THE BLRC 1981

Belle Vue, October 17 and Kenny Carter was in a different gear to all opponents whether they outgated him or not. In Heat 5, he took Shawn Moran on the first bend and in Heat 9, he rounded the field in one swoop.

Chris Morton made the gate in Heat 13 but he too had no answer. King Kenny was simply in a class of his own. Chris Morton had to sit this meeting out for nearly a decade and when he finally got his shot, the home favourite certainly came up trumps for the boys on this one! He trailed World Champion Bruce Penhall in Heat 2 before taking him on the run to the flag. Beaten only by Shawn Moran and Kenny Carter, the Belle Vue Ace had 13 points and tied with Moran.

The 2nd place run-off was reported for Speedway Star by FRANK MACLEAN;

'The pair hustled round the Belle Vue bowl in a tremendous scrap with the lead changing on every lap and another great pass on the last bend settled the issue for Morton.'

A brilliant win ending a brilliant night and Moran too could be happy with his efforts. We will let FRANK MACLEAN have the last word;

'No fewer than 11 riders won races and the track was in excellent condition despite some shocking weather in the Manchester area but surprisingly the Stadium was not as crowded as previous years and for once it was possible to walk around the terraces.'

Oh dear! Slogans on viaduct walls? Truth was, the magic was wearing thin. Welcome to the 80's.

Heat 1. Carter, Sigalos, Kennett, Andersson.
Heat 2. C Morton, Penhall, L Collins, Olsen.
Heat 3. Autrey, Simmons, Jessup, Petersen.
Heat 4. S Moran, Crump, Nielsen, Owen.
Heat 5. Carter, S Moran, Petersen, L Collins.
Heat 6. Nielsen, Kennett, Olsen, Simmons.
Heat 7. C Morton, Jessup, Andersson, Owen.
Heat 8. Crump, Penhall, Sigalos, Autrey.
Heat 9. Carter, Crump, Jessup, Olsen.
Heat 10. L Collins, Kennett, Autrey, Owen.
Heat 11. Nielsen, Andersson, Penhall, Petersen.
Heat 12. S Moran, C Morton, Simmons, Sigalos.
Heat 13. Carter, C Morton, Nielsen, Autrey.
Heat 14. Jessup, S Moran, Penhall, Kennett.
Heat 15. Simmons, L Collins, Crump, Andersson.
Heat 16. Petersen, Sigalos, Olsen, Owen.
Heat 17. Carter, Penhall, Simmons, Owen.
Heat 18. C Morton, Crump, Kennett, Petersen.
Heat 19. S Moran, Andersson, Autrey, O'Hare. Olsen ns
Heat 20. Sigalos, Jessup, L Collins, Nielsen.
2nd place run-off. C Morton, S Moran.

Kenny Carter Halifax 15. Chris Morton Belle Vue 13. Shawn Moran Sheffield 13. Phil Crump Swindon 10. Dave Jessup Kings Lynn 9. Hans Nielsen Birmingham 8. Dennis Sigalos Ipswich 8. Bruce Penhall Cradley Heath 8. Malcolm Simmons Wimbledon 7. Les Collins Leicester 7. Gordon Kennett Eastbourne 6. Scott Autrey Poole 5. Jan Andersson Reading 5. Bo Petersen Hackney 4. Ole Olsen Coventry 2. Joe Owen Hull 2. Res Gary O'Hare 0. Mike Lee Kings Lynn q ns.

This article was first published on 8th November 2020

Ian Davey:

"I've enjoyed Tracy Holmes' pieces on the BLRCs.I was interested in the comment from Frank McLean about the crowd being down on previous years. I've just published a piece on "The Decline of British Speedway" suggesting it started somewhere in the mid-80's. However maybe it started earlier.Tracy asks the question "Had the magic already started to fade?" Whatever the truth about the dates, the 64000 dollar question is why did it fade? The subject of future articles no doubt."  

 

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