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The 1978 Gulf British League season was the 44th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 14th season known as the British League.

Summary

The list of nineteen teams that competed in the league was identical to the previous season. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fourth season.

Coventry Bees won their second title and their first for ten years. Belle Vue Aces were runners-up for the fourth time in five seasons and would receive a double blow when losing in the final of the Knockout Cup. Two time world champion Ole Olsen was in sensational form for Coventry and made the difference throughout the season. Olsen would also seal his third world individual crown by the end of the season. The Coventry side consisted of an array of overseas riders including Olsen and fellow Dane Alf Busk, New Zealander Mitch Shirra, Australian Gary Guglielmi and Jiří Štancl from Czechoslovakia.

League table

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Malcolm Simmons		Poole	10.78
2	Ole Olsen		Coventry	10.71
3	Scott Autrey		Exeter	10.45
4	Peter Collins		Belle Vue	10.44
5	Michael Lee		King's Lynn	10.40
6	Chris Morton		Belle Vue	10.31
7	Dave Jessup		Reading	10.24
8	Billy Sanders		Ipswich	10.23
9	Phil Crump		Bristol	9.99
10	Ivan Mauger		Hull	9.91

British League Knockout Cup

The 1978 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 40th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-64.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the fourth time (and third in a row), it was held at Hyde Road on 21 October and sponsored by British Leyland Cars.

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Ole Olsen	1 3 3 3 3	13
2	Peter Collins	2 2 3 3 2	12+3
3	Steve Bastable	3 2 3 3 1	12+2
4	Larry Ross	1 3 3 1 3	11
5	Scott Autrey	2 3 2 2 1	10
6	Malcolm Simmons	3 3 0 1 3	10
7	Billy Sanders	2 1 1 2 3	9
8	John Titman	3 1 2 3 0	9
9	Ian Cartright	0 2 1 2 2	7
10	Phil Crump	0 2 2 1 2	7
11	Doug Wyer	3 0 1 1 2	7
12	Ivan Mauger	2 1 0 2 EF	5
13	Phil Herne	0 0 2 R 1	3
14	Andy Heyes (res)	0 1 F R 0 1 0	2
15	Michael Lee	1 R - - -	1
16	Hans Nielsen	FX 1 0 0 -	1
17	Dave Jessup	R - - - -	0

• ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship sponsored by Gauloises, was held at Foxhall Stadium on 12 October and was jointly won by Cradley Heath Heathens and Coventry Bees. The meeting was abandoned after 14 heats due to fog but the result stood.

Leading final averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Malcolm Simmons		Poole	10.77
2	Ole Olsen		Coventry	10.56
3	Peter Collins		Belle Vue	10.41
4	Scott Autrey		Exeter	10.40
5	Michael Lee		King's Lynn	10.23
6	Dave Jessup		Reading	10.20
7	Chris Morton		Belle Vue	10.11
8	Billy Sanders		Ipswich	9.94
9	Phil Crump		Bristol	9.92
10	Ivan Mauger		Hull	9.77

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Coventry won on aggregate 93–63

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup but White City did not compete and therefore the competition consisted of just two teams.

Results

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Peter Collins 10.41
• Chris Morton 10.11
• Les Collins 8.00
• Alan Wilkinson 7.73
• Steve Finch 4.90
• Jim Brett 4.52
• Chris Turner 4.45
• Rob Maxfield 4.36
• Derek Richardson 4.30
• Keith Bloxsome 1.14

Birmingham

• Phil Herne 8.56
• Ray Wilson 8.30
• Ted Howgego 6.80
• Richard Greer 6.66
• Ari Koponen 5.05
• Bengt Jansson 4.94
• Alan Emerson 4.31
• Finn Jensen 4.17

Bristol

• Phil Crump 9.92
• Steve Gresham 9.15
• Tormod Langli 7.29
• Nigel Boocock 5.90
• Bruce Cribb 5.32
• Henny Kroeze 5.12
• Henk Steman 4.69
• Sören Sjösten 4.49
• Tony Garard 3.65
• Paul Tyrer 3.48

Coventry

• Ole Olsen 10.56
• Mitch Shirra 9.49
• Alan Molyneux 7.85
• Alf Busk 6.23
• Jiří Štancl 6.07
• Gary Guglielmi 5.60
• Mick Bell 4.94
• Frank Smith 4.24
• Dave Mortiboys 2.86

Cradley Heath

• Steve Bastable 9.51
• Bruce Penhall 9.26
• Alan Grahame 8.21
• Kristian Praestbro 6.56
• Bruce Cribb 6.22
• Phil Collins 5.44
• Dave Perks 5.23
• Pekka Hautamaki 5.22
• Dave Shields 5.05
• Arthur Price 3.68

