YORK (Burnholme) 1931 Brian Collins internationalspeedway@yahoo.co.uk Acknowledgements There is an article by Peter Lipscombe about this track in Vintage Speedway Magazine Vol.3 No.4 page 35. Auto = Automotor Journal ; Sh Ind = Sheffield Independent ; SN = Speedway News ; S-TPWY = Speedway The Pre War Years ; VSM = Vintage Speedway Magazine Good Fri 03.04 (11am) : York (Burnholme) SN 10.4.31 First-ever meeting at this venue (a demo was held in 1930) at Burnholme, Heworth, York. Light rain fell, and the crowd was about 1,000. Arthur Atkinson set track record at 89.2. Other advertised riders included Arthur Humphries, Eric Smiler Gregory, and Tommy Bateman. Final Tony Golding (4 secs), Broncho Dixon, Arthur Moore Final Tommy Gamble, Biily Halstead, Gordon Byers ef, George Reynard ef Wed 08.04 (7.15pm) : York (Burnholme) SN 17.4.31; programme at VSM Vol.4 No.1 p36 5,000. Big Nine Final: Arthur Atkinson, Tommy Gamble, George Reynard Final: W Johnson (4 sec), Tommy Gamble (1 sec), Billy Halstead (3 sec) Final: Broncho Dixon, Arthur Moore, George Reynard, Arthur Atkinson f Wed 15.04 : York (Burnholme) SN 24.4.31 Postponed to 17.04 due to rain Fri 17.04 : York (Burnholme) SN 24.4.31 The second attempt to run last Wednesday's meeting (3 rd of the season) was ruined by heavy rain, and abandoned after 3 races, though not before Geoff Kilburn somewhat surprisingly (in view of the conditions) lowered the 4-lap record to 87.6 in a special attempt. 1 J Gregory 2 Geoff Kilburn No further heats run 1 J Gregory No further heats run Wed 22.04 : York (Burnholme) SN 1.5.31 Geoff Kilburn lowered the track record to 87.6 1: Frank Charles, Dave Onanoff Johnson (by ½ a lap) 2: Chun Moore
3: Tony Golding, Arthur Atkinson ef, George Reynard ef Final: Chun Moore, Tony Golding, Frank Charles lost chain, pushed home Turner 1: Tony Golding 2: Billy Halstead 3: Tommy Gamble 4: Dave Johnson (4 sec) Final: Tony Golding, Billy Halstead, Tommy Gamble 1: Frank Charles 2: George Reynard [Austin Humphries f, "Yank" Harrison f] 3: Chun Moore Final: Chun Moore, George Reynard, Frank Charles Wed 29.04 : York (Burnholme) Auto 8.5.31; SN 8.5.31 3,000. The track record was lowered to 85.4 by Terry White Reginald Final Arthur Atkinson, Tony Golding [Terry White, Tommy Bateman] Final Arthur Atkinson, Alf Summersby, Billy Halstead Final Tony Golding (2 sec), Arthur Atkinson (scr) Wed 06.05 : York (Burnholme) Auto 15.5.31; SN 15.5.31 Two newcomers to this track were Slider Shuttleworth and Bud Thompson. Abnormal amount of chain problems, due to extremely bumpy track. Big Six Final Arthur Atkinson, Tommy Gamble, George Reynard Final George Reynard (2 sec), Worthington (6), Fred Ledger (6) Final George Reynard, Tony Golding, Fred Ledger Wed 13.05 : York (Burnholme) Auto 22.5.31 Big Six 1 George Reynard, Arthur Atkinson 2 Tommy Gamble, Alf Summersby Final Tommy Gamble, Tony Golding, George Reynard Final Bud Thomson (4 sec), Tommy Gamble (2), Fred Ledger (5) Scratch Final Billy Halstead, Tommy Gamble, Terry White Wed 20.05 : York (Burnholme) Auto 29.5.31; SN 29.5.31 Squib Burton lowered the 4-lap standing start record to 82.6 1: Squib Burton e/t, George Reynard 2: Eric Gregory ef, Geoff Kilburn ef 3: Tony Golding Final: Squib Burton, Tony Golding Turner Cup Scratch Final Tommy Gamble, Squib Burton, Bud Thompson, George Reynard ef Hunt Cup Final Tommy Gamble (2 sec), George Reynard (1), Tony Golding (1), Billy Halstead (4) f Whit Mon 25.05 : York (Burnholme) : York 42 Leicester Super 53 (Nat Tphy North - Rd.1, 1st
