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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128181
Shawn and Kelly Moran ooeyan TEXT By BRIAN BURFORD Editor's Note: The fallowing is an excerpt from Brian Burford's new 224page biography, The Moran Brothers, which follows the lives of Shawn and Kelly Moran, two of America's most talented speedway aces, who rose to popularity at a time when the American speedway scene was in a golden age, following back-to-back World titles by Bruce Penhall. Burford does an excellent job of fallowing the rise and eventual fall of the Morans' colorful careers. This particular excerpt focuses on the period between the _end of the World Final at the Los Angele~ Coliseum in ] 982, through ] 983, when Shawn Moran became the first and only American to win the World Long Track Championship. Enjoy. 1fT elly made light work of winning khis delayed heat 13, defeating Edward Jancarz, Jiri Stancl and Kai Niemi. Despite leading coming out the first bend of his last race, he was overhauled by Les Collins, and he had to settle for second ahead of the unlucky British duo of [Kenny J Carter and Dave Jessup. When Dennis Sigalos won his last race of the evening, Kelly was fourth again on eleven points. "I remember I was cheering Siggy on," recalled Kelly, "and my mechanic said, 'What are you cheering him on for?' And I said, 'Well, look it's Siggy, and he's in front.' Then he told me that if he finished second then I would have a run-off for third place with him. I didn't realize. But the Final was a big success, and it did a lot of good for American Speedway. But it would have been nice to have got on the podium." "We didn't make a lot of money on the event, but we didn't lose any money, and we paid back what we lost the year before," revealed [promoter] Harry Oxley. "The FIM made it as tough on us as they could. We just went up against them and did our job, and I think we had a wonderful World Championship. We had beautiful pageantry, as good as anyone, a 16 NOVEMBER 20. 2002' cue wonderful race and an American winner." But the drama wasn't over yet. Penhall, who was the first American to win two World titles, announced on the podium that he was retiring to pursue a career in Hollywood. Whatever happened in 1983, the world would have a new champion. With still only four riders qualifying from the American Final, it had to be one, if not the toughest domestic round in the world. One poor race and you were staring elimination in the face, two poor races and it was all over for another year. And that is exactly what happened to Kelly in the 1983 Fina I. e Possibly the meeting came a little early as he was spending '83 racing at home and, after years riding Weslake engines, he had switched to Godden and was taking time to adjust to them on the small tracks, never mind the bigger Long Beach circuit. Nonetheless, a third in his opening race put him under pressure, and when he fell and was excluded from his fourth, well that was it for that year. In his column in Speedway Magazine he said: "I want to be world champion, and at 23 I know time is on my side. It will require a little more time and dedication, and even if it's not my year for the world championship I am still making progress." an Once again it was Sigalos who won with a maximum, but taking second was Mike Faria who had never raced outside of the USA at that point. Lance King took third, while Shawn once more had to win a runoff to qualify with Rick Miller, and John Cook having to give in to the "'Miracle Worker." The Overseas Final was held at Belle Vue, and it was so wet that one publication described it as "The Belle Vue Bog." Once more it was disappointment for Shawn. Until his last race he was looking good to qualify with seven points, but he finished at the back in his last race. behind Phil Collins - who won the title - Andy Grahame and Michael Lee. Amazingly. despite being in good form. he would take no further part in the championship, which was won that year by Germany's Egan Muller. Muller was best known for his performances in Long Track racing where he was World Champion several times. As its name suggests, Long Track takes pi ace on much bigger tracks of up to 1000 metres in length - it was sometimes known as the 1000 metres championship. It is slightly different to conventional speedway, as the bikes are purpose built 500cc machines with a longer wheelbase, rear suspension and two gears. These bikes can reach speeds of over 100mph on the long straights. It is a discipline of motorcycle racing that is particularly popular on the European continent. and is in many ways a big track version of conventional speedway. creating an overlap between the two fields. Shawn had excelled on the Long Track scene in America. and he had his first taste of the European version in 1982. So he entered the 1983 World Long Track Championship and qualified for the Final with a second place to Muller in the semi-final. But on August 5 he suffered a broken leg in a track crash at Hackney [England]. And with the Final scheduled Shawn Moran shows off his 1983 World Long Track championship trophy.