Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Shawn Moran leads Ma lco lm Simmons at Swindon. U.S., England tied in speedwa~ te$t series - By John Hipkiss Pending the resched u lin g of a rained-o u t rou n d, American a nd British speedway teams are kno tted wi th tw o win s apiece in the a n n ual U SA/ En glan d speedway test series. This running of th e annual contest has gone ba ck an d forth between the two teams, and it now awaits the runn ing of th e third round a t Pool e, resch edu led fo r Ma y 19, to p rod uce a fiin al resu lt. First test: England 6 3 , USA 45 . 18 L O N DON, EN G LA N D, AP R. 29 On a very wet , co ld a nd m iserable ni ght, th e Am eri can sp eedway tea m wa s defeat ed here a t Wimbl edon Stadium by a brave Engl ish team whi ch mastered the co nd itio ns on th e wet trac k far quicker th an th ei r rivals. T he sco re of 63-45 against th e Am er icans looks as tho ug h they were never in co ntentio n . but it was o n ly after 10 o f th e 18 races th a t the home team pu t on th e pressure a nd sta rte d to p u ll awa y from th e Americans. At that stage th e sco re wa s England 32, USA 28 with the nex t tw o races going to England by 5-1 and 4-2 sco res. That seemed to seal the fat e of th e Am eri cans, and with th eir ca pta in Bru ce Penhall lacking h is cus tomary pace, th ey were o n ly a shado w of a team th at shared a n enth ra ll in g draw with En gland in th e co rres ponding meet two years ago. World cha m p io n Penhall mad e th e headlines even before th e seri es started wh en h e withdrew from th e tests because th e Bri tish promoters had refused to pay him extra sta rt money, with Penhall asking for a n extra $600 per meet for the five-m eet seri es. "As world cha m p I think I'm worth that small a mou nt extra . I kn ow that by having Bruce Penhall at th e mee ts it w ill increase the ga te, and if the world cham p io n can 't ask for a littl e extra then the sport must be goi ng in th e wrong di rec tion. " The promoters event ua lly saw th e light and conceded to Penha ll 's req uest. H o wever, the champ has yet to rega in the tremendo us form that took h im to the top last year. O f America 's defea t in the first test , Penhall sa id " T here are no excuses, we are just bein g bea t, especia ll y fro m th e gat e. As wet as th e tra ck is it 's th e sa me for everybody. " For th e Am eri cans Sha wn Moran was th e best rider on view a nd was invol ved in so me o f th e bes t races of th e ni ght. H e sha red the to p points sco re with Dennis Sigalos, bo th with 13 points from six ri des. Bobby " Boogaloo" Schwartz strugg led to make a ny impression in hi s fir st meeting a fter return in g from a n injury sustained in a West German long tr ack ea rlier in the season, an d hecould manage o nlv four poi ms. Worse than th at was th e return points wise of Sco tt Autrey, who sco red o n ly o ne point. Gi ven a n o u tingon hi s "home" track , Brad Oxley fail ed to sco re. For th e English Lions Kenn y Ca rter wa s top sco rer with 17 p oints, a nd Cris Morton managed o n ly five. Former world cha m p io n Mike Lee co ntroversially withdrew from th e meeting a fter co ntractin g a sto mach bu g fro m a recent visit to th e J aw a fac to ry in Czechoslovakia. Res ults ENGLAND. 63: Ke nny Caner ( 17); Malcolm Simmon. (121: A ndy Grahame (9 ); John Dav id (8); Dave Jessup f6); A la n Grahame (6 ); Cris Morto n (5); Gordon Kennett to). AMERICA. 