Exeter

• Scott Autrey 10.40
• Reidar Eide 8.44
• Václav Verner 8.35
• Peter Prinsloo 7.01
• Mike Farrell 6.75
• Steve Koppe 6.09
• Les Rumsey 6.06
• Jan Verner 5.86

Hackney

• Finn Thomsen 7.70
• Keith White 6.70
• Barry Thomas 6.54
• Vic Harding 6.28
• Bo Petersen 6.14
• Bobby McNeil 5.27
• Ted Hubbard 5.24
• Malcolm Shakespeare 4.00
• Bent Rasmussen 3.65
• Billy Spiers 1.60

Halifax

• Ian Cartwright 8.35
• Mike Lohmann 8.06
• Mitch Graham 7.45
• Mick McKeon 6.19
• Eric Broadbelt 5.98
• Chris Pusey 5.83
• Kenny Carter 5.40
• Klaus Lohmann 4.81

Hull

• Ivan Mauger 9.77
• Joe Owen 9.06
• Bobby Beaton 7.26
• Kelly Moran 7.01
• Tom Owen 6.74
• Graham Drury 6.63
• Frank Auffret 6.49
• Phil Kynman 5.04
• Rod Hunter 2.33

Ipswich

• Billy Sanders 9.94
• Tony Davey 9.60
• John Louis 9.03
• Kevin Jolly 6.82
• Colin Cook 4.79
• Ted Howgego 4.40
• Mike Lanham 3.94
• Tim Hunt 3.09

King's Lynn

• Michael Lee 10.23
• Terry Betts 8.10
• Ian Turner 7.01
• Richard Hellsen 5.93
• David Gagen 5.79
• Carl Glover 4.44
• Pete Smith 4.35
• Billy Spiers 3.57
• Frits Koppe 3.37
• Bent Rasmussen 3.30
• Derek Harrison 2.09

Leicester

• John Titman 8.94
• Ila Teromaa 8.70
• John Boulger 8.41
• Tom Godal 4.94
• Jerzy Rembas 4.84
• John McNeill 4.47
• Colin Meredith 4.33
• Neil Leeks 3.06
• Chris Sully 2.12
• Lars Ericsson 2.00

Poole

• Malcolm Simmons 10.77
• Neil Middleditch 7.67
• Christer Sjösten 7.25
• Mike Curoso 6.46
• Danny Kennedy 6.03
• Martin Yeates 6.00
• Kelvin Mullarkey 5.62
• Andrzej Tkocz 4.51
• Colin Gooddy 3.36

Reading

• Dave Jessup 10.20
• John Davis 8.93
• Hans Wassermann 5.91
• Bernie Leigh 5.90
• Melvyn Taylor 4.53
• Roger Abel 4.00
• Bob Humphreys 3.69
• Henryk Glücklich 2.94
• Kevin Bowen 2.56

Sheffield

• Doug Wyer 9.35
• Reg Wilson 8.59
• Bernt Persson 6.93
• Nicky Allott 6.65
• Craig Pendlebury 6.45
• Bosse Wirebrand 3.35
• Tony Boyle 3.20
• Billy Burton 2.94
• Phil White 2.53

Swindon

• Bob Kilby 8.44
• Jan Andersson 8.05
• Martin Ashby 7.68
• Geoff Bouchard 6.55
• David Ashby 4.39
• Rolf Gramstad 4.00
• Robert Henry 3.17
• Jerzy Trzeszkowski 2.42
• Malcolm Holloway 2.29
• Steen Mastrup 1.88
• Richard Evans 1.60
• Leonard Raba 0.00

White City

• Gordon Kennett 9.52
• Kai Niemi 7.17
• Steve Weatherley 6.67
• Dave Kennett 5.48
• Marek Cieślak 5.16
• Andrzej Jurczynski 5.05
• Trevor Geer 4.95
• Paul Gachet 4.66

Wimbledon

• Larry Ross 9.29
• Edward Jancarz 8.61
• Roger Johns 7.82
• Mick Hines 7.26
• Stefan Salomonsso 6.67
• Rudy Muts 6.53
• Colin Richardson 6.46
• Graeme Stapleton 3.56

Wolverhampton

• Hans Nielsen 8.85
• Jimmy McMillan 8.58
• Dave Morton 8.58
• Edgar Stangeland 4.37
• Brian Woodward 3.87
• Hasse Danielsson 3.70
• Knud Ellegaard 3.62
• Steve Lomas 2.56

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
4. "1978 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
5. "Immaculate Olsen roars to title". Sandwell Evening Mail. 23 October 1978. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Sport in Brief". Birmingham Daily Post. 30 September 1977. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "1978 Complete season records" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
8. "Bees live up to double glory". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 16 October 1978. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "1978 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.

v t e British League seasons
1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Domestic cups: British League Knockout Cup

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners

• British League
• 1978 in British motorsport
• 1978 in speedway