Leg) Auto 5.6.31; SN 5.6.31 National Trophy details at http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/1931/cupresults.pdf Wed 03.06 : York (Burnholme) : York v Wombwell (Challenge) Auto 12.6.31 Postponed due to rain until 06.06 Sat 06.06 : York (Burnholme) : York v Wombwell (Challenge) Cancelled due to rain Wed 10.06 : York (Burnholme) Postponed due to rain until 13.06 Sat 13.06 : York (Burnholme) Auto 19.6.31; SN 19.6.31 Tommy Gamble lowered the push start track record to 85.2sec Inter-Track Match Races: York v Nottingham: 1: Alf Summersby (York) bt Bert Fairweather (Notts) 2: Austin Humphries (York) bt Billy Ellmore (Notts) ef 3: George Wigfield (Notts) bt Tony Golding (York) 4: Fred Strecker (Notts) bt George Reynard (York) ef Final: George Wigfield (Notts), Fred Strecker (Notts), Alf Summersby (York), Austin Humphries (York) 86.6 Reginald Hunt Cup H/C Final: Bud Thompson (3 sec), Bert Fairweather, W O'Neill (3), Billy Ellmore, Billy Halstead f 92.0 Final: Billy Ellmore, Fred Strecker, W O Neill 87.0 Sat 20.06 (eve) : York (Burnholme) SN 26.6.31; Sh Ind 22.6.31 Inter-Track Race - York (George Reynard, Austin Humphries, Billy Thompson, Tommy Gamble) v Sheffield (Eric Blain, Fred Hatton, Eric Hall, Tommy Allott): 1: Blain (S) beat Reynard (Y) ef 2: Humphries (Y) beat Hatton (S) 3: Thompson (Y) beat Hall (S) 4: Gamble (Y) beat Allott (S) by a length Final: Eric Blain (S), Billy Thompson (Y), Tommy Gamble (Y), Austin Humphries (Y) 87.2 Heat winners: Alf Summersby (Eric Blain 2nd), Billy Halstead, Billy Thompson, Terry White Final: Billy Thompson, Alf Summersby 92.0 Race 1: Dick Bailey 2: No finishers. [Billy Halstead ef, Alf Summersby ef, Tiger Lewis f, Bill Thompson f] 3: Eric Blain 4: Tommy Gamble Final: Tommy Gamble, Eric Blain, Dick Bailey 86.0 Mon 29.06 : York (Burnholme) Auto 10.7.31; SN 3.7.31 1: Eric Langton, Wally Hull, Tommy Gamble ef 2: Jack Barber, Max Grosskreutz 3: Frank Varey, Fred Hatton Final: Eric Langton, Frank Varey, Jack Barber Hunt Cup 1: Dick Bailey (4 sec) 2: Broncho Dixon (scr) 3: Fred Hatton
4: Billy Halstead (4) Final: Billy Halstead, Broncho Dixon by 2 lengths 1: Billy Halstead, George Corney 2: Max Grosskretz 3: Frank Varey 4: Broncho Dixon Final: Frank Varey, Billy Halstead, Max Grosskreutz, Broncho Dixon Mon 06.07 : York (Burnholme) : York 30 Wombwell 22 (Northern League Knock-Out Cup Round 1, 1st Leg) S-TPWY p64; See Auto 17.7.31 report for Wombwell 06.07 as well as the York report mistakenly dated 09.07; SN 10.7.31; Researcher Nth.Lge KOC file Northern League K O Cup (details from Bob Ozanne) York 30 Austin Humphries 3 2 5+1 Billy Halstead 2 3 5 Bud Thompson 3 3 1 7 Alf Summersby 2 1 1 4+1 