4 5: Denni. Siga lo. (13 ): Shaw n M oran (1 3); 8 ruce Pen hall (9); 80bby Schwanz (4); Kelly Mo ran (3 1; Scan Autrey (1); 8rad Oxle y (01 John ; Cook (01. Second test USA 60, England 4 7 SWINDON , ENGLAND, MAY 2 Just three days after being beat en by England , th e American Eagles ca me back with a vengeance to trounce th e Lions by 13 points, 60-47, a n d tieing up the series. T here was a sens ational start to . th is second mee t. In the opening race, England's Kenny Carter , while try i ng to " cho p " back o nto the line to bloc k Bruce Penha ll , forced h is tea mma te Steve Bastable off hi s mach in e. In the re-ru n again Carter tr ied to co me back o nto Pen hall , and after a few elbows had been knocked it was Ca rter who bit the dust. H o wever, i t's doubtfu l if th ere is an y love lost bet ween th ese two. T hat was a ll th at th e Americans needed to gai n confiden ce fo r the rest of the meet as th e Englis h lads nev er gained control of th e races an d it was th e partnersh ips o f Penhall /S igal os and th e Moran broth ers that proved to be 'th e p ower behind th e Am erica n s' fin e win. Againit was th e aggressi ve perfor ma nce of yo u ng Shawn Mo ran tha t o vers ha dowed wor ld cham pion Bru ce Penhall. Wi th h is g u tsy 110% effort , M oran sco red 12 p oints from his six rides, although he di d n ' t finis h in tw o of them , o ne whe n h is pri mary chai n came off and in a nother race when h e cras hed into th e ins ide curb and bai led off h is machine. H is rid in g buddy Kell y ga ve h i m fine support wi th nin e po ints p lus a few de monst rat ion wh eel ies for good measure. Tea m ca p ta i n Penhall scored co nsiste nt ly to register 12 poi nts, bu t surpris ingly o n ly m an aged to win o ne race , whil e hi s partn er Dennis Si ga los wa s a li tt le in consistent, winning three of hi s rides tow ards h is 10-p oint total. By th e halfw ay sta ge, heat eight , th e Am eri cans were leading England 27 points to 20. It was in th e next three ra ces that they dealt their fin al blow by taking two 4-2s a nd a maximum 5-1, to give th em selves a IS-point lead, 40-25. It was a welcome to see Scott Autrey back o n top form , givi ng a fine p erfor mance for h is l l-poim tall y whi ch in cl uded two race wins. Again, however, it wasn 't Bobby Schwartz's night. H e ca me into the team fro m reserve to repl ace th e injured teve Gresh am , o n ly to be given two rides for a ret u rn of j us t o ne point. T op scorer s for the En gl and team were Dave J essu p (12), Ca rter ( I I ), a nd Cris Morton ( 10), bu t th ey had ver y littl e backin g a nd j u st never seem ed to get thei r ac t together. Results ENGLAND. 4 7; Dave Jessup (12); Kenny Carter t 11 ); Cr is Morton ( 10); Malcolm Simmons (61; Alan Gra hame (3 ); Steve Bastable (3 ); M ike Lee (21: John Davis (0). A MERICA. 60: Shawn M oran (12): Bru ce Penhall (121: SCali Autrey (11); Denn is Siga la. (10); Kell y M oran l 9 1 John Cook (5 ); 8 0bby Schw anz ( l ); Ron ; Preston (0). Third test Ra ined o ut T he th ird of the five test s between Engl and and Am eri ca was rained o u t when torrential rain s swept th e sou th coas t track an hour before th e start. The me eting now takes an important part of th e seri es because it beco mes the deciding test between th e tw o sp eedwa y nat ions with th e Americans winning th e fourth test and England gaining reven ge in th e fifth to m a ke it all square a t two wins each . The restaging of th e decidin g test takes pl ace o n May 19th, but th ere seems to be a probl em wi th th e availability of th e world cha m p io n Bruce Pen ha ll wh o is sch eduled to ride o n th e co nt ine n t. Fo urth test USA 66, England 42 IPSWIT CH , ENGLAN D, MAY 6 Am erica shot into a IO-point lead after only three rac es, and the 14-4 score com p letely demoral ized th e Englis h tea m si nce th ey knew th e Americans were always co n sidered as favori tes at Ipswich , th e ho m e tra ck of Denn is Sigalos a nd J o h n Cook. Engla nd ans wered bac k in race four wi th a heat win by ca p ta in Dave J essup to narrow th e points difference to eight, but th e Am ericans were having n on e o f i t as th ey ca me back with a vengeance to regi ster three h eat wins in a ro w. Races eig h t, nine and 10 went to th e Ame rica ns as 4-2 win s to take th e progressive to ta ls to 23-37, a n im pressive 14 point lead. The race wins ca me from SigaIos, Sha wn Moran a nd captain Bruce Pen hal l. A maximum 5- 1 win in hea t 12 through th e efforts of the fabulo us Moran brothers completely sealed England 's fat e and assu red victory for th e Am eri cans as they co nt in ued to in crease th eir lead to a fin al score of 66-42, a thrashin g for th e home team. Res u lts ENGlAND 42 : Ken n y Caner (15); Dave J essup (8); Cri. M onon (7); M ike lee (7); Gordon Kennell (4); Kev in J olly (1); Andy Graham e (0 ); Alan Gre heme (0 1 . AMERICA. 