Speedway Champions

                   The Golden Helmet

          

      The match race competition was resurrected post war as the monthly “British Match Race Competition”, sponsored by the Sunday Pictorial newspaper and which carried a prize of a Golden Helmet and a pension of £7 per week. This soon came to be known as ‘Parker’s Pension’ with the success of Jack Parker, (top left,) the Belle Vue rider who, after beating the nominated holder Bill Kitchen, - BK being the unofficial British Individual Champion from the 1945 Belle Vue meeting - , was undefeated by 20 challengers between 1946 and 1951. (Only 3 times did he succumb.)           In this 1949 film clip:

 his challenge by Graham Warren can be seen, including close-up of the Golden Helmet and accompanying Warwick Vase trophy, today presented to the British U21 Champion, (to be seen with its first winner on the U21 page.)

 In the decade of the 1950s the BMRC, decided on a best-of-3 home-and-away basis, was dominated by Jack Young, Ronnie Moore and then Ove Fundin, with Barry Briggs taking the title for much of the mid-60s until its suspension. 
       In 1970 the Golden Helmet returned as a match-by-match single race competition, - holder against opposition top scorer - , in which Ole Olsen achieved an amazing 19 consecutive wins in ‘72/’73, (capping his earlier runs of 7 and 11 wins !) In 1974 the Golden Helmet Match Race reverted to a monthly home-and-away basis. During the ‘monthly’ eras Briggs and Peter Collins each had 12 wins. When holder Tommy Jansson died following a fatal crash in Sweden in 1976 the Helmet was presented to his parents and a new helmet produced, (seen below, with Bruce Penhall.)  The last Golden Helmet era, ’85 to ’87, was again a match-by-match event, with Hans Nielsen having the most successes with first 6 and later 9 consecutive wins.   

    Though the British Match Race Golden Helmet was designed to fit the traditional 'pudding basin' crash hat much used right through to the 'sixties, (with or without various styles of peaks,) the move from the Racemaster to the fuller Spacemaster style helmet resulted in winners having to pose with, rather than wear, the metallic Golden Helmet. The 1976 replacement and many of today's newer helmet trophies reflect current full-face style polycarbonate crash-hats, (see Penhall below,) - not hall-marked but CE-marked, for safety certification !

                 Golden   Helmet   Match   Race,  1955                                                 1947: Vic Duggan and the   
     Ronnie Moore, Wimbledon leads Brian Crutcher, Wembley Lions                  British MRC Golden Helmet,

 1974: John Louis and  Challenger Dag Lovaas.             1980: Bruce Penhall, Cradley & USA

1979: Michael Lee (Ch) & Peter Collins (H),

                in a Leicester decider, (below)

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SAL Silver Sash, 1955

Ivor Brown with Prov.Lge Silver Sash. 

Barry Briggs, with Brit. Lg. Silver Sash.

 Silver Helmet, Nat'l.Lge 1970-'90

Steve Lawson, 1990,

receiving the NL Silver Helmet

 from Terry Russell.

   Although regional MRCs were introduced, the Silver Helmet Match race had been abandoned by 1954 and the junior Southern Area Lge,(SAL) introduced a one-race MRC, the Silver Sash, (the first, 1955, shown left,) to be competed for following each team match by the top scorer challenging the holder. Vic Ridgeon and Vic Hall dominate year one and each had 6 wins throughout the period. Colin Goody subsequently totalled 7, all but one in the final SAL year, 1959. 

    The Sash and its format was retained for the Provincial League's MRC and over its 5 years Mssrs Lewis (11wins, consecutively,) Silver (12 wins), Mauger (14 wins), and Ivor Brown (17 wins) were the most successful, with Ivan Mauger ending the era as winter- and final- holder of the Silver Sash at the close of 1964. 

    With one amalgamated league in 1965 Mauger thus started the new era as Nominated Holder of the Silver Sash, the British League's second MRC, (the Golden Helmet continuing as the prime Monthly MRC,) but an early injury meant loss by default! Over these 5 years, though opportunity to meet and hence challenge the holder was pure chance, the following riders achieved the most successes: - Olle Nygren 13, Eric Boocock 14, Ivan Mauger 19, Barry Briggs 31! (despite him having no opportunity to challenge in the first year.) Briggo had the longest run of consecutive wins, 9, on two occasions, this in parallel with his Golden Helmet successes.

        In conjunction with the re-introduction of Division 1's Golden Helmet MRC, the newly created British League Div'n 2 re-introduced the Silver Helmet as its Match Race Championship trophy in 1970, Ross Gilbertson being the Nominated Holder by virtue of his position as BL2RC champion. Initially a one-race competition, thru this period the success of Ipswich's John Louis, with 13 consec. wins across the '70-end/'71-season-start,  and then an amazing 21 consecutive wins near the end of 1971 was breathtaking, no other rider bettering a run of 5 wins. No surprise the Witches were elevated to Div'n 1 the following season ! 

      In '74 the Helmet's format changed to a monthly nominated home-&-away challenge and after fluctuating holders monthly in year one the Owen brother of Newcastle, Tom and Joe, (below) went whole seasons unbeaten by all challengers and dominated the Silver Helmet for 4 of the next 5 years of second divison speedway Match Races .   

     In the 'eighties the format of the Silver Helmet MRC reverted to the one-race match-by-match challenge, and thru that decade the Helmet changed hands frequently with many single-win holders. Only Barry Thomas in '83 (7), Stan Bear in '85 (10), Martin Dugard in '86 (6), David Blackburn in '87 (12), Andy Galvin in '88 (8) and Jens Rasmussen in '89 (8) achieved better than 5 wins.   

Tom & Joe Owen, Silver Helmet holders, '75,'76,78,'79.

n.b. The Teesside Silver Hemet, a local annual individual competition, can be found on the next page. 

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The "Bronze Helmet"  - 

British Division III  Match Race Championship 

Conf. Lge, 1998 -'09

Following the formation of a 3rd tier UK speedway league in the mid-'90s the Bronze Helmet Match Race Championship was revived in 1998, the first holder being Andrew Appleton when he defeated Geoff Powell at Newport. Into the 21st century the helmet was dominated by David Mason (above left) with 29 wins in Rye House colours during 2000 & 2001. No one came close to this figure during 8 years of the competition, - Seemond Stephens follows with 9 wins. 

       The format in these Conference Lge. years, with a few exceptions, was a single race Silver Sash-style match-by-match competition following each official league meeting. In 2004, '05, '08 & '09 a one-off Bronze Helmet Match Race event was run, with a new format of 4-man qualifying heats and semi(s), concluding in a 2-man Match Race final. Venues were Mildenhall and Weymouth.  

                Bronze Helmet holders,  Conference Lge, 1998 - 2009