The 1978 Gulf British League season was the 44th season of the top tier of

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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 Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

for a fourth season.

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Southern ...

won their second title and their first for ten years.

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 13 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wi ...

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 Alf Busk (born 16 April 1958) is a former international speedway rider from Denmark. Speedway career Busk won the gold medal at the Individual Speedway Junior European Championship in the 1977 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship. ...

, New Zealander

Mitch Shirra Mitchell Owen (Mitch) Shirra (born 27 September 1958 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former motorcycle speedway rider who rode with the Coventry Bees, Reading Racers, Swindon Robins and Ipswich Witches in the British League. Career Shirra began ...

, Australian

Gary Guglielmi Gary Graham Christopher Guglielmi (born 14 February 1958 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a former Australian international Speedway rider who represented Australia in both test matches and in the World Pairs Championship. Guglielmi is of Itali ...

and

Jiří Štancl Jiří Štancl (born 18 November 1949 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Czechoslovakia. Career Štancl reached the final of the Speedway World Championship on nine occasions between 1971 and 19 ...

from Czechoslovakia.

League table

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

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 The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first ra ...

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.

Pairs

The

British League Pairs Championship The British League Pairs Championship was a speedway contest between the top two riders from each club competing in the British League in the UK, or the top division thereof when it had multiple divisions. The meetings comprised a competition ...

Leading final averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue * 10.41 * 10.11 * 8.00 * 7.73 * 4.90 * 4.52 * 4.45 * 4.36 * 4.30 * 1.14 Birmingham * 8.56 * 8.30 * 6.80 * 6.66 * 5.05 * 4.94 * 4.31 * 4.17 Bristol * 9.92 * 9.15 * 7.29 * 5.90 * 5.32 * 5.12 * 4.69 * 4.49 * 3.65 * 3.48 Coventry * 10.56 * 9.49 * 7.85 * 6.23 * 6.07 * 5.60 * 4.94 * 4.24 * 2.86 Cradley Heath * 9.51 * 9.26 * 8.21 * 6.56 * 6.22 * 5.44 * 5.23 * 5.22 * 5.05 * 3.68 Exeter * 10.40 * 8.44 * 8.35 * 7.01 * 6.75 * 6.09 * 6.06 * 5.86 Hackney * 7.70 * 6.70 * 6.54 * 6.28 * 6.14 * 5.27 * 5.24 * 4.00 * 3.65 * 1.60 Halifax * 8.35 * 8.06 * 7.45 * 6.19 * 5.98 * 5.83 * 5.40 * 4.81 Hull * 9.77 * 9.06 * 7.26 * 7.01 * 6.74 * 6.63 * 6.49 * 5.04 * 2.33 Ipswich * 9.94 * 9.60 * 9.03 * 6.82 * 4.79 * 4.40 * 3.94 * 3.09 King's Lynn * 10.23 * 8.10 * 7.01 * 5.93 * 5.79 * 4.44 * 4.35 * 3.57 * 3.37 * 3.30 * 2.09 Leicester * 8.94 * 8.70 * 8.41 * 4.94 * 4.84 * 4.47 * 4.33 * 3.06 * 2.12 * 2.00 Poole * 10.77 * 7.67 * 7.25 * 6.46 * 6.03 * 6.00 * 5.62 * 4.51 * 3.36 Reading * 10.20 * 8.93 * 5.91 * 5.90 * 4.53 * 4.00 * 3.69 * 2.94 * 2.56 Sheffield * 9.35 * 8.59 * 6.93 * 6.65 * 6.45 * 3.35 * 3.20 * 2.94 * 2.53 Swindon * 8.44 * 8.05 * 7.68 * 6.55 * 4.39 * 4.00 * 3.17 * 2.42 * 2.29 * 1.88 * 1.60 White City * 9.52 * 7.17 * 6.67 * 5.48 * 5.16 * 5.05 * 4.95 * 4.66 Wimbledon * 9.29 * 8.61 * 7.82 * 7.26 * 6.67 * 6.53 * 6.46 * 3.56 Wolverhampton * 8.85 * 8.58 * 8.58 * 4.37 * 3.87 * 3.70 * 3.62 * 2.56

References

{{United Kingdom Speedway Seasons British League 1978 in British motorsport 1978 in speedway