Edinburgh vs Birmingham 21/05/1938

Edinburgh 35 21 May 1938
Birmingham 49 Challenge
Edinburgh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T B
1. Drew McQueen 2 2 3 3 10
2. Stanley Gargan 0 1' 1 0 2 1
3. George Pepper 2 2 3 3 10
4. Clune Johnstone 0 2 0 0 2
5. Kid Curtis 2 3 3 0 8
6. Bill Nisbet 1' 0 0 1 2 1
7. Dick Dennie 0 0 0
8. Leo Lungo 0 1 1
.
Birmingham
1. Steve Langton 3 3 2 2 10
2. Stan Lemon 1 1' 1' 2' 5 3
3. Bob Lovell 3 3 2 2 10
4. Danny Lee 1 0 1' 3 5 1
5. Leslie Trim 0 1 2 2 5
6. Tiger Hart 3 3 0 3 9
7. Keith Harvey 1 2' 3 1
8. Lionel Stanger 1' 1' 2 2
Heat 1 Langton, McQueen, Lemon, Gargan 1min 25.6
Heat 2 Lovell, Pepper, Lee, Johnstone 1min 26
Heat 3 Hart, Curtis, Nisbet, Trim 1min 24.2
Heat 4 Langton, Johnston, Harvey, Dennie 1min 28.6
Heat 5 Lovell, McQueen, Gargan, Lee 1min 25.4
Heat 6 Hart, Pepper, Trim, Johnstone 1min 23.2
Heat 7 Curtis, Langton, Lemon, Nisbet 1min 22.4
Heat 8 Pepper, Lovell, Stanger, Lungo 1min 24.2
Heat 9 McQueen, Trim, Gargan, Hart 1min 27.2
Heat10 Pepper, Langton, Lemon, Johnstone 1min 24.2
Heat11 Curtis, Lovell, Lee, Nisbet 1min 24.8
Heat12 McQueen, Trim, Stanger, Dennie 1min 27
Heat13 Lee, Harvey, Lungo, Curtis 1min 27
Heat14 Hart, Lemon, Nisbet, Gargan 1min 26.4

Scottish Golden Gauntlet
Heat 1 George Pepper, Stan Lemon, Leslie Trim, Stanley Gargan 1min 25
Heat 2 Tiger Hart, Bob Lovell, Drew McQueen, Clune Johnstone 1min 24.8
Heat 3 Bill Nisbet, Steve Langton (EF), Kid Curtis (F), Danny Lee(f) 1min 30.6
Final Bob Lovell, Tiger Hart, George Pepper, Bill Nisbet 1min 24

On 21 May the Birmingham team captained by Steve Langton met the Edinburgh Team captained by Drew McQueen. Considering that this was Edinburgh’s second meeting in seven years, they did remarkably well to score 39 points against the midland side’s 49 points. The crowd was estimated at 16,000.

The Edinburgh team were unfortunate in that they suffered considerable machine trouble in the early heats.

Tiger Harte (Birmingham) provided the first real thrill when he broke the track record for a clutch start (1 min 24 and three fifth secs.) set up by Ernie Price on the previous Saturday, by returning 1 min 24 and one fifth secs, to beat Kid Curtis in heat three. The same rider reduced this time by a full second when beating George Pepper, one of the Canadian members of the Edinburgh Team, in 1 min 23 and one fifth secs in heat six.

The Edinburgh captain, Drew McQueen was bested by Steve Langton and Bob Lovell in his first two heats but won his other two to finish the day with 10 points. Pepper also secured 10 points for Edinburgh, while Kid Curtis came next with 8. Among the Birmingham riders, who showed a finer sense of team riding, Steve Langton and Bob Lovell each obtained 10 points while Tiger Harte was responsible for 9.

In the race for the Scottish Gold Gauntlet, Pepper and Harte had no difficulty in qualifying for the final, while in the third heat Bill Nisbet (Edinburgh) enjoyed the unusual experience of cruising home alone. In this heat Kid Curtis made a very quick start but when leading on the first lap developed a wobble and came down rather heavily. He was carried off the track but recovered after medical attention.

In the final for the Gold Gauntlet, Bob Lovell, who qualified only by reason of his being fastest second, rode a magnificent race to win narrowly from Tiger Harte and George Pepper.