Lynne's Laps

We're delighted to be able to report a positive conclusion to Alan Howell's recent request for information (as featured in our Plus Points column on 1st March).

Alan asked:

"I don't know if you could help me with this vague memory. My Sister Lynne Lewis (Howell) raced a Speedway bike at London White City stadium in an invitational exhibition back in the early 1970s. A challenge was put out by Speedway Star or Motorcycle News, offering women a chance to race. Only 2 women turned up, one of which was my Sister. I have no photos or details of the event & unfortunately my sister passed away last year. If this is something you could find records of my family would be eternally grateful."

As Alan admitted, it was a vague starting point and we weren't terribly confident we'd be able to help.

However, we underestimated the speedway community, and in particular Stephen who runs the Happiness is 40-38 account on Twitter / X. He dug into his archives and responded with the following:

"Found two articles featuring Lynne Howell in my collection of Speedway Stars. They talk about a match race at Plough Lane staged on 28th October 1971. Hope this helps."

It certainly did help, not only did he come up with copies of two articles and a photograph, he also allowed us to work backwards to find out how this unusual match race had come about.

It all started in early 1971 when a 15-year old called Jenny Lynch from Poole wrote to Pam Oakes in the Speedway Star. Pam (wife of Peter) had a weekly column in the sport's bible called "Woman's View" (very different times).

Jenny wrote

"I go to Poole every Wednesday and I am determined to be a rider. I wrote to the Speedway Control Board and asked them why women couldn't be riders and Mr. McNulty wrote back to me: 'It is open to question whether a mixing of the sexes would be desirable. There are, of course, practical difficulties such as the provision of separate dressing rooms, baths and toilets.'

"Well, women footballers seem to manage all right, so why not women riders? Mr. McNulty went on to say: 'Are there enough women riders to go round?'

Pam Oakes threw the challenge out to her readers:

"If you've any views on women speedway riders, please drop me a line and we'll see just how strong the feeling is. Also if you want to be a lady rider, let me know."

A month or so later, Pam's column suggested that may be the end of the story:

"Come on, ladies, what's up? A few weeks ago I told you about Jenny Lynch from Poole who fancies being a lady speedway rider and asked for your comments on it. Usually my postbag is flooded out with letters-but not this time. So far I've only had about a dozen letters on the subject. Maybe it's something that doesn't interest you, but somehow I don't think so. Jenny thought that there were quite a few girls around the country who had a dreamy ambition to be a speedway rider? Was she right?"

By the June 12th edition things were heating up. It was revealed that Wimbledon secretary Jimmy James was willing to let two lady riders take part in a match-race at Plough Lane. The only stipulation was that they must have access to a machine and riding equipment.

The very idea of women speedway riders was dividing Pam's correspondents.

Miss Rosemary Lillie was "all for it". She didn't think women would struggle to find the strength required and believed that "stamina is an individual matter but I should imagine many women could last out longer than some men".

Mrs M. Sibthorp was in the opposite corner. She thought "It is very unlikely that women would have sufficient strength to control the bikes at speeds anything like those achieved by men."

She was also concerned about the changing facilities at any "bi-sexual meetings". Probably best we skim over that concern.

By the end of July the first prospective contestant had been found. It was reportedly the sister of West Ham's Mick Handley.

It wasn't until the middle of September that we found out who she'd be racing against. Two names were mentioned, Lynne Howell from Barnet and Dawn Price from Acton.

Pam Oakes appealed for them to get in touch to confirm arrangements. We hear no more of Dawn, but we can presume that Lynne did indeed contact Pam and affirm her desire to participate.

The edition of October 23rd 1971 (as uncovered by Mr 40-38), tells us that a date has now been set and that Carol Handley and Lynne Howell will take to the Plough Lane shale on 28th October 1971.

It wasn't until the 13th of November edition that we found out how the night had gone.

"The two girls were delighted with their spin just after the interval and I think everyone will agree that it took a lot of guts and courage to go out in front of a big crowd on a speedway bike. But the girls did it and really enjoyed themselves thanks to the generosity of Wimbledon's Mr. Jimmy James who organised it all.

The only disappointment the two girl had was that they could only do four laps-they would have liked to have gone on and on.

I'm sure both girls will remember their first time on a speedway track and I've never seen a pair of speedway leathers so glamorously filled as they were by Lynne and Carol."

Carol Handley won the match-race, completing the four laps in 104.5 seconds, with Lynne Howell finishing second in 111 seconds.

Lynne said:

"I was just getting used to it after four laps. I'm sure if I'd had a practice I could have gone faster than I did. It was great."

Johnnie Hoskins was present and invited the girls to repeat the experience at Canterbury during the 1972 season. As far as we know, that didn't happen, but do get in touch if you think differently.

Alan Howell was blown away by how much information had been found.

"Oh my word! This is amazing, I can't thank you enough Two newspaper reports and a photo, I couldn't have wished for more. To be honest, I didn't think you'd be able to find anything, so this is way above my expectations. Thank you again, from me and Lynne's children and grandchildren."

Click on the images below to see them in a larger size.

This article was first published on 22nd March 2026