Adams returning to Aussie speedway title

December 29, 2008

After a year off from local competition, eight-time grand prix winner Leigh Adams will compete in the 2009 Australian Speedway Championship, which begins in Newcastle (NSW) on January 3.

Adams has been announced as one of the 10 seeded competitors for the three-round championship, with a qualifying event at Gosford (NSW) on January 2 to finalise the balance of the 16-rider roster.

Adams, fourth in this year's world speedway title behind Nicki Pedersen, Jason Crump and Tomasz Gollob, has won 13 Australian speedway titles in total -- four in the under 21 ranks and nine in open.

His last senior title came in 2006, and if he is to make it No. 10 in 2009 the Mildura master will have to overcome defending champion Chris Holder, as well as the likes of Troy Batchelor, Jason Doyle, Rory Schlein and Davey Watt, the latter making a rare return to compete on local soil.

Adams, 37, continues to be a dominant force in Northern Hemisphere domestic speedway leagues, and he regularly battles it out with compatriot Jason Crump as the highest average points scorer in the UK Elite League.

In 2008, Crump came out trumps, with Adams in second - and daylight to third-placed Swede, Andreas Jonsson.

Watt, Adams, Holder and Crump competed for Australia in this year's Speedway World Cup, with Ryan Sullivan the fifth rider.

At his current rate of improvement, Holder is the next Aussie most likely to win a berth in the Speedway World Championship, and he showed his pedigree this year when he was a superb second in the world junior title behind Russian enforcer Emil Sajfutdinov. Batchelor was fourth in that event as he also continues to flex his muscles on the world stage.

Holder and Watt were also part of the Poole Pirates team which won the UK Elite League title.

The 10 seeded riders for the Aussie championship are:
- Leigh Adams
- Troy Batchelor
- Jason Doyle
- Cory Gathercole
- Chris Holder
- Ty Proctor
- Rory Schlein
- Dave Watt
- Cameron Woodward
- Josh Grajczonek

The riders who will compete in the qualifying event are:
- Arlo Budeja
- Mitchell Davey
- Jake Anderson
- Jay Herne
- Lee Herne
- James Holder
- Sam Masters
- Michael Penfold
- Justin Sedgmen
- Ryan Sedgmen
- Kurt Shields
- Hugh Skidmore
- Kozza Smith
- Aaron Summers
- Richard Sweetman
- Darcy Ward

The second round of the championship wil be held at Mildura (Vic) on January 7, with the finale at Gillman (SA) on January 10. Click here to see a television ad for the final round in Gillman.

Meanwhile, the following riders/teams will compete in the Australian Under 16 Speedway Solo and Sidecar Championships at Undera (Vic) from January 16-18:

 Solo
- Dylan Blain
- Luke Mitchell
- Sam Anderson
- Mason Campton
- Dane Cartwright
- Mathew Day
- Clinton Dennis
- Max Fricke
- Cameron Heeps
- Brady Kurtz
- Robert Medson
- Nick Morris
- Brayden Munro
- Ellis Perks
- Cooper Riordan
- Arthur Sissis

Teams
- Vic. 1: Anderson & Riordan
- Vic. 2: Fricke & Munro
- SA: Sissis & Medson
- WA: Heeps & Russell
- NSW: Campton & Kurtz
- Qld. 1: Morris & Dennis
- Qld. 2: Blain & Day

Sidecar teams
- P.Blackwell/B.Blackwell
- H.Blackwell/D. Cartwright
- D.Blain/R.Gottardi
- H.Bond/B.Cox
- A.Duncan/M.Duncan
- S.Hudson/S.Gilbert
- R.Madill/S.Schofield
- Jake Mitchell/D.Ballantyne
- Jarrod Mitchell/J.Holmes
- T.Moon/TBA
- L.Schreurs/J.Hunter
- K.Turner/R.Hatcliffe

Pic: Adams in full flight during the 2008 world title