The rescheduled 2024 Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship makes its way to Tamworth on October 25-26, as the all-conquering duo of Mark Plaisted and Ben Pitt attempt to make it four wins in a row.

Plaisted and Pitt – also the current FIM Oceania sidecar speedway champions – will join seven other seeded teams in the championship decider on Saturday, October 26, as well as eight combinations which will progress from the October 25 qualifying meeting around the fast, wide and open 460-metre Oakburn Park track.

As the pressure rating increases across both nights, the form guide and pedigree suggest the final battle for silverware is going to be between hard-nosed veterans Plaisted/Pitt, 11-time national champion Darrin Treloar with passenger Blake Cox, and Justin Plaisted/Damien Egan.

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Mark Plaisted and Ben Pitt in winning form at the 2024 Oceania speedway title

Treloar/Cox last won the championship in 2019, but since then the balance of power in the high-stakes events has shifted to Plaisted/Pitt.

And Plaisted/Egan are looming large after winning the Mildura Sidecar Spectacular and the Gillman Sidecar Masters in recent weeks. Plaisted is a four-time Australian champion: three as a passenger to Treloar from 2006-2008, and as a rider in 2015.

The latest instalment in the rivalry is going to be enthralling, but it certainly won’t be a three-team domination with five other seeded outfits – Shane Hudson/Jack Spear, Joshua Wells/Cory Blackman, Brodie Cohen/Josh Murray, Max Howse/Riley Commons and Byren Gates/Mick O’Loughlin – also keen to make their presence felt. And the wave of qualifiers from October 25 will hit the ground running in the decider as well.

2024 AUSTRALIAN SPEEDWAY SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING AND SEEDED TEAMS

Justin Plaisted and Damien Egan (centre) at the recent Mildura Sidecar Spectacular

Hudson finished fourth in the 2023 Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship, while Wells/Blackman recently competed in Tamworth and made solid improvements; Broken Hill youngsters Howse/Commons are in ominous form; Gates/Loughlin are back on track after an off-season engine rebuild; and 2023 Queensland champions Cohen/Murray are desperate to make their presence felt.

Both the qualifying and championship rounds will commence from 6pm at Oakburn Park Speedway. Two-night passes are $50 for adults and $35 for concession and children. Single-night passes are also available. Cash and EFTPOS will be accepted at the gate with full canteen facilities on site.

Only millimetres in it: Mark Plaisted/Ben Pitt (obscured) and Darrin Treloar/Blake Cox at the 2024 Oceania title