The 1975 Gulf Oil British League season was the 41st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 11th season known as the British League.
Summary The league was sponsored for the first time by Gulf Oil. Reading Racers returned after a one-season absence to increase the size of the league back to eighteen teams and the ban on overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad was lifted.
The Ipswich Witches won their first title, defeating Belle Vue Aces by a solitary point. John Louis and Billy Sanders scored heavily throughout the season for Ipswich. Belle Vue found consolation by winning the Knockout Cup.
In their last season at the Cowley track, Oxford Rebels won the Midland Cup, beating Wolverhampton WolvesLawson, K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”. Bamford, R & Shailes, G (2007). "The Story of Oxford Speedway". but the competition was overshadowed by the death of rider Gary Peterson.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Ipswich Witches 34 26 1 7 532 Belle Vue Aces 34 25 2 7 523 Newport 34 24 1 9 494 Exeter Falcons 34 20 3 11 455 Sheffield Tigers 34 21 0 13 426 Reading Racers 34 21 0 13 427 Oxford Rebels 34 18 0 16 368 Leicester Lions 34 16 4 14 369 Wimbledon Dons 34 16 2 16 3410 Halifax Dukes 34 15 3 16 3311 Cradley United 34 15 2 17 3212 King's Lynn Stars 34 14 3 17 3113 Wolverhampton Wolves 34 13 1 20 2714 Hull Vikings 34 10 4 20 2415 Poole Pirates 34 10 3 21 2316 Coventry Bees 34 9 2 23 2017 Hackney Hawks 34 9 1 24 1918 Swindon Robins 34 8 0 26 16M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Fixtures and results
+ Match awarded to Oxford
Top ten riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Exeter 11.45 2 Peter Collins Belle Vue 11.27 3 Phil Crump Newport 11.17 4 Anders Michanek Reading 11.03 5 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.79 6 John Louis Ipswich 10.67 7 Dave Jessup Leicester 10.45 8 Malcolm Simmons Poole 10.37 9 Dag Lövaas Oxford 10.22 10 Reg Wilson Sheffield 10.18
British League Knockout Cup The 1975 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 37th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue Aces were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two22/05 Sheffield 44–34 Exeter19/04 Belle Vue 49–29 Wolverhampton18/04 Wolverhampton 37–41 Belle Vue14/04 Exeter 47–31 Sheffield Second round Date Team one Score Team two01/07 Leicester 47–31 Hackney27/06 Hackney 40–38 Leicester23/06 Cradley Heath 46–32 Kings Lynn21/06 Kings Lynn 42–36 Cradley Heath19/06 Oxford 60–18 Coventry19/06 Ipswich 42–36 Belle Vue16/06 Exeter 43–35 Poole16/06 Reading 38–40 Newport14/06 Swindon 47–31 Hull14/06 Coventry 33–45 Oxford11/06 Poole 41–37 Exeter11/06 Hull 46–32 Swindon07/06 Halifax 58–20 Wimbledon06/06 Newport 46–32 Reading05/06 Wimbledon 49–29 Halifax04/06 Belle Vue 49–28 Ipswich Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two09/08 Cradley Heath 51–27 Newport09/08 Belle Vue 45–33 Oxford08/08 Newport 49–29 Cradley Heath07/08 Oxford 36–42 Belle Vue02/08 Swindon 32–46 Leicester29/07 Leicester 42–36 Swindon17/07 Exeter 43–35 Halifax05/07 Halifax 47–31 Exeter Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two05/10 Belle Vue 44–34 Cradley Heath27/09 Halifax 37–40 Leicester26/09 Leicester 47–31 Halifax22/09 Cradley Heath 32–45 Belle Vue
Final
First leg
Second leg
Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.
