spiderweb 2 Posted February 18, 2007 Tom is ok he got up was taken to the medic room but he fronted for his next race did a practice start but pulled infield before the start and did not come out again. Seemed to to be bike problems . Overall a top nights racing better than the Senior Title! Batchelor did not do himself any good going on at the end of the night about how politics ruined his night . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigFatDave 258 Posted February 18, 2007 Overall a top nights racing better than the Senior Title! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Nrext thing you'll be saying you were sober! I thought the racing at Gillman was the highlight of Ozchamps! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spiderweb 2 Posted February 18, 2007 The meeting had just the right mix of Dramas; waiting for an Ambo crowd getting restless, Before the start someone got stung by a bee in the pits; Tom meeting the turn 4 fence.(he was my dark horse for the final) Top racing and plenty of passing Great track 2 meetings in 2 days of over 40 c temps and very little dust. Referees out on the track talking (loudly) to Troy about gate positions. Troy at one stage started taking his kevars off and storming off. Race held up more "talking" Troy comes back out bikes refulled then the final; The Final falls/ restarts; in the final Holder was Lucky IMO not to be judged the cause of the stoppage as Gathercole fell but was up and leaving the track when Holder and Batchelor went down. All in Restart Then Gathercole down again whilst leading how the other three missed him I dont know! He did the right thing and got up pushed his bike of the track then spent the rest of the race stroming around the infield throwing helmets ect poor lad his time will come! Troy at the end of it was very emotional and diddnt do himself any favors. But it was good to see some emotion from the riders where the senior riders are all very calm! Like to hear howards version, but thats the way I saw it . Oh yes and the Bundy was cold! Bought one for you BFD but Lunchy drank it ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sir Lunchalot Posted February 18, 2007 Best meeting I've been to in ages. Some really super racing for all positions, not just the lead. Sometimes the leader had cleared out but then 2nd and 3rd seemed to be wheel to wheel. I can't remember when I enjoyed a meeting that much from go to whoa. Hard luck stories were Richard Sweetman (and is he ever a tidy rider) who had a fall when pushing Ksiezak for the lead in heat 5 when a certain second would have seen him on 10 points and into the final, and Kozza Smith who fell in his last ride pushing too hard when all he needed was a point to finish on 10 to put him into the final. Still, if they weren't flat out racing and settled for second it would have made the meeting far less enjoyable that it was, they were scrapping for every point and it was brilliant to watch. Tom Hedley was stiff too, he made a mistake in the first corner in his first heat and found himself in last and then tried to make up for it all in one go in turns 3 & 4 first time round and both rider and bike clattered into the fence and he took no further part. Agree about the comments on Batchelor and the final, he would have been better off pulling his head in as he was actually in the right (I thought). The dispute was with gate 4. It was one of those silly scenarios when the helmet colours were allocated before they chose their gate positions. As 4th qualifier Ksiezak had yellow / black on and headed for gate 4 which was the one Batchelor wanted (and I assume the one he had chosen) but when Batchelor arrived at the tapes Ksiezak was already there. After much finger pointing and yelling and a major tantrum by Batchelor we eventually got a start. I even thought for a second it was going to be a three rider final. I must admit with the "red mist" levels fairly high I was worried for the riders safety before the tapes rose. Not sure to call Cory Gathercole lucky, unlucky or both. In the first running he had a harmless slide off in turn 1 and was already picking his bike up as Holder came off exiting turn 2 the first time round. I was watching Gathercole (perhaps the ref was too) but those that saw Holder said he lifted badly and that was the cause of him coming off and Batchelor having to lay his bike down. Back all four went and both Holder and Gathercole could both consider themselves lucky. Then Gathercole pulled a brilliant move to surge past Holder coming out of turn 1 in the rerun and had the lead for just over a lap, then he came off in front of the field and how the other three missed him I'll never know. Spiderweb was next to me and he was wincing with his hands involuntarily heading towards his face so he didn't have to watch but fortunately they all got by safely. After that Holder didn't need any more "get out of jail free" cards (for the second year in a row) and won it very impressively. I don't think I've seen Gathercole ever anything other than placid and mild mannered but he was filthy with himself after coming to grief. Holder gave the interview of a true champion when he said "Gillman has been good to me the last two years and I've been very lucky". Batchelor's interview was unfortunately not of the same standard and after he spoke all I could see around me was shaking heads going "What was that about ?" Final mentions to the support racing and the track. The sidecar racing was superb with some legal push and shove and real wheel to wheel stuff with Treloar & Plaisted certainly aware they were in a dogfight and they were not going to have an easy night. Even the juniors were great and I don't usually take much notice of them and for me to notice they must have been excellent. Young (and little) Arthur Sissis was impressive, I'll be surprised if his name doesn't keep cropping up in years to come. The track considering the hot weather we had was awesome. How they prepared such a great surface that held up really well was amazing. I'd be happy if they put the U21's on there every year. By the way BFD, your bundy was magnificent, any time you don't want to drink yours I'll be glad to help you out Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigFatDave 258 Posted February 18, 2007 .Oh yes and the Bundy was cold! Bought one for you BFD but Lunchy drank it ! