Interview
Former World Speedway Champion Billy Hamill
illy Hamill is facing the prospect of
leading a different lifestyle this
year - after missing out on a place
in British speedway because he is
overqualified.
The 1996 World Champion has failed
B
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(Top left) Former World Speedway
Champion Billy Hamill has been
forced to practice his wheelies
somewhere other than the British
Elite League in 1999. The popular
American's league-leading points
average has made him too good
to land a spot with a team.
(Above) Hamill's exclusion means
that he will be unable to celebrate
his 1O-year testimonial meeting
like his friend and teammate Greg
Hancock did in '98, robbing him of
a highly lucrative opportunity to
.cash in on his success.
(Left) A crucial hOUr> Hamill lies
on the Bydgozcz track in Poland,
awaiting medical help after
crashing and breaking his back at
the 1998 Polish GP. The injury
would turn out to playa role in his
failure fo sign a British League
contract for the 1999 season.
to secure a team place because tl"t<1t average he achieved last season has made
him too good for most clubs! The British
Elite League currently operates a controversial points limit where every top
flight dub cannot exceed 40 points. And
in the case of the Coventry Bees, the
inclusion of both Hamill and fellow Californian Greg Hancock would have put
them over the limit.
Hancock got the nod over Hamill
because he is now in his third year at
Coventry, which is just 45 miles from
where both Hancock and Hamill started
their British careers at the famous old
Cradley Heath circuit. Hancock himself
admits that he feels sympathy for his
countryman, who is regarded as one of
the most spectacular speedway riders in
the world.
"We all wanted Billy back at Coventry, and it's a shame the way things
have worked out," Hancock said. "I
could talk all day about why it has happened and how I feel it is so wrong that
a rider of Billy's ability cannot get a
place in British speedway."ยท
It now seems certain that Hamill's
only hope is to wait for a top rider to get
injured or for teams to make changes so
that new averages start to apply. The
controversy over averages and points
limits has been a major talking point in
British speedway for 20 years, but only
in the last three year has it really s.tart-
