THE Mildura Sidecar Shootout will bring riders from all over the southern states to contest the annual grudge match for the three-wheeled warriors.
Again, the Shootout has attracted some of the very best exponents of sidecar racing in Australia, with the twice World Champion Mick Headland and Paul Waters heading the bill with the amazingly in-form Mark Mitchell and Tom Golding, who won their only Australian Sidecar Title at Mildura back in 2009 also well to the fore.
Joining the illustrious duo are all the stars of Mildura with Bradshaw and Behsmann, Gates and O’Loughlin, Monson and Morgan, the Cohrs brothers, Milner and Gates, Gates and Pearce and the giant killers of recent times, Chris Holmes and Neale Hancock, who raced so superbly in the Mildura Sidecar Grand Slam to take an A Final position as third top points-scorers.
Former Queenslander and former Mildurian Rob Patterson has Darcy Risstrom on the side – they will be joined by Radford and Putkunz from down south, who, along with the young Curran and Walker team, will wave the flag for the rest of Victoria.
The South Australian team of Damian Niesche and Jesse Headland are a new combination for this meeting; both have much experience.
Headland is probably the most mobile passenger of all as he is always moving his body to allow the machine to get maximum traction and manoeuvrability.
Newcomers to the Olympic Park line-up are some “next generation” riders – Jason Hardy and Jeff Langdon will come from SA, with Hardy being the son of former great passenger; Rob Hardy and the other combination are Victorians; Rick Curran and Chris Walker, who are the sons of Clint Curran; and former Australian Champion Jamie Walker, who rode so successfully with brother Ken, to win their Australian Title mounted on a HRD Vincent.
The team missing from the action in Saturday’s Shootout is local combination, Clint Mayes and Andrew Summerhayes, who had a big spill at Gillman in the Sidecar Grand Slam meeting last weekend.
Mayes and Summerhayes were left no room on the outside of the track and, when hit by the other rider, the Mayes machine went clear over the fence and landed on the grass outside the track.
All of the machine and both rider and passenger were left sore and sorry and Mayes indicated to club officials that he would not be fit to ride in the Shootout, a meeting that he has always enjoyed and done well on the scorecard.
Patrons can expect to be entertained to the hilt, especially if the meeting follows on from the last occasion at Olympic Park, when fans were treated to an excellent meeting for the Sidecar Grand Slam.
Once again the riders will contest over 20 heats, the fairest format, and then will come to finals, which will encourage only the brave to venture to the line.
The fine line-up of Mildura-based talent always want to take it up to the visiting champions, especially the likes of Mitchell and Headland, who are always so ferocious on the track as they attack the corners with so much pace.
Support events will again be some classic sidecars, who always show well for the crowd as they pilot their older machines around the circuit.
These guys will be using both this and the next meeting, the Annual Sidecar Spectacular, to sharpen up for the Ulysses Classic Speedway event to be held on March 28 as part of the Ulysses annual general meeting, which is being held in Mildura from March 26 to April 1.
Olympic Park gates will open on Saturday at 5pm, with senior practice starting at 5.45pm, a junior meeting will follow at 6.30pm and then the rider presentation will begin at 7.20pm and racing is set to commence at 7.30pm.
Olympic Park has full catering facilities and the club reminds patrons that there must be no BYO by law.
This article appeared in Saturday’s Sunraysia Daily 11/02/2012.
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