Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

N ~- Co « ~ w ~ d G HOW IT IS IN EUROPE Now that the 1971 speedway season is well and truly underway in Britain - and with my own commitments with former British League champion Swindon very much on my mind - I figured it would be a good idea to devote my next columns to a detailed explanation of the sport on "my side" of the Atlantic_ This time, I'll examine the speedway set-up in general terms. And in the next column, I'll talk about the rules and regulations which govern British speedway. Riders in Britain face the most strenuous fix ture list in the world. The domestic programme - involving league matches, knock-out cup tournaments, regional contests, individual meetings and national championships (not to mention the Test Matches and World Championship meetings which I plan to cover in greater detail later on in this series) - is colossal, and the season stretches from late March until the tail-end of October. Even then, it's rather like squeezing a quart into a pint pot! It's therefore not surprising that the biggest hazard facing riders is not so much the actual racing but the travelling. Riders invariably make their own way to away fixtures, almost always travelling by road with their machine either on a trailer behind the car, locked to a specially constructed bar at the rear of the car and sometimes even wedged into the boot and back seats! Britain isn't exactly a big country, but when a rider averages three meetings per week, it means a lot of time on the road. Club sides are widely spread out ranging from Glasgow in Scotland to Newport in Wales, Newcastle in the industrial north-east to the gigantic Wembley Stadium in London. Sometimes a rider faces a round-trip drive of 700 miles on busy roads - with the actual racing time amounting" to under seven minutes on the track! Arriving at a meeting after a long, tiring drive and then getting in to the righ t psychological frame of mind to IAIIY IIIGGS \\SpeedwflY find /lie••• II dice with danger on the track is quite a problem. And at the back of the mind, there's always the nagging thought that after six races, there's another four or five hours of driving to face before a rider gets time to sit back and relax. Believe me, speedw.ay racing in Britain is no game for the lazy! SPEEDWAY 7 NIGIITS A WEEK League matches are very much the staple bread-and-butter diet of speedway in Britain. Nineteen teams operate in the First Division of the British League and a further seventeen operate in the Second Division. Clubs meet each other twice - once at home and once away. Every team has its own specific race nigh t, which means that speedway is presented somewhere or other every nigh t of the week. The British League is still comparatively new. It was launched in 1965 - an amalgam of the old National and Provincial Leagues. For those who' enjoy facts and figures, the Division I champions to date are West Ham (1965), Haliiax (1966), Swindon (1967), Covel}try (1968), Poole (1969) and th e legendary Manchester side, Belle Vue, last year. Th.e Second Division was launched in 1968. Belle Vue's second side, the Colts, won the title in '68 and '69, whilst last year, it was the turn of the Canterbury Crusaders. Each league operates its own knock-out cup - a sudden death, one-leg-only affair in which the luck of tlte draw plays an important part in all but the final, which is ridden on a home-and-away basis, with aggregate scores deciding the winner. Wimbledon, one of London's most historic and colourful sides, recently completed a remarkable hat-trick of Division I KO Cup successes via their third consecutive victory in the tournament last season. Other First Division winners are West Ham, Halifax and Coventry, whilst in Division 2, Canterbury and Belle Vue won the trophy prior to curren t East Anglian holders Ipswich. Both league and cup matches are run over 13 heats, with seven men in each side. Five riders in each teain have four races, the remaining two get two apiece in a normal match. Occasionally, in unofficial challenge rna tcltes, clubs field eight-man tearns, but this is becoming increasingly !;aTe these days. Outside the league fixtures, we have a number of regio"ha1 cups. Four clubs contest the London Cup, and there also a Midlands Cup, a Northern Cup and, until the recent closure of Coatbridge, a Scottish Cup. Far from being 'filler' fixtures, these contests attract tremendous support on account of the "local derby" interest created when two neighbouring sides meet. Then the sparks really fly! individual meetmgs are plentiful, too, with the British Championship (in reality, the final British qualifying stage of the World Championship) and the British League Riders Championship Jo" ••, ••r4 '.s.r••ce 5"5 "He, .r. Dea'er" We carryall types of insurance coverage - garage liability:'" fire - t~ft & dealer bonds TBB Sire Up To 251 JOHN •• MAYNARD INS. OUTBIDBB The OUTRIDER is a unique new concept in the retailing of motorcycle accessories, equipment and apparel. Here now, for the first time, is a full service "accessories only" department-store type operation designed and equipped specifically for you, the motorcycle rider and enthusiast. So, come on over - we want you. Come see for younelf. Over 1.000 popular (and not so popular) items to choose from. For road riding or track, desert or trail. For all makes and ·3441 Motor Ave., L.A., Ca. (n3) 83&-5211 ••..................................• · · · · · • Helmets, goggles and gloves. 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