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> By the way BFD, your bundy was magnificent, any time you don't want to drink yours I'll be glad to help you out <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I could be wrong but I detect a hint of Conspiracy somewhere nearby - thanks for thinking of me boys, I'll see you next January for sure, doubtless you had one for Bryn as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chopper 88 Posted February 18, 2007 Had to add a few words in defence of Batchelor, i suggest that if the ref had of listened to what he was saying, I CHOSE GATE FOUR, and allowed him to start there it wouldnt have taken so long to get started.Perhaps they need to listen some times.And to be honest both Gathercole and Holder should have been excluded , Gathercole fell by himself mid corner and as was pointed out was picking himself up, when Holder lifted and fell taking down Batchelor.Tell me in the rules why both shouldnt have been excluded , neither were the result of first corner bunching.Had it been me i would have been peed as well. My lad was even cost a win over Sissis when he went wide and fell to miss a fallen rider who had been laying on the track for nearly a lap.And what can you do about it, nothing. So to be fair what people say and do in the aftermath is probably not well thought out.I dont Know Troy personally but it seems he has a bad boy reputation that in this case is he didnt earn. Darrell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spiderweb 2 Posted February 18, 2007 Qoute;Had to add a few words in defence of Batchelor, i suggest that if the ref had of listened to what he was saying, I CHOSE GATE FOUR, and allowed him to start there it wouldnt have taken so long to get started. I Totally agree with you and Troy had the right to pick the gate and stand up for his rights. I think like most of us we were whatching Gathercole fall and pick his bike up and missed the start of the Holder Batchelor fall. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ozpirate 0 Posted February 18, 2007 Although I rarely make contributions to the forum these days, I just wanted to say that I totally agree with Lunchy and Spider on their assessments of the U21 event. Thanks for your company on the spectator mound over the past 2 nights guys. I'm also glad you got your mobile phone back Spider. It was an absolute corker of a meeting and with a bit of added controversy thrown in for good measure. I totally agree with Spider in that Troy was definitely entitled to gate 4, but what was inexcusable was his tantrum and disreseptful behavour - which I'm sad to say is becoming an all too familiar pattern. This came to the fore once again during the presentation speech which was totally lacking in humility and sportsmanship. I feel Chris Holder is more than a tad lucky after lifting badly coming out of turn 2 and taking Batchelor out ain the process. Having had a good view of the incident I was very surprised with the "all 4 back verdict". Take nothing away from Holder though, he was a class act and will be a good U21 ambassador for his country. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gatesy50 0 Posted February 18, 2007 Had to add a few words in defence of Batchelor, i suggest that if the ref had of listened to what he was saying, I CHOSE GATE FOUR, and allowed him to start there it wouldnt have taken so long to get started.Perhaps they need to listen some times.And to be honest both Gathercole and Holder should have been excluded , Gathercole fell by himself mid corner and as was pointed out was picking himself up, when Holder lifted and fell taking down Batchelor.Tell me in the rules why both shouldnt have been excluded , neither were the result of first corner bunching.Had it been me i would have been peed as well. My lad was even cost a win over Sissis when he went wide and fell to miss a fallen rider who had been laying on the track for nearly a lap.And what can you do about it, nothing. So to be fair what people say and do in the aftermath is probably not well thought out.I dont Know Troy personally but it seems he has a bad boy reputation that in this case is he didnt earn. Darrell <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why should both Gathercole and Holder be excluded?( can you please quote me the rules they break with the numbers out off the Australia rule book) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin Elmes 4 Posted February 18, 2007 Why should both Gathercole and Holder be excluded?( can you please quote me the rules they break with the numbers out off the Australia rule book) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> .......Had a chat with the ref after the meeting and he told me that he was watching Gathercole to see if he would get up and clear the track, just as Holder and Batchelor came down. As he couldn't exclude anyone for something he didn't see, he put all four back. He had put the red lights on because both Holder and Batchelor were down, not because of Gathercole. The final provided the best dummy-spitting I ever seen in speedway. I was watching from the pits gate, so I saw and heard it all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryn 413 Posted February 18, 2007 (edited) .......Had a chat with the ref after the meeting and he told me that he was watching Gathercole to see if he would get up and clear the track, just as Holder and Batchelor came down. As he couldn't exclude anyone for something he didn't see, he put all four back. He had put the red lights on because both Holder and Batchelor were down, not because of Gathercole. The final provided the best dummy-spitting I ever seen in speedway. I was watching from the pits gate, so I saw and heard it all. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Slightly off topic Gavin, bearing in mind the lengthy delays prior to the start of the meeting, I hope the socks lasted the distance! And did any forum members retire to the Blue Room afterwards? Edited February 18, 2007 by Bryn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin Elmes 4 Posted February 18, 2007 Socks didn't even last until sundown, Bryn. Then Coopers took over! By the way, I spent the day driving around the Barossa Valley visiting 10 wineries, including Jacobs Creek & Penfolds. Back to the Blue Room - it wasn't open. I even did a daylight "rekkie" when I hit Adelaide on Friday and found it!! So now I don't have to be shepherded through the dark to find it. The blocks and plank for the front step gave its location away after I'd found the cop shop!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trees 2,814 Posted February 18, 2007 Was the meeting videoed? Be very interested to see it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sir Lunchalot Posted February 18, 2007 Yes, Mick Hargreaves videoed it Trees The email address I have for him is speedway@chariot.net.au (at least that's what it says on the back of a DVD of his but it also has Dave Schoolings name on the back for the still shots so if it's not Mick it's Dave !!) It was a belter of a meeting, you will enjoy it if you get it. Not sure how much of the Troy Batchelor saga before the final he got on tape but that and the final(s) could be worth the purchase price on it's own. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SCB 0 Posted February 18, 2007 I see Troy is getting some stick for his tantrum. Amazingly people complain else where on this forum we have lost the charactors and speedway is too sanitised, yet when someone shows a bit of passion he is complained about. Give me a moaning, complaining, pasionate rider over a boring "credit to the sport" like Leigh Adams! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
