ‘Class of 2023’ is the most highly decorated bunch of future champions that South Australia has ever produced, with 21 total nominees boasting at least a South Australian Championship in their chosen discipline – or higher!
That’s correct – 21 amazing riders, of which 10 also stepped onto an Australian Championship podium, and 4 also travelled overseas and competed in International competitions – something not heard of before for SA juniors!
Huge congratulations to speedway’s Kobi Canning for his overall ‘win’, just pipping fellow finalists, Rikki Henry & Archie Schmidt (road race), Darcey Timmis (dirt track), Lucy Cowan (trial), Tomi Doble (motocross) and Davey Gear (enduro).
Once again MSA paid homage to a number of outstanding volunteers that the sport can’t run without, led by a special award to Kym Bolto for his amazing achievements with the bLU cRU SA Junior Cup over the past 2 years – and Kym himself also threw up a special Regional Volunteer Award to 12 year old Izaak Warren for always being on hand to assist at road race meetings, coaching days and displays.
For a full list on all the Regional Volunteers, scroll down – and a huge thank you to them all for an outstanding job well done!
MSA Club of the Year was ‘fought out’ by the good folk at the Keyneton MCC and Sidewinders U16 Speedway Club, with Keyneton being given the nod and in the process becoming the first Club to win the award 4 times, with this being Sidewinders first trip to the podium since the inaugural year of the award in 2007 – and with a huge 2024 planned for the small junior speedway club – look out in 2024!
Motorcycling SA would like to thank the Eagles Function Centre for hosting the event so well once again and accommodating to our needs, as well as the emcee, Mr Jason O’Halloran, and the official photographer for the night, Rebecca Bowdidge from Pit Lane Studios.
Motorcycling SA would also like to thank the guest speakers who got up on the evening to talk about their journeys, present and into the future, as well as Josh Schiller from the 24 Hour Trial Committee for the 100th Anniversary promo video that played on the evening.
2023 GUEST SPEAKERS
TEAGAN PEDLER, DECLAN CARBERRY & HAYDON BARWICK
SHANE DIENER
ARCHIE SCHMIDT & RIKKI HENRY
SHANE SCHILLER & BRIAN ANTHONY
ELLA PEACOCK & TARA MORRISON
MARK PLAISTED & COOPER SHEIDOW
2023 MSA NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS – HONOUR ROLL:
Front from left – Blake Hocking, Riley Mullen, Rikki Henry, Kobi Canning, Archie Schmidt & Ryleigh McGregor
2023 MSA CLUB OF THE YEAR
WINNER
RUNNER UP
KEYNETON MOTORCYCLE CLUB
SIDEWINDERS U16 SPEEDWAY CLUB
Motorcycling SA would also like to congratulate the riders and passengers who reached the pinnacle of their discipline across 2023 – either at an International level, or with a win in an Australian Championship.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITIONS
| KOBI CANNING | SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX |
| TEAGAN PEDLER | WOMEN’S FIM SPEEDWAY ACADEMY |
| HAYDON BARWICK | TRIAL3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP |
| LILLIE YIATROU | TRIAL2 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP & TRIALS des NATIONS |
| CONNOR HOGAN | TRIAL2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP & TRIALS des NATIONS |
| LEVI DAY | FIM WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP (ROAD RACE) |
| TOMI DOBLE | AMA (USA) AMATUER MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| ARCHIE SCHMIDT | ASIA TALENT CUP (ROAD RACE) |
| RIKKII HENRY | SPANISH SUPERSPORT 300 CHAMPIONSHIP (ROAD RACE) |
| TARA MORRISON | GERMAN SUPERSPORT 300 CHAMPIONSHIP (ROAD RACE) |
| BILLY McCONNELL | BRITISH SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIP (ROAD RACE) |
| DAVO JOHNSON | ISLE OF MAN TT RACES (ROAD RACE) |
| MARK LAUNER | WELSH 2 DAY ENDURO (SIDECARS) |
| TYSON ROHRLACH | WELSH 2 DAY ENDURO (SIDECARS) |
| SHANE SCHILLER | WELSH 2 DAY ENDURO (SIDECARS) |
| BRIAN ANTHONY | WELSH 2 DAY ENDURO (SIDECARS) |
AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONS
| BRETT METCALF | HISTORIC ROAD RACE |
| LEIGH BENTLEY | AUSTRALIAN OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| JAMIE BANKS | HISTORIC ROAD RACE |
| ROWAN PUMPA | AUSTRALIAN OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| LUCINDA COWAN | AUSTRALIAN TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| BAILEY IRRGANG | AUSTRALIAN TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| COOPER SHIEDOW | AUSTRALIAN OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| MARK PLAISTED | SENIOR SIDECAR SPEEDWAY |
MOTORCYCLING SA HALL OF FAME & LIFE MEMBERSHIP NOMINATIONS
Nominations for consideration for induction into the Motorcycling SA Hall of Fame are open 365 days a year, but for consideration in the current year all nominations MUST be received (at present) by September 31st, so their careers can be collated and sent on to the selection committee and then the MSA Board of Directors.
If they are not received by the end of September, then they will not be discarded, they will be filed for consideration for the following years, which is similar to how the Sport SA Hall of Fame operates.
The current MSA Hall of Fame inductees are:
So, if you believe you have someone who you feel should be considered for induction, then download the forms (link below) and put their career down on paper and email it in to administration@motorcyclingsa.org.au
This is also relevant to Motorcycling SA Life Membership, for a lifetime of work for the sport here in SA – all nominations will need to be lodged at the MSA Office before the end of September each year to be considered for that year.
For the criteria and nomination forms, head to the Motorcycling SA website and hit the link to the ‘History & Honour Board’ page – and – here ‘tis: www.motorcyclingsa.org.au/about-us/history