Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

world speedway I!;;:::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;= By Peter Whit e LONDON. ENGLAND,July 24. 1972The 1972 Speedway Championship of the World reaches the penultimate stage for British and Commonwealth riders with the British Final at Coventry, England on August 2. Sixteen crack English, Scottish. New Zealand and Australian riders will con test the meeting to decide the five qualifiers for the World Championship Final to be held this year at the. Empire Stadium. Wembley on September 16. The 16 competitors reached the British Final after a grueling series of ,qualifying rounds and semi-finals here in Britain. Every British League First Division rider entered the competition and, as usual, quite a few sensations occurred along the path to the uLtimate dirt track prize. English international. Howard Cole. was the most unfortunate as he was critically injured in the first race of the semi-final at Leicester when he crashed with two other riders (Nigel Boocock of England and Bobby Beaton of Scotland). Cole. was flung against the wire safety fence at speed and was rushed to hospital unconscious. He sustained several fractured ribs. dislocated kidney. punctured lung and other serious internal injuries. He was immediately placed in a respirator where he remained unconscious for five days. He improved gradually and three weeks late,r he was allowed to leave the hospital. He hopes to return to the track soon. A sensation occurred when reserve George Hunter (Scotland) took Cole's place in the re-run of the event and went through Cole's full five rides to score sufficient points to qualify for the British Final. However. after the meeting' the referee.in.charge ruled that Hunter was ineligible to qualify as his points as reserve did not count. Hunter lodged an immediate protest with the Control Board but this was overruled at a subsequent Disciplinary Tribunal hearing in London. Hunter's place in the British Final will be taken by England's captain, Nigel Boocock, who defeated Australian Geoff Curtis in a run-off. Qualifiers for the British Final are: Ivan Mauger (New Zealand) Bary Briggs (New Zealand) Ronnie Moore (New Zealand) Nigel Boocock (England) Eric Boocock (England) Terry Betts (England) John Louis (England) - Dave Jessup (England) Peter CoUins (England) Trevor Hedge (England) Martin Ashby (England) Ray Wilson (EnKland) Arnold Haley (England) John Boulger (Australia) Garry Middleton (Australia) Jim McMillan (Scotland) WORLD (?) CHAMPIONSHIP This 'meeting will be the hardest of the season for the 16 gladiators fighting for World Championship glory. For the fJJ'St time, Britain has been cut to only five represen tatives in the World Final...and that includes riders from Australia. New Zealand. Scotland. South Africa and all points West. Once again, the irony of the "World Championship" is seen in the fact that only those rider~ competing in the British League are eligible to compete and no provision is made for world class stars such as Jim Airey (Australia) who opted to stay in his homeland, this sc.ason for business re,asons·. Similarly. no provision is made for American riders who continue to be left out in the cold in this particular competition - the premier speedway event in the world. What price a Southern Zone Final taking in America. Australia, New Zeland and Sou th Africa? The remaining 11 riders for Wembley will come from the European Final which is to be held at Wroclaw. Poland home of the 1970 World Championship - on September 3. The European Final will consist of eight qualifiers from the Nordic Final (Current World Champion Ole Olsen. Norwegian Reidar Eide and Swedes Bengt Jansson. Anders Michanek. Bernt Persson. Jan Simensen, Christer Lofqvist and Gote Nordin) and eight qualifiers from the Continental Final (consisting of the top Poles, Russians and Czechs). MAUGER-QLSEN CLASH At present the World Championship looms as a battle between today's top speedway super-stars, Ivan Mauger and Ole Olsen. ' The.se riders appear a definite cut above an y'one else in the world and if both qualify for Wembley. I confidently expect the destination of the Crown to be decided by their clash. Mauger has the edge in consistency at the moment but Olsen has many times proven his ability to contain the mighty Kiwi, especially "from the back". Mauger recently retained his 1000 metres World Sand Track Championship in West Gennany when he defeated Manfred Poschenreider for the second year in succession. And to do it he had to withstand the pain of two fractured wrists! He originally sustained the injuries in Sweden in June when defending the World Best Pair title in company with feUow New Zealander. Ronnie Moore. England managed to wrest the championship after Mauger fell in a decisive run-off against top Pom. Ray Wilson. Mauger's bike suddenly picked up drive on the first tum and he fell in front of Wilsop who was unable to avoid dipping the Kiwi. Ivan returned to England and continued to race despite his injuries but after his Long Track success he decided to layoff until just five days before the British Final. To retain the Long Track title. he had' a doctor on h~d in the pits to administer pain.killing injections before he raced. Mauger is confident the injuries will not interfere with his attack on the British Speedway Championship and if he is righ t he can be expected to win. His main opposition appears to come in the fonn of Ray Wilson who has assumed the mantle of England Number One this season. Wilson has now reached World Class and should easily qualify for WembIey but 1 feel he lacks the detennination and consistency to pose any real threat to Mauger or Olsen. CONTENDERS The British Final top five are open to speculation ·and any of the field could go through. FanCied a)"C the "old firm" riders such as Briggs and Moore. both past World Champions. while the "new bree.d" such as Jessup. Middleton and Collins also have their support. Shocks there may be ...and among them I hope will be the qualification of Australian duo Middleton and Boulger. Both riders have the nerve and ability to ,make their first World Final. With a small slice of luck ... Barry Briggs. such a popular figure with Californian speedway spectators, has not had an easy season and one wonders whether the pace may prove just a fraction too hot for Barry and his veteran Kiwi chum, Ronnie Moore. Briggo suffered a severe bout of bike bother earlier this season and actually took a short hreak in Spain in an attempt to return to his peak. Then he copped a real "purler" in an Inter-Nations test match at the famous Belle Vue track. Manchester. while riding for New Zealand again'st Australia and was sidelined for "",veral weeks. Barry was bundled into the safety fence at full throttle when attempting an outside pass on Aussie John Langfield who lost control suddenly and cannoned into B.B. Briggs injured his righ t knee and was generally battered and shaken but he can be thankful the injuries were minor as the accident was one of the worst ever seen at the speed bowl. Barry promises to be back in action for the British Final and. as ever. he'lI pose a threat - that's for sure. Three of England's brightest whiz-kids have worked their way through to the British Final this year and the pundits are expecting big- things from them at Coventry. Dave Jessup rode for Wembley last year in company with American s,tar. Steve Bast, and later wintered in Rhodesia; Peter Collins· is a tearaway grass track champion and John Louis is the sensation of the season with the newly-promoted Ipswich team. 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