Marine Gardens Track Championship 27/08/1938

Marine Gardens Track Championship 27 August 1938
Edinburgh 1 2 3 4 T
1. Ted Bravery 2 1 2 2 7
2. Kid Curtis 1 1 2 0 4
3. Roy Dook dnr
4. Ernie Evans 1 3 3 3 10
5. Frank Goulden 0 0 0 0 0
6. Eric Gregory 3 3 3 3 12
7. Oliver Hart 1 0 0 0 1
8. Wally Key 0 2 3 1 6
9. Billy Lamont 1 2 2 3 8
10. Wally Lloyd 2 2 3 2 9
11. Bill Shepherd 0 0 1 1 2
12. Norman Parker 2 2 0 2 6
13. Bill Pitcher 3 0 1 3 7
14. Charlie Spinks 3 3 3 2 11
15. Rol Stobbart 3 1 1 0 5
16. Tommy Allott 2 2 1 1 6
R1. Bob Sparks 0 1 0 1 2
Heat 1 Pitcher, Allott, Hart, Goulden 1min 22.8
Heat 2 Stobbart, Bravery, Curtis, Sparks 1min 24.2
Heat 3 Spinks, Parker, Lamont, Shepherd 1min 24.4
Heat 4 Gregory, Lloyd, Evans, Key 1min 22
Heat 5 Spinks, Lamont, Bravery, Pitcher 1min 22
Heat 6 Gregory, Parker, Stobbart, Hart 1min 22.6
Heat 7 Key, Allott, Sparks, Shepherd 1min 21.4
Heat 8 Evans, Lloyd, Curtis, Goulden 1min 21.8
Heat 9 Gregory, Lamont, Pitcher, Sparks 1min 21.6
Heat10 Spinks, Key, Stobbart, Goulden 1min 23.2
Heat11 Evans, Bravery, Allott, Parker 1min 22.2
Heat12 Lloyd, Curtis, Shepherd, Hart 1min 23.8
Heat13 Evans, Spinks, Sparks, Hart 1min 24
Heat14 Lamont, Lloyd, Allott, Stobbart 1min 24
Heat15 Pitcher, Parker, Key, Curtis 1min 23.8
Heat16 Gregory, Bravery, Shepherd, Goulden 1min 24.6

Top Four Final
Heat17 Evans, Spinks, Lloyd, Gregory 1min 23
The closing meeting of the season was held at the Marine Gardens Speedway on 27 August when a number of notable riders raced for the track championship. Although no records were broken, some fast times were returned. Ernie Evans (New Cross) was the ultimate winner.

The races were run on a points basis and the four riders who gained the most points in four heats qualified for the final.

The thrills started in the first heat when Bill Pitcher (Lea Bridge) out manoeuvred Tommy Allott (Sheffield) on the last bend to win by a narrow margin.

Charlie Spinks (West Ham) had no difficulty in defeating Billy Lamont (Sheffield) in heat three and again he delighted the crowd with his stylish riding by repeating this performance in heat five.

Eric Gregory (Wembley) showed his mettle in heat four when challenged by Wally Key (Wimbledon). He held on to his lead to win easily, Key over sliding and coming to grief at the top bend. Gregory continued his successes in every heat and was the only rider to qualify for the final with maximum points.

Kid Curtis (Newcastle) who was very unfortunate in most of his heats, finished his run of bad luck by crashing heavily in heat five and had to be carried off. He was the only casualty of the day.

The fastest time of the day was returned by Wally Key who, although closely challenged by Tommy Allott, never allowed himself to be headed and won the race in 1 min 21 and two fifth secs.

Ernie Evans (New Cross) was disappointing in his first heat but his subsequent heats atoned for his early failure. In heats nine and eleven he romped home in easy style and in heat thirteen he gave Charlie Spinks his only defeat of the day to qualify for the final with ten points.

Billy Lamont gave the crowd a thrill in heat fourteen when Wally Lloyd, anxious to gain points to make him a certain finalist, spurted into the lead closely followed by Lamont. A close race followed, Lamont winning narrowly. Lloyd eventually qualified for the final with nine points.

The final was a suitable climax to a thrilling day’s racing, the riders being Eric Gregory, Charlie Spinks, Ernie Evans and Wally lloyd. When the tapes went up, Spinks, Gregory and Lloyd bunched on the inside line for the lead, but Evans, who excels himself on the outside outwitted them and rushed ahead. Although severely challenged by Spinks, Evans held on to his advantage to win a magnificent race. It was surprising to see Gregory, who qualified with maximum points, finish last in the race.