Riders' Championship Peter Collins won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, it was held at Hyde Road on 18 October.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Peter Collins 3 3 3 3 3 152 Phil Crump 2 3 3 1 3 12 3 Martin Ashby 3 1 2 3 2 114 John Louis 3 2 0 3 3 11 5 Doug Wyer 3 2 1 2 2 10 6 Malcolm Simmons 2 3 1 2 1 97 Chris Pusey 1 0 3 3 2 98 Dave Jessup 2 0 2 2 2 89 Anders Michanek 2 1 2 R 3 810 Ivan Mauger 1 0 3 1 1 6 11 Tommy Jansson 0 3 1 1 1 612 Terry Betts 1 1 2 0 1 513 Jim McMillan 2 0 2 0 0 4 14 Bob Valentine 0 1 1 1 EF 3 15 Dag Lövaas 1 2 0 0 0 3 16 John Boulger 0 0 0 0 0 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded
Leading final averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Exeter 11.52 2 Phil Crump Newport 11.15 3 Peter Collins Belle Vue 11.13 4 Anders Michanek Reading 10.90 5 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.79 6 John Louis Ipswich 10.58 7 Dave Jessup Leicester 10.41 8 Malcolm Simmons Poole 10.41 9 Martin Ashby Swindon 10.13 10 Tommy Jansson Wimbledon 10.12 11 Dag Lövaas Oxford 10.04 12 Ray Wilson Wolverhampton 9.90 13 Reg Wilson Sheffield 9.79 14 Jim McMillan Hull 9.69 15 Billy Sanders Ipswich 9.58 16 Doug Wyer Sheffield 9.37 17 Chris Morton Belle Vue 9.27 18 Barry Briggs Wimbledon 9.23 19 Scott Autrey Exeter 9.19 20 Reidar Eide Newport 8.98
Spring Gold Cup
East Group Team PL W D L PtsReading 6 3 1 2 7 Ipswich 6 3 1 2 7 Hackney 6 3 0 3 6 King's Lynn 6 2 0 4 4
West Group Team PL W D L PtsNewport 6 5 0 1 10 Poole 6 4 0 2 8 Exeter 6 2 0 4 4 Wimbledon 6 1 0 5 2
East Group
West Group
Final Team one Team two ScoreNewportReading 53–25, 33–54
Midland Cup Oxford won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreOxfordSwindon 39–39, 39–39OxfordSwindon 53–25, 33–44CoventryCradley40–37, 35–43
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreWolverhamptonCradley 42–35, 44–34 Oxford Leicester46–32, 35–43
Final
First leg
Second leg
Oxford won on aggregate 79–76
Northern Trophy M W D L Pts 1Belle Vue 6 5 0 1 10 2 Sheffield 6 4 0 2 8 3 Halifax 6 3 0 3 6 4 Hull 6 0 0 6 0
London Cup Wimbledon retained the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London.
Results Team Score TeamWimbledon 48–30 HackneyHackney 46–32 Wimbledon
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
11.13 9.27 8.76 7.14 6.21 5.03 4.00 3.55
Coventry
8.66 8.02 5.37 5.14 4.82 4.43 4.36 3.84 2.23 1.71
Cradley Heath
8.73 8.58 7.68 7.53 4.87 4.84 4.56 3.08
Exeter
11.52 9.19 7.50 6.07 5.89 5.71 4.96 4.72 3.44
Hackney
8.54 7.81 7.61 5.84 4.68 4.60 4.46 3.86
Halifax
8.77 8.03 7.58 7.11 5.92 5.74 4.89 4.32 3.83
Hull
9.69 7.29 7.20 6.64 6.53 5.22 5.14 5.10 3.49 3.45
Ipswich
10.58 9.58 7.75 6.44 5.13 4.99 4.78 4.00
King's Lynn
8.87 7.48 7.43 6.20 5.77 5.76 4.75 4.56 4.07 4.00 4.00
Leicester
10.41 9.90 5.91 5.84 5.70 4.93 4.17 3.75
Newport
11.15 8.98 8.70 7.32 7.13 6.34 6.11 3.26
Oxford
10.04 8.41 7.48 6.57 5.73 4.75 4.15 2.46
Poole
10.41 7.50 6.23 5.39 5.29 4.48 3.77 2.53
Reading
10.90 7.37 7.06 5.59 5.56 5.21 4.99
Sheffield
9.79 9.37 7.91 6.41 6.09 5.88 3.17
Swindon
10.13 8.26 5.43 4.95 4.56 4.42 4.27 3.18 2.79
Wimbledon
10.12 9.23 7.24 6.11 4.97 4.85 4.76 4.40 2.19
Wolverhampton
10.79 6.99 6.29 5.85 4.55 3.19 3.16 2.96
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References