British Final 1975
Coventry Stadium, Wednesday 30th July, 7:45pm
Sponsored by the Sunday Mirror.
The sixteen riders taking part in this event qualified via one of the semi-finals held at Leicester and Sheffield.
The top four riders from this meeting, plus a reserve, qualified for the World Final at Wembley on Saturday 6th September.
By the time they reached Wembley each rider would have competed against seventy five opponents to get there.
Three of the riders taking part in this event were using the newly developed Weslake engine: John Louis, Ray Wilson and Martin Ashby.
Extract from programme notes:
John Louis (Ipswich) One of England's great strengths and 'King' of Ipswich - the 'Tiger' has improved in form as the season has progressed.
By his own standards, qualification to this stage has been on the shaky side, as for example in the Leicester semi final, where he had a tape break exclusion in his first heat and scored only one point in his second, at the start of which he was dangerously near exclusion.
However, his competitive spirit rose above adversity with maximum points from his three remaining outings and here he is with sights set on Wembley.
| No. | Rider | Club | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gordon Kennett | Oxford | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | David Jessup | Leicester | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Martin Ashby | Swindon | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 4 | Doug Wyer | Sheffield | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | Dave Morton | Hackney | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | John Louis | Ipswich | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| 7 | Jim McMillan | Hull | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Peter Collins | Belle Vue | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| 9 | Malcolm Simmons | Poole | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| 10 | Chris Pusey | Halifax | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 11 | Tony Davey | Ipswich | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 12 | Ray Wilson | Leicester | X | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 13 | Bob Kilby | Swindon | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 14 | Chris Morton | Belle Vue | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 15 | Carl Glover | Sheffield | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | Alan Wilkinson | Belle Vue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Fastest time:
Heat 2 - John Louis - 63.6 (equalled track record).
Rostrum:
1st: John Louis - British Championship Trophy + £300 + medal
2nd: Peter Collins (after race-off against Simmons) - £150 + medal
3rd: Malcolm Simmons - £100 + medal
