Speedway fans pack Manchester's Hyde Road Stadium to watch Peter Craven win the 2nd leg of the 1956 British Match Race Championship, the coveted "Golden Helmet" Trophy.
Belle Vue Aces legend Peter Craven defeats Wembley Lion's Brian 'Nipper' Crutcher to take a step closer to his first Golden Helmet in front of over 38,000 fans.
Peter Craven competed for the Golden Helmet British Match Race Championship every year from 1956. He would end the 1959 season as the holder of 'The Helmet', taking it against Sweden's Ove Fundin. 1959 turned into his banner year as he would win the Northern Cup at Belle Vue, the Internationale Derby at Ipswich, the Pride of the East at Norwich, the Tom Farndon Memorial Trophy at New Cross and Pride of the Midlands at Leicester.
Peter Craven’s final race was against the Edinburgh Monarchs at Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Stadium on September 20, 1963. As he closed in on the race leader, Monarch George Hunter, Hunter’s engine failed. Craven ran into the fence rather than hit the fallen Hunter. Rushed to the hospital, he did not regain consciousness and died later that night. Speedway lost one of it's most well-liked and well-respected riders. He was 29 years old.
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