66 : 8 ruce Penhall (14 ); Sh awn Mo ran : (1 4); Den ni. Sigalos (1 31 Kelly Moran (11k 80bby Schwanz (81: SCali Autr ey (5); J ohn Cook (1). Fifth test En gland 61 , U SA 47 BELL E VU E, ENG LAN D. MAY 9 J ust as the America ns were expec ted to win a t Ip sw ich, so th e En gl ish team was expected to tak e th e hon or s a t Bell e Vu e. But th e final sco re line of 6 1-47 to Engla n d doesn ' t refl ect th e clo sen ess o f th e raci ng o r how close th e progressi ve scores wer e up until the halfwa y stag e. England too k a two point lead in he at th ree which was wiped o u t by th e Am eri can s in races five and six, wi th wins by Siga los a nd Sh awn Moran . Race seven went back to a hea t win for England with a great race from Cris M orton who took world cha m pion Bruce Penhall from th e back o n th e big 4 18 yard track . This made it all square after seven ra ces a t 2 1-21, with th e sco res still level aft er 10 of th e 18 races a t 30-30. U p until th is stage th e Am ericans had provided si x of th e 10 heat winners, but th ey were a lways lacking su p port from th eir riding partners as th ey cou ld o n ly total seven points between the m . Kellv Moran co nt ri buted five, while Autrey and Schwartz re tu rned o n ly o ne point eac h . H o wever, it 's felt th at th ese riders were lacking po wer in th eir machiner y. Pen hall 's arc h riva l, Kenn y Carter aga in ' mad e th e new s as th e world cha m p io n claime d that Ca ner used a new tire in race 10. Although Penhall beat Ca rter in this ra ce, th ere is a rul e agai ns t using m ore tha n o ne new tire per meeting, and it was th is rul e th at Pen ha ll wa s referring to when he wav ed th e rul ebook at Carter. After a n inspecti on o f th e o ffend ing tire by th e Am eri can team manager J ohn Scott, it wa s ag reed to go ah ead a nd ra ce - a decision whi ch clearly ann o yed th e A mer i c an s ki p pe r. Th is test sa w a return to Int ernational duty to form er world cha mpion Peter Collin s. Ca liforn ia ns will remember Collins from th e " Rest of th e World " series a few yea rs back. a n d h e made a dream debut with race wins over Penhall , Sigalos and Sh awn Moran for h is l 4-point total , T he ep isode with th e tire seemed to upset th e Am rican s beca use at this sta ge En gland took co m ma nd o f th e meet a nd romped into a 10-point lead . By th e end of race 13 they were leading 44-34 and from th en o n never lo ok ed ba ck as th e team rode to a 6 I-47 victory. Lance King mad e hi s Int ern a tio na l debut replacing Scott Autrey in two rides but he failed to scor e. No w th e o u tco me of the test series rest s on th e result of th e restaging of th e third test a t Pool e since bot h teams are even a t tw o wins eac h . The Americans seem to revel in th ese cir cumsta nces, bu t before th is test is decided , the America n s mee t England , Aust ra lia and New Zeala nd in the World Team C up q ua lifier on Su nday May 16. • Results ENGLAND. 6 1: ens Monon (15); Peter Collin. (14); Kenny Caner (11); A lan Grahame (8): An dy Graha me (5): M ale Simmons (3 ): Les Coll ins (3); Dave Jessup ( 2~. U.S.A.. 47 : Den nis Siga las (14); Br uce Penhall (13): Shawn M oran (13); Kelly Moren (5): 80bby Schwenz (1); SCOIl A utrey (1); lanc e King (0): Steve Gre.ham (0) .

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