By JOHN HYAM SUNDAY August 31 1958 may not be significant date for most people but in speedway history two things are worth noting. It marked the international debut of New Zealander Ivan Mauger in an official junior test match Young England v Young Overseas at Eastbourne. And the match also featured one of the most dramatic performances by Young Englands Bob Warner who had not been selected for the match but proved to be Young Englands hero with some match winning rides using borrowed bike and leathers. The record books show that Young England won the match 58-49. It could have all been so different. Before the match, Young England found they would be without Leo McAuliffe whose car had broken down on the way. They moved Ross Gilberton up from reserve then persuaded Eastbournes Bob Warner, who had gone to the meeting to spectate, to borrow novice Ken Vales bike and leathers and fill the vacant reserve berth. It was to be Bob Warners finest hour in the sport. At heat 11, Young Overseas were in command of proceedings and on course for victory, holding a three point lead with England losing Bobby Croombs and Frank Bettis through injury. With seven races, left it was very much a case of step forward Bob Warner. And he did just that by riding in five of those races. The Young Overseas team looked set to pull back a 34-31 deficit to defeat England. With three races left, Young England were clinging on to a 51-44 lead when Warner went into three consecutive rides to score six of his sides seven points. In sequence, he took a win, second then a third place scoring the bulk of the inning sides points to consolidate a 58-49 victory. It was Bob Warners big moment in international speedway. Over the next 10 seasons he rode for Wolverhampton, Norwich and Wimbledon, but never again achieved the pinnacle of that August afternoon. And how did Mauger fair? He scored 11 points in his first test match, where the Young Overseas top scorer was the South African Trevor Blokdyk with 14.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 23:02:43 +0000
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