CUSSENS TROPHY Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield 11th September 1952
Rider0102030405060708091011121314 151617181920Tot
  1. George Newton 2 1 0 1 2 6 10th
  2. Stuart Hickman ef 0 ef - - 0 18th
  3. Pedlar Palmer 1 1 0 1 0 3 13th
  4. Johnny Green 3 2 3 2 tps 10 5th
  5. Len Williams 3 3 3 3 3 15 1ST
  6. Cyril Cooper 1 1 1 1 2 6 11th
  7. Ron Clarke 2 3 2 0 ef 7 8th
  8. Al Allison 0 0 2 2 3 7 9th
  9. Dent Oliver 3 2 3 3 2 13 3rd
10. Les Howe 0 2 1 0 - 3 12th
11. Eddie Rigg 2 2 3 3 2 12 4th
12. Keith Milner 1 1 2 3 3 10 6th
13. Jack Winstanley 1 0 0 1 1 3 13th
14. Geoff Crawford 2 3 1 2 1 9 7th
15. Johnnie Jones 0 0 1 0 0 1 15th
16. Arthur Wright 3 3 2 2 3 13 2nd
17. Maurice Payling (r) 0 1 1 15th
18. Eric Thompson   (r) 1 1 15th
Track Record 68.6
Len Williams, 23 March 1951
 01  02  03  04  05  06   07  08  09  10  11  12   13  14  15  16  17  18   19  20 
72.271.272.870.470.8 73.873.272.071.871.6 72.872.472.472.872.0 73.273.672.672.671.6

Sheffield Speedway had closed due to the prohibitively high entertainment tax in 1951, and were only allowed an open license when they reopened in the summer of 1952. This individual meeting featured home favourites alongside those Bradford riders who weren't practising at Wembley prior to the World Final. The wet track wasn't conducive to good racing but there was sufficient to please the fans on what was destined to be the last meeting at Owlerton for the next 8 years.

Ron Clarke outgated home favourite Len Williams in heat 2 but Len took the lead on the second lap. Les Howe trapped ahead in heat 3 but the other three all passed him with Dent Oliver getting the verdict by a wheels breadth on the finish line from his Odsal team mates Eddie Rigg and Keith Milner. Arthur Wright made light of the conditions winning heat 4 by a clear half lap in the fastest time of the night. 

Len Williams was 80 yards clear at the end of heat 5, but in contrast Geoff Crawford got the decision in a blanket finish to heat 6. Eddie Rigg and Ron Clarke diced wheel to wheel all four laps in heat 7 which included passing Pedlar Palmer, one on the inside and one on the outside, on the second lap. Arthur Wright kept the pressure on Len with an untroubled win in heat 8.

Out again in heat 9 Arthur made a poor start and by the time he'd negotiated the minor places Eddie Rigg was too far ahead to be caught. Keith Milner passed Johnnie Jones in the early stages of heat 10 but was unable to get within 10 yards of Len Williams, and Dent Oliver was the easy winner of heat 11 with Al winning a scrap with Geoff for second place. Johnny Green passed Ron Clarke in heat 12 to keep himself in the hunt on 10 points.

Keith Milner sped from 3rd place to win heat 13 by a clear 40 yards, and Eddie Rigg won a processional heat 14. The clash of Len Williams and Arthur Wright in heat 15 was marred by Arthur trailing from the start in last place. Although he soon made it through into second he was a good 10 yards adrift of Len when the chequered flag fell. Dent Oliver moved into second place overall by outpacing Johnny Green in heat 16.

Arthur Wright defeated Dent Oliver in heat 18, and Keith Milner picked his way from last place to a well deserved win in heat 19. Johnny Green's chances of a podium finish disappeared when he broke the tapes in heat 20, but Len Williams made no mistake as he raced to victory over Eddie Rigg and lifted the Cussens Trophy.

Return to Sheffield Speedway Archives
Return to Sheffield Speedway homepage