Edinburgh vs Belle Vue 13/06/1939

Edinburgh 26	13 June 1939
Belle Vue 27	Challenge
Edinburgh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T B 1. Oliver Hart 2 2 3 7 2. Chick Brine dnr 3. Laurie Packer 2 2 3 7 4. Jack Hancock 0 1' 1 2 1 5. Jack Gordon 3 f 2 5 6. Norrie Isbister 0 2 0 2 7. Syd Littlewood 1' 1' 1' 3 2 Belle Vue 1. Frank Varey 3 3 2 8 2. Jack White 0 f 0 0 3. Ernie Price 3 3 3 9 4. George Cochbone 1 0 1 2 5. Bill Birtwell 2 3 2 7 6. Jack Gorst 1' 0 0 1 1
Heat 1 Varey, Hart, Littlewood, White 1min 20.6 3 3 3 3 Heat 2 Price, Packer, Cochbone, Hancock 1min 20.6 2 4 5 7 Heat 3 Gordon, Birtwell, Gorst, Isbister 1min 21.4 3 3 8 10 Heat 4 Price, Hart, Littlewood, Cochbone 1min 20.2 3 3 11 13 Heat 5 Birtwell, Packer, Hancock, Gorst 1min 24 3 3 14 16 Heat 6 Varey, Isbister, Gordon (f), White (f) 1min 20.4 2 3 16 19 Heat 7 Hart, Birtwell, Littlewood, Gorst 1min 21.8 4 2 20 21 Heat 8 Packer, Varey, Hancock, White 1min 21.8 4 2 24 23 Heat 9 Price, Gordon, Cochbone, Isbister 1min 21.4 2 4 26 27 Captains Match Race  Oliver Hart Bt Frank Varey 1min 21 Match Race  Ernie Price, Frank Varey, Oliver Hart, Laurie Packer 1min 27.2 Scottish Gold Helmet Heat 1 Laurie Packer, Syd Littlewood, Jack Gorst, Leo Lungo 1min 23.2 Heat 2 Frank Varey, Jack Gordon, George Cochbone, Jack Clemenson 1min 23.2 Heat 3 Oliver Hart, Jack White, Elwood Stilwell, Dick Dennie 1min 23.2 Heat 4 Ernie Price, Jack Hancock, Bill Birtwell, Norrie Isbister 1min 23.2 Final: Frank Varey, Ernie Price, Oliver Hart, Laurie Packer 1min 22
he Belle Vue team from Manchester scored a close win by 27 points to 26 over Edinburgh on 13 June. First class racing was witnessed throughout the evening and credit had to be given to Oliver Hart and his team mates for their splendid show against a team that had such a fine reputation as Belle Vue. Up to the fifth heat Belle Vue led by only two points and they increased this by one after heat six, but thereafter the Edinburgh team rose splendidly to take the lead. The early heats were fought out at a furious pace, the finishes being mainly of a close order. Fairly good times were recorded. Ernie Price of Belle Vue on one occasion being within one fifth of a second of the track record of 1 min 20 secs. In heat eight, in which Edinburgh took the lead, Laurie Packer came in first, followed by Frank Varey. Excitement was intense at the final heat. Edinburgh were leading by one point, but the race proved to be comparatively unexciting as Price led all the way and the issue was never in doubt. Jack Gordon finished second, but Cockburn added the necessary point for the visitors by taking third place. What at first appeared to be an unfortunate mishap ended in comedy in the captain’s match race when Varey had a spill at the end of the first lap. He was, however, unhurt and after dragging his machine off the track he jumped on the back of Oliver Hart’s machine as that rider came round again after passing the tape. Joe Crowther won the Search for Talent event after a close race with Leo Lungo. Laurie Packer, Frank Varey, Oliver Hart and Ernie Price met in the final heat for the Scottish Gold Helmet. Packer shot ahead at the start but was overtaken at the first corner by Hart who was in turn overtaken by Price. Then Varey raced to the front and held his lead to the finish.