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three-day suspension if he failed to ride in an open meeting. Dennis Sigalos 1979 Average: 7.78 Shawn Moran 21 rides. 27 points plus 3 bonus points. 30 total. avg: 5.71 o John Cook 0") 19 rides. 10 points plus 3 bonus points. 13 total, avg: 2.73 00 l""""4 (From left) Bruce Penhall. Scott Autrey. Bobby Schwartz and Dennis Sigalos represent the U.S. well in the British Speedway League. American stars in the British Speedway League By John Hipkiss Every rider in the British League obtains a match average, and as the season progresses, a team may not field a side of more than 50 points total between the seven men which make up a team . If they do, then that team has to lose a rider, as in the case of west coast specialist Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz who last season was just 0.07 of a point too high , and was forced to move to another club although he was quite happy to stay with his first Bri tish club, Cradley Heath. Bobby was forced to move to Reading. A ma tch average is ca lculated by dividing the tota l points scored (including bonus points) by the number of rides tak en. A bonus point is given to a rider when he follows a team rider across the finish line , unl ess he is last , i.e . riding partner wins race for three points followed by his teammate who gets two points plus another point, same applies in second and third places. However , bonus points are not counted in the final match resul t. The following are compiled to May 1980. Scott Autrey 32 rides. 80 points plus four bonus points. 84 total, avg: 10.50 22 Scott finished last season as top man of the British League with an average of 10.98. Not bad when you consider the maximum average cannot go over 12 points. He has continued where he left off last year although he has changed clubs from Exeter, who are now second division, to Swindon (both clubs have the same promoter). Not considered to be a flamboyant racer, he is always in the top scoring for his team. In the recent test meetings against England he totaled 68 points in five meets, giving him an average of l!I.56 (max in tests is 18 points from six rides). Everything, however, hasn't been a bed of roses. Recently in Germany, while partnering Bruce Penhall in the World Best Pairs qualifier, Scott only scored eight points from six rides, with his partner's 12 points that gave the USA a total of 20 points, just a couple points short of qualifying. And in the qualifying round of the World Team Cup he contributed nine points to the USA's totaloUI. Bruce Penhall 28 rides. 73 points. ave: 10.43 Known to his girl fans as "Juicy Brucey,' Penhall has gone from strength to strength in his speedway career since joining British League club Cradley Heath. He finished last season with an average of 10.13 and was just pipped on the line for first place in the British League Riders Championship. This year, however, looks like it's going to be the one that makes it all worthwhile, current holder of the match race title, a competition where a challenger is nominated each month, and joint leader in the World Master Of Speedway, a title he won last season. In the recent test meets between the USA and England, Bruce finished top points man with a match average of 14 .76 and scored nine points in the World Team Cup qualifier, helping to take his country to the next state in Denmark. Every meeting, however, does not quite have a happy ending. Surprisingly, a couple of weeks ago the USA failed to qualify for the final of the World Best Pairs, in that meet Bruce scored 12 points from five rides with an engine failure in his sixth. In the three short years that Penhall has been in Europe he has collected a vast amount of silverware including a gold bar worth $16,000 in an open meet in Denmark last month. Along with Scott Autrey, Penall goes into the Intercontinental Final of the Individual World Championship at White City, London on August 3, where the top nine qualify for the World Final in Gothenberg, Sweden on September 5. Although Bruce is very confident in reaching the final, he knows if he becomes too relaxed it could prove costly .to him. He was recently threatened with a Dennis Sigal08, returning for a second season with Hull, is joined this year by Shawn Moran and John Cook . Last season saw Shawn's brother Kelly attached with the same team; however this year we have seen Kelly go to struggling league side Birmingham. Hull's promoters gamble in bringing two new Yanks to his team has not quite paid off, as sh ows with the struggling form of you ng John Cook, whose average of just over two points cannot guarantee a team place for the rest of th e year. The you nger Moran has won the hearts of the fans with his daredevil displays of balance, skill and determination to mix it with the world's best riders. We will very shortly sec him among the top American points scorers; that is, if he remains in one piece I Shawn came back from a nasty injury, which he received when he lost an argument with a safety fence, to average 6.48 from three test meets and was the savio r along with Dennis Sigalos in the final winning test. His