Newcastle Showground Speedway promoter Graeme Boyd has been pressured for weeks by some of the nation's leading sidecar riders who are demanding the opportunity to race at the venue prior to the 2010 Australian Speedway Championship scheduled for next Easter.
The interstate based riders are aggrieved that they will be at a disadvantage when they head to Newcastle Showground due to their lack of experience at the venue and that local riders will have a huge home-track advantage.
What those aggrieved riders forget is that after the floods that hit the Hunter region in mid-2007 caused massive damage at the showground, the track was reshaped and widened, with a new fence, and has since hosted sidecars just once, back in March 2008.
While Boyd is likely to utilise just a quartet of locally based bikes for the season's first meeting on December 11 he has confirmed that Australia Day next year will see the venue host a major sidecar meeting - and he has told interstaters basically "turn up or shut up".
Boyd has been at pains to point out that there is not, never has been, or never will be any so called plan to keep interstate sidecars away so locals can benefit.
"Obviously for the Australian Championship all of the best riders from across the nation will want to compete and it is understandable that they do not want to go into the title showdown cold" said Boyd.
"What the interstaters do not realise though is that there is limited opportunities to stage meetings at the Showground because of the costs of hiring the venue, made worse by the adjacent Entertainment Centre not being able to host events at the same time as the speedway is operating. As such the opportunities for sidecars to race there are restricted, so there is certainly no great advantage for local riders."
The decision to stage the major sidecar meeting on January 26 will not only show fans what they can expect at Easter when the championship is on the line but will also give any rider from outside New South Wales the chance to race there as part of their preparation.
The meeting will be open to all comers and will provide ample opportunity to ride the Newcastle Showground track, prior to the title meeting.
Boyd said that he will select the top ten nominated riders into the meeting proper. Hopefully that will include the new world sidecar champion and runner-up, the placegetters from last season's Australian Championship and other reigning State champions.
The rest of the 16-rider line-up will be decided by a qualifying program that will run in the afternoon. Prior to the meeting beginning, there will be at least one hour of practice which should give all competitors plenty of track time.
In another move to quieten any discontent among interstate riders they will also have the opportunity of a practice afternoon at the new Kurri Kurri track several days later. This will be just as important for any Australian Championship hopefuls as the Qualifying meeting for the Championship is to be staged at Kurri Kurri on Good Friday.
Any interested interstate sidecar riders can contact Graeme Boyd at Suzuki of Newcastle.
