South Australian Speedcar Championship

The South Australian Speedcar Championship is a Speedcar championship held in the state of South Australia on an annual basis during the Australian speedway season.

South Australia was the third Australian state behind Victoria and New South Wales to race speedcars when races began at the Camden Motordrome on 28 December 1935. Two years later saw the formation of the states first governing body, South Australian Speedways Limited.[1]

The first State Championship was run at the Kilburn Speedway in Adelaide in 1946/47 and was won by Victorian driver Jack O'Dea.[2]

The current (2014/15) South Australian Speedcar Champion is Anthony Chaffey from Queensland.

Adelaide based drivers Murray Hoffman, and former Speedcar and Sprintcar national champion Phil March jointly hold the record with four wins each. The now defunct Rowley Park Speedway in Adelaide hosted the championship on 29 occasions between 1959/50 and 1978/79. Speedway Park/City is next hosting on 20 occasions between 1979/80 and 1999/2000.

Of the 64 state titles held since 1946/47, there have been 6 won by overseas visitors. They have been Bob Tattersall (1958/59, 1967/68), Jimmy Davies (1962/63, 1963/64) and Mark Passerrelli (1987/88) from the United States, and New Zealand speedway star Barry Butterworth (1964/65).

One family has made the SA Title record books in recent times with four members of the same family winning the event. Garry Dillon took the win in 1993/94; his son Luke Dillon driving for his Uncle Stephen Dillon won in 2006/07; son Lee Dillon won in 2008/09 driving for fellow SA Speedcar racer Mark Harrington; and cousin Ben Dillon who won the event in 2010/11 driving for his father Stephen.

After being held in or near the South Australian capital of Adelaide from 1946/47 until 2001/02, a downturn in Speedcar numbers in SA at the turn of the century saw the championship staged at country tracks since 2002/03, primarily the Riverview Speedway; located 76 km from Adelaide in Murray Bridge. While event attendance had increased with regrowth in local competitors and annual influx of interstate visitors for the Championship; the 2014/15 title was the tenth time the championship has been staged in Murray Bridge since 2002/03.

In June 2015, SA Speedcars announced the 2015/16 and 66th running of the event had been awarded to Westline Speedway, Whyalla after a 30-day tender process. In conjunction with national body Speedcars Australia, this will be the first time the event has been hosted by the Whyalla venue and the closest the event has travelled to the SA/WA border in its history. The event has been scheduled for Saturday December 12, 2015.

REF: www.SAspeedcars.com

Winners since 1946/47

All drivers are from South Australia (SA) unless otherwise stated.

Year Venue City Winner
1946/47 Kilburn Speedway Adelaide Jack O'Dea (Vic)
1947/48 Kilburn Speedway Adelaide Harley Hammond
1948/49 Kilburn Speedway Adelaide Jack O'Dea (Vic)
1949/50 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Alf Beasley (Vic)
Year Venue City Winner
1950/51 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Harry Neale
1951/52 Not Held
1952/53 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Rick Harvey
1953/54 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Dave Cooper
1954/55 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Len Golding
1955/56 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Arn Sunstrom
1956/57 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Harry Neale
1957/58 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Murray Hoffman
1958/59 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Bob Tattersall (United States)
1959/60 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Kym Bonython
Year Venue City Winner
1960/61 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Murray Hoffman
1961/62 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Ron Wood
1962/63 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Jimmy Davies (United States)
1963/64 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Jimmy Davies (United States)
1964/65 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Barry Butterworth (New Zealand)
1965/66 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Murray Hoffman
1966/67 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Murray Hoffman
1967/68 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Bob Tattersall (United States)
1968/69 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Peter Maltby
1969/70 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Ray Oram (NSW)
Year Venue City Winner
1970/71 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Peter Maltby
1971/72 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Ronald Mackay (NSW)
1972/73 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Doug Sunstrom
1973/74 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Greg Anderson
1974/75 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Bob McMillan
1975/76 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Phil Herreen
1976/77 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Howard Marks (NT)
1977/78 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Rex Hodgson
1978/79 Rowley Park Speedway Adelaide Greg Anderson
1979/80 Speedway Park Virginia Steve Stewart
Year Venue City Winner
1980/81 Speedway Park Virginia Bill Wigzell
1981/82 Speedway Park Virginia Phil March
1982/83 Speedway Park Virginia Peter Maltby
1983/84 Speedway Park Virginia Phil March
1984/85 Speedway Park Virginia Phil March
1985/86 Speedway Park Virginia Phil March
1986/87 Speedway Park Virginia Phil Herreen
1987/88 Speedway Park Virginia Mark Passerrelli (United States)
1988/89 Speedway Park Virginia Trevor Green*
1989/90 Speedway Park Virginia Trevor Green
Year Venue City Winner
1990/91 Speedway Park Virginia Jeff Blake (NT)
1991/92 Speedway Park Virginia Neville Lance (WA)
1992/93 Speedway Park Virginia Mark Reuter
1993/94 Speedway Park Virginia Gary Dillon
1994/95 Speedway Park Virginia Chas Calandro
1995/96 Not Held
1996/97 Speedway City Virginia Warrenne Ekins (NT)
1997/98 Speedway City Virginia Wayne Cover (WA)
1998/99 Not Held
1999/2000 Speedway City Virginia Mark Brown (NSW)
Year Venue City Winner
2000/01 Not Held
2001/02 Wayville Showground Adelaide Warrenne Ekins (NT)
2002/03 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Peter Ghent Jnr (VIC)
2003/04 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Peter Ghent Jnr (VIC)
2004/05 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Steven Graham (NSW)
2005/06 Borderline Speedway Mount Gambier Troy Jordan (VIC)
2006/07 Sunline Speedway Waikerie Luke Dillon
2007/08 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Mark Brown (NSW)
2008/09 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Lee Dillon
2009/10 Tolmer Speedway Bordertown Brendan Palmer (QLD)
Year Venue City Winner
2010/11 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Ben Dillon
2011/12 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Travis Mills (VIC)
2012/13 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Adam Clarke (NSW)
2013/14 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Mark Brown (NSW)
2014/15 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Anthony Chaffey (QLD)
2015/16 Riverview Speedway Murray Bridge Nick Rowe (WA)

* Trevor Green, the 1988/89 champion, became the first rookie to win the SA title. He backed it up with his second title in 1989/90.

References

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