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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126473
3 2 Frank AuHret Phil Collins Peter Collins ...n. 47 Yanks In Great Britain USA plays in Poole By John Hipkiss POOLE, ENGLAND , MAY 14 After victory at Hull the previous week, the American team turned in a performance second to none at Poole Speedway, home track (Above) Steve Gresham and Scott Autrey help tally the U.S. points. (Below) The U.S. team pos.!s after a victory. of San Bernardino specialist Ron Preston. On a track which was deep and overwatered, the Yanks were very much at home from the first race , rid ing to a 63-44 victory over a completely demoralized English team , who des perately needed a win. England's captain, 38 -year·old John Louis was excluded in heat two for fetch ing down Californian Steve Gresham, and also taking a fall was Ron Preston who crashed heavily into the safety fence receiving torn ligaments. America's 19-point victory could possibly have been much greater had Bobby Schwartz and Dennis Sigalos not taken a fall while leading in one of • xheir races, and an exclusion under the two -minute rule for Steve Gresham. Again , the pairing of Bruce Penhall and Bobby Schwanz was an inspiration to the rest of the team , ' with rookie Shawn Moran waying in with four third places and showing a vast amount of potential. Again England's fortunes were mixed with engine failures , exclusions and an injury to John Davis who had dislocated his collarbone the previous night. But those shouldn't be offered as excuses for failure to overcome an American team who are intent on winning this five meet test series , of which they have now won two, lost one, with one drawn. This means that England must win the last meet ; USA has only to draw to take victory in the first ever test meeting between these two speedway countries. Results Yanks in Great Britain Eagle razes Hull By John Hipkiss HULL ,ENGLAND,MAY7 The American eagle bites back! At Hull Speedway, the United States of America won the third test meeting, 61 points to Eng- 24 land's 47 , to level the series one all , with one draw . America . disappointed after their defeat in the second test at Cradley Heath - where they were sure they could win - were firing on all cylinders. No one could match the Yanks' top three - Californians Dennis Sigalos, Bruce Penhall and team captain SCOll Autrey - who between them totalled 43 points. That's almost the total of all the English riders . England , the once-mighty nation of speedway, found themselves struggling against an American team who could do no wrong. Top pairing was Bruce Penhall and Bobby Schwartz who totaled 23 points between them. But it wasn't all success for the American team . In heat three, bunching on the Results USA Dennis 5igalos Bruce Penhall Scott Autrey Bobby Schwartz Steve Gresham Ron Preston Shawn MOIan John Cook ENGLAND John Davis John Lou is Mike Lee Kenny Carter C,isMorlon 15 14 14 9 7 1 1 ...n. 61 II 11 10 7 3 16 10 12 10 9 2 4 Sco tt Autrey Steve Gfesham Dennis S'galos Ron Preston Shawn M",an John Cook ...n. 63 ENGLAND Mike lee Les Collins 2 7 o John louis Peter Collins DaveJessop e ns Morton Male Simmons Ph il Collins Results ENGLAND; Mike lee Dave Jessup . Cris Morton Peter Collins John louis 11 13 4 7 ...n. 44 Britons, Yanks top U.K. World Cup qualifier' By J ohn Hi pkiss KINGS LYNN, ENGLAND , MAY 18 The American team again qualified for the Inter-Continental Final (semi) of the World Team Cup competition, as they did last year. This competition consists of teams from the Scandinavian countries and teams based in England such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Each team consists of four riders plus one reserve, . with each rider taking four ,ri des only. The top two teams from this round qualify for the 11 II 11 9 Ol'esl 42 USA : Dennis Sigalos Bru ce Penhall SconAutrey Bobby Schwartz USA Bruce Penhall Bobby Schwartz first bend resulted in Ron Preston being badly shaken after hilling the safety fence . England's prospects looked glum before the meeting started as their top rider in the previous tests, Dave jessop, had been forced to rest with a groin injury and former World Champion Peter Coll ins being listed as reserve , due to his open dislike to t he Hull track. America went into a six -point lead in race eight and never looked back on an English team who was riddled with engine failures. Penhall and Schwartz took maximum points in race 10 to increase their lead to 10 points. England's luck continued to go downhill; while heading for a 5-1 in heat II, machine problems struck again . Further USA victories in races 13 and 14 sealed England's fate; now America was 16 points up with four races left and victory was theirs. next round in Denmark in July , from that meeting the top two teams go on to the final to be held in Poland in September. The teams in the United Kingdom round were England with 42 points, USA with 31, Australia at 14, and New Zealand holding n ine. There was never any doubt which . two countries would qualify, with England taking an early lead of four points over America by heat eight. In race two , Bobby Schwartz made a spectacular crash into the safety fence . Although his machine was dam aged, he continued to race , suffering from extensive bruising, managing to score three points from his two completed rides . Several clashes between the Ameri can and the English riders gave the spectators plenty to shout about , even though it was obvious these two nations would qualify . The races between Bruce Penhall and Mike Lee , then Penhall and Peter Collins produced some "ding-dong" racing. Only inches separated th e riders for four laps , with the results going in the Englishmen's way . Steve Gresham , who was replacing the injured Ron Preston , came to the aid of captain SCOll Autrey in his first race by loaning him his machine. Gresham , however , was riding as reserve and was not called upon to ride during the meeting. Dennis Sigalos again turned in a tremendous performance by top-scoring with 10 points, dropping his onl y points to Englishmen Dave Jessup and Cris Morton. Holders of the cup , New Zealand, were totally out of it , managing a pathetic nine points from 16 hea ts of racing. Now England and America have to wait for the outcome of the Scandinavian round where they meet the top two teams from among Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Steve Gresham 10 9 9 3 oIres) 31 AUSTRALIA: Gary Guglielmi BiIIVSanders Mike Mekeun Dannv Kennadv Phil Hearn 41'es) 3 3 3 1 14 NEW ZEALAND: Larry Ross Ivan Mauger BruceCribb Mitch ShAn Wayne Brown 5 3 I o o ~es) 9 Speedway News Both the Americans nominated into the World Long Track Championship, Bruce Penhall and Steve Gresham, have qualified into the semi -final to be held in Yugoslavia in July. Penhall raced to a maximum in Denmark, and Gresham finished third in his round in Germany. With tracks in excess of 1000 meters, .speeds of around 100mph are not uncommon, Penhall stayed in the news by retaining his Golden Helmet for the month of May by beating challenger John Davis . This match race is held once a month with a challenger being nomin ated to race on a home and away track basis. Bruce beat the April challenge of John Louis two races to ni l at both legs . The best of three races at each leg decides the monthly winner. Good news for Dennis Sigalos fans: He probably will be returning to southern California during the latter half of June to take in some domestic meetings - but only for one week.