Speedway Champions

 A series of Dutch Golden Helmet meetings, - a single competition at each track: each helmet retained by the winner - , was held annually post-war at several tracks in the Netherlands  with crowds of around 50,000 at the Olympic Stadium Amsterdam and up to 25,000 elsewhere. Hengelo, Tilburg, den Bosch, and Sleen (today termed Veenoord,) also staged meetings but regular speedway action in the capital ended following the 1987 World Final there and only the Veenoord track now continues the competition. Some meetings were dedicated individual GH meetings, on other occasions a Golden Helmet was awarded to the top individual scorer in a team match or Best Pairs competitions, (Hengelo '59) i.e. a dual event meeting. Dominated by German and Dutch riders in the early years, Josef Hofmeister and Tonny Kroeze each won 4 helmets, and son Henny Kroeze (ex- Halifax and Sheffield,) took 3 trophies two decades later.  

 

Dutch Golden Helmets from Veenoord:

1974: Norgaard receives his Helmet.  -  1980: Fritz Koppe's Helmet    -   2009: 21stC. Dutch Golden Helmet.

 

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 Poland  

 

   The Polish Golden Helmet, a tournament restricted to senior domestic riders only, was introduced in 1961. In the table of  winners below  the Gollob brothers' 9 successes stand out, Jacek taking 2 titles and Tomaz 7 wins over a 14-year perod. Poland also has a Silver Helmet and a Bronze Helmet competition, for U21 and U19 riders respectively.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 AUSTRALIA, YUGOSLAVIA, BELGIUM,

 

 

Australia
    In Australia the appeal of the name Mauger, Speedway's 'Man of the Millenium', and his Academy programme has resulted in a Golden Helmet winners' list populated with young continental Europeans as well as young Australian riders who are now making their presence felt in UK and Europe, filling league places in Poland and Sweden as well as British Leagues and winning  international championships!

 

          

Ivan Mauger and 2 of the 2008 Australian Golden Helmet winners,

Justin Sedgemen         &          Darcy Ward                        

 

  

Yugoslavia/Slovenia,

at Lendava, present-day Slovenia, where the former 'Yugoslav Golden Helmet  meeting, initiated in 1978 and won 5 times in the first 7 years by Ivan Mauger, was resurrected in the last decade with Walasek and Zagar as recent winners. (photo rt.)

 

Belgium

       In Heusden-Zolder, Belgium international Golden Helmet meetings have been held intermittently in more recent decades, though information is limited. After double wins for Wilfried Hendrickx in '81 and '82 the successful 1983 winner was the much-travelled Ivan Mauger.

 

 

  Heusden-Zolder Golden Helmet meetings,  2005   2009   2010

 

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 Austria 

The 'Golden Helmet of the MRO' competition, - the Motor Race-club of Österreich -, was started in 1960 when Arne Pander won the 20-heat international meeting in Vienna with a maximum 15pts from Peter Craven(13pts) and Ronnie Moore(12pts). In the follow-up meeting in '62, (the '61 meeting was rained off,) the Holder met Challengers Craven and Hofmeister in 3-man, 3-heat, 3-leg Match Races in Vienna, Linz and Graz, Craven wresting the trophy from the Dane as the highest point scorer over the 3 meetings.

        It was 1971 before the Golden Helmet was next raced for, when it became a 2-day event, at Felixdorf and Krems or Mureck, the latter track, as the 'Speedway Center Austria' taking exclusive operation of the competition over the last 2 decades. Participation was mainly from Eastern Europe, (though the ubiquitous Mauger appeared in '85) and the helmet changed hands year on year, most successes going to Hungarian Zoltan Adorjan, - 3 times in the 'eighties.

 

     After the death of its organizer Josef Bössner, (1972 Helmet winner,) in 2005 the GH has been replaced by the Josef Bössner Memorial  meeting . 

 

 

  

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 Heathersfield Gold Helmet       

HEATHERSFIELD  GOLD HELMET
YEAR	VENUE	MTG  TITLE	WINNER
1997	Ed. Armadale	"Scot.Riders Chmp"	Kenny McKinna
1998	Linlithgow	"Heathersfield GH"	Steven Jones  EN
1999	"	"	David McAllan
2000	Ed. Armadale	"Scot. Riders Chmp"	Kevin Little
2001	-	-	NO COMP'N
2002	"	(Res. race winner)	Derek Snedden
2003	"	(total Res. race pts)	Jamie Robertson EN
2004	Gls. Ashfield	"Jnr.Ind'l Chmp o'Glsgw"	Sean Stoddart  EN
2005	"	"	Gary Flint    EN
2006	"	"Heathersfield GH"	Matej Kus    CZ
2007	"	"	Gary Beaton
2008	"	"	Adam McKinna
2009	"	"	Gary Beaton
2010	"	"	Greg Blair
2011	"	"	James McBain

 

Gary Beaton in 2007 and his first H.GH win 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Scottish Golden Helmet competition, the Heathersfield G.H. trophy was initially created by goldsmith Ian Grant in classic style for an 'Open' Linlithgow competition at Conference Lge. level. Since that track's closure it has been presented at Armadale and Ashfield, including for the "Scottish Riders Championship",  "Junior Individual Championship of Glasgow", and latterly along with the George Beaton Memorial Trophy for the "Scottish Junior Championship". 

(see  Regional Championships )

 

   

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     Teesside stage an annual Silver Helmet Open meeting at Redcar Raceway, having commenced pre-war at Cleveland Park as a Golden Helmet competition and resurrected there in 1968 . Though primarily run at second tier speedway level, in the past decade premier stars have been invited, 2008 winner Jason Crump becoming the most auspicious holder of the title.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teesside Silver Helmet winners

spanning the generations:

    Brain Havelock (1978)

& Ty Proctor (2009)

  

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   Other tracks have staged the occasional individual meeting for a Gold or Silver Helmet over the years, including Eastbourne on a number of pre- and post-war occasions. This table includes the earliest reference to Ivan Mauger on this website!  

EASTBOURNE    HELMETS
GOLD:  1933	Apr. 30th:     George Wilkie
	June 25th:   Charlie Lumsden
SILVER: 1954	Norman Street  (Eastbourne)
1955	Bob Andrews    (California)
1958	Ivan Mauger     (Eastbourne)
1961	Ross Gilbertson (Eastbourne)

  Above, Bob Andrews at Arlington in 1955

 wearing their Silver Helmet.

 

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      For detail of Southern Africa's Golden Helmet competitions, the S.African GH and Rhodesian GHs (N & S,), incl'g the SA.MRC and the present day Golden Helmet meetings see the Southern Africa page.

 Go to S.Africa page

 

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       Whilst most Gold and Silver Helmets were of the traditional 'pudding basin' style, as Czech and German trophy helmets still are, the transition from the 'sixties to the present day, - from Racemaster through the Spacemaster style to the full-face polycarbonate rider helmets - , has been reflected in latter day Gold and Silver Helmets being not assay-marked, as were the first, but CE-marked,  for safety certification !

 

 

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