A huge summer of motorcycle speedway racing revs into action with the return of sidecars to the Newcastle Showground on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It kicks off a smorgasbord of top racing with Kurri Kurri Speedway Club hosting the final round of the Australian Solo Speedway Championship in an exciting summer at the club’s Loxford Park headquarters.
“The final round of the championship is always the best night of racing for the year. The boys throw everything on the line,” Kurri Kurri Speedway Club president Peter Campton said.
“We’re very lucky here because we host the opening and closing rounds of the series and they are generally the best nights of racing.”
Some of Australia’s best sidecar outfits and a strong contingent of New Zealand teams will be taking part in the East Coast Sidecar Roundup at Newcastle on Saturday.
The series, which started in 2015, is making it’s first visit to Newcastle and riders from Queesland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia as well as across the ditch will be taking part.
The big guns including New Zealand star Andrew Buchanan and his Hunter passenger Denny Cox and 2017 Australian champion Trent Headland will be joined by a strong contingent of Hunter pairings who are poised to challenge for higher honours.
These include series leader Brad Pitt and Nathan McFadden from Swansea, young guns Hayden Bond and Brady Cox who will be keen to take top dog status ahead of their fathers and Australian speedway legends Grant Bond and Glen Cox.
The support racing includes some of Australia’s best dirt track sidecar teams in a field which will rival the Australian championships, as well as speedway solos and dirt track 450s.
Gates open at 1pm and practice and racing starts from 2pm. Tickets are available at the gate with adults $25, pensioners, concession and children under-18 $10, children under-6 are free.
Loxford Park is undergoing major works ahead of the opening major meeting of the season, the annual Jason Crump Invitational on Boxing Day.
The Jason Crump Invitational is followed by the Aussie titles on January 12 and there is major meeting each week until the NSW senior and junior sidecar championships on February 9.
The annual Gary Treloar Sidecar Roll The Dice is on January 19 and Campton said if last year’s event was any indication it will be just as big as the Australian championships.
The Australian Day Shootout is on January 26, followed by the annual Tex MacDonald Memorial Team Event on February 2.