senior in the Hull team is the very likable Dennis Sigalos whose average of 7.78 points can be credited not only to h is gutsy riding but to the tuition he has received over the last two years from current World Champion Ivan Mauger. So far this season, Sigalos has stayed clear of injury, and in the tests with England averaged 12 points with a further top points score of 10 for the USA in the World Team Cup. Ron Preston 1979 average: 8.90 The ex-San Bernardino sizzler came to England last year and made an immediate impact on the league, scoring high points throughout the season to finish with an average of almost nine points, an average which he keeps until he has ridden at least six league meets to obtain an average for 1980. This season seems to have gotten off to a bad start for Ronnie as ' he has spent more time in California then racing in England through a series of injuries, the last of which he received torn ligaments in his leg after colliding with the safety fence at his home track Poole, in the England vs. USA test series. In that series, he rode in four to obtain an average of 5.34 points. That's a slow start to the season for him, but as soon as he's ready he'll be piling up the points again. Maybe Ronnie could take in a little practice on the west coast tracks before returning to England. Bobby Schwartz 1979 average: 7.41 "Boogaloo" was transferred to his new club Reading during the close season asa result of the 50 point rule, as no club is allowed to exceed this limit. His transfer fee of 8,000 pounds was below his old club's value but agreed to this figure so to enable Bobby's new team to offer better teams. He also has a string of sponsors making this season quite a profitable one for him. So far, his scores have mostly been in the double figures, so next month should see his average go up by at least a couple of points. He partnered his buddy Bruce . Penhall in the tests with : I· ! ' i" ) .: England and had an average of 9.78 , along with the success of the USA team in the World Team Cup. Schwartz had a bad day collecting three points after crashing in one race and an engine failure in another. He now makes regular trips to the continent establishing himself as an international racing star. Steve Gresham 27 rides, 39 points plus 3 bonus points. 42 total. avg: 6.22 Gresham has been around the English circuits for some time now, starting his career with Hull before eventually settling at his present team Swindon with Scott Au trey. He . finished last season with an average of 6.93 so his average for 1980 seems to be around the same points mark. He has qualified for the Long Track sem i-final (approximately 1000 meters) along with Bruce Penhall. He rode in the tests against England and averaged 7.50 points per meeting, also called upon as reserve in the World Team Cup qualifier, but he wasn't needed to ride. Larry Kosta Assessed average for.1980. 6.00 Kosta came over to England on the recommendation of Ian Thomas, who promotes Sigalos, Moran and Cook, to join the once mighty Belle Vue team at Manchester. He has found the going a little tougher than expected but has shown signs of improvement. The track at Belle Vue is somewhat bigger than on the west coast, about 400 yards. At a recent British Speedway Promoters Association they were informed that all or most of the English-based American speedway stars would have to return to southern California for domestic reasons at least three times this season, and that the British Promoter should pay for all the air fares . While it can be understood by the British speedway fans that the sport could be in decline in America, they fail to see why they should lose their top personalities for what can only be seen as a financial gain by the promoters on the west coast. Had the American speedway riders been under contract several years ago, then none of this would have arisen, or at least there would not have been so much aggravation. With the p0ssible threat of suspension from the AMA and the attractive weather, one can hardly blame the riders' for forming a line to get over there. What is annoying to the speedway public in England is that they are forced to miss their star riders in action and any cost incurred by a promoter is eventually passed on to them. Should the promoters here say to the riders that if you go back, stay back? They are sure that the riders would have to listen, as their earnings are far in excess of what they could earn on the tracks of California. With regular trips to Germany, Denmark and Sweden almost each weekend and occasionally in midweek, the American riders are sitting on a gold mine. If it weren't for the British promoters paying for the air fares for them to ride in England, then the continental promoters wouldn't want the Yanks, as it would be too expensive to fly a team over to Germany. If it weren't for League racing in England, then the sport would probably die on the international scene, so the Americans do have something to be thankful for. Remember back to the first time Bruce Penhall and.'like Bast rode at White City, London? They were completely out of itl Come on, America, give us back your riders I •