Tommy Gamble 3 3 3 9??? - Wombwell 22 Arthur Moore 3 2 3 8 Billy O'Neill 1 1 2 4+2 Tommy Lindley 1 1 Joe Mitchell 2 2 Eric Gregory 2 2 4 Jack Dudding 1 2 3+1 1 Moore Halstead O Neill 89.2 2-4 2-4 2 Thompson Summersby Lindley 92.2 5-1 7-5 3 Gamble Gregory Dudding 95.0 3-3 10-8 4 Humphries Mitchell (nf) (nf) 95.4 3-2 13-10 5 Thompson Dudding Summersby 91.6 4-2 17-12 6 Gamble Moore O Neill 87.8 3-3 20-15 7 Halstead Gregory Thompson 90.0 4-2 24-17 8 Moore O Neill Summersby 92.6 1-5 25-22 9 Gamble Humphries (nf) (nf) 102.6 5-0 30-22 Scratch (3-Laps Rolling Start) 1 Dick Bailey 2 Tommy Gamble Geoff Kilburn 3 Billy Halstead Alf Summersby 4 Arthur Moore Final Tommy Gamble Billy Halstead Arthur Moore Dick Bailey 65.2 Mon 13.07 : York (Burnholme) Auto 24.7.31; SN 17.7.31; Sh Ind 14.7.31 With the York team riding at Wombwell, the programme here comprised Leeds and Sheffield riders. Inter-Track Race - Leeds v Sheffield: 1: Gordon Byers (Leeds) beat Alec Peel (Shef) by half a lap (!) 86.4 2: Jack Barber (Shef) beat Sammy Marsland (Leeds) by 3 lengths 90.2 3: Roy Barrowclough (Leeds) beat Vic Ctercteko (Shef) 93.0 Final: Jack Barber, Gordon Byers, Roy Barrowclough e/t 89.2 1: Tiger Lewis 98.6 2: George Corney (1 sec) 100.2 3: Sammy Marsland 98.8 4: Harry Watson (1 sec) 94.4 Final: Harry Watson, George Corney, Sammy Marsland, Tiger Lewis 94.6 (3 laps) 1: George Corney 66.8
2: Alec Hill 67.6 3: Jack Barber 67.8 4: Broncho Dixon 66.8 Final: Jack Barber, Alex Hill, George Corney, Broncho Dixon f 67.0 Mon 20.07 : York (Burnholme) Auto 31.7.31 Scratch Championship Final: Bud Thompson, Tommy Gamble Final: Alf Summersby, Billy Halstead, Broncho Dixon Scratch Race Final: Jack Barber, Bud Thompson, Cliff Watson f, Tommy Gamble ret Mon 27.07 : York (Burnholme) : York 26 Leeds 28 (Northern Knock-Out Cup - Semi-Final, 2nd Leg. Agg: 41-63) Auto 7.8.31; SN 31.7.31; Researcher Nth.Lge KOC file (R Ozanne); Yorkshire Post 28.7.31 National League K O Cup York 26 Broncho Dixon 9, Tommy Gamble 7, Bud Thompson 3, Alf Summersby (res) 3, Austin Humphries 2, Billy Halstead 1, Dick Bailey (res) 1, Jack Barber 0 Leeds 28 Roy Barrowclough 7, Alec Hill 5+2, Gordon Byers 5+1, Drew McQueen 5, Alex Peel 4+2, Harry Watson 2+1 1 Barrowclough, Humphries, Watson 84.8 2-4 2-4 2 Gamble, McQueen, Hill 85.8 3-3 5-7 3 Dixon, Byers, Peel 88.8 3-3 8-10 4 McQueen, Hill, Bailey 88.2 1-5 9-15 5 Gamble, Byers, Peel 91.0 3-3 12-18 6 Dixon, Barrowclough, Watson 87.8 3-3 15-21 7 Thompson, Peel, Byers 85.4 3-3 18-24 8 Summersby, Barrowclough, Gamble 93.2 4-2 22-26 9 Dixon, Hill, Halstead 89.8 4-2 26-28 1 Alf Summersby 2 Bud Thompson 3 Broncho Dixon (Barrowclough ef ) 4 Alec Hill BillyHalstead Final Broncho Dixon Alf Summersby (Bud Thompson ef)(alec Hill ef) Bank Holiday Mon 03.08 : York (Burnholme) Auto 14.8.31 Final: Alf Summersby, Drew McQueen, Cliff Watson Final: Tiger Lewis (4 sec), Harry Watson, Cliff Watson Scratch Race Final: Tommy Gamble, Cliff Watson, Billy Halstead Mon 10.08 : York (Burnholme) Postponed due to rain Wed 12.08 : York (Burnholme) Final meeting. No results available. - - - - - - // - - - - - -