Saturday 19th October - Wimbledon - National Championship
Report by 'Man on the Terrace' from Spedeweek no 42
Saturday 19th October started out as a lovely sunny day.
Knowing that the Dons Speedway team had raced on a very muddy
track two days earlier and that there had been heavy rain
on the Friday I was very relieved. Could we hope at last for
decent track conditions for the weekly Wimbledon meeting?
With the Midgets National Championship the main event on the
programme I should have known better. The poor Midgets always
seem to suffer the worst of the weather when they come to
Wimbledon. By the time they came out for the draw for the
50 lap Championship the track was just slush. John Hawkins
and John Holtham were on the front row of the grid, with Malcolm
Goodman at the back of the 27 starters.
John Holtham was the early leader followed by Cliff Davis
and Paul Emery. Davis dropped back, Derek Kisby came up to
third and the holder Frank Boyles retired. The man to watch
however was Malcolm Goodman who carved his way through the
whole field and after only eleven laps was in the lead. I
understand that his car is the one used last year by Frank
Boyles when he won the championship. Malcolm now gave one
of the most incredible performances ever seen in a Midget
as he lapped the entire field. At the end of the race the
car was so weighed down by the shale at the front that it
was virtually acting like a snow plough. Its poor driver had
to spend a long time in the ambulance room having the shale
taken out of his eyes and the presentation had to be delayed.
Only seven cars were going at the finish, with John Holtham
having to retire with only three laps to go while he was still
second. Derek Kisby was another to retire when well placed
in the closing ten laps. Every driver who competed in these
dreadful conditions was a real hero.
The final result was 1st Malcolm Goodman (drawn 27), 2nd
Neil Thomas (drawn 14), 3rd Joe Therstappen (drawn 17), 4th
Eric Fretten (drawn 13), 5th Paul Emery (drawn 5), 6th Cliff
Davis (drawn 4).
In view of the weather the Midgets only had one other race,
a 10 car, 12 lap affair won by Eric Fretten from Derek Kisby
and Dennis Hooper.
