Still a regular visitor to the tracks today, ‘Big’ Dave Mellor’s early career is best described as unspectacular following his debut in 1975. The 1975 Boxing Day Belle Vue programme carried a small piece about the White Top from Ashbourne being awarded his first ever booking at the Manchester track, following two unsuccessful attempts.

Fast forward fewer than three years, to 23 September 1978, to find the same driver standing atop the World Final podium after a faultless drive to the flag. He had only won two meeting finals prior to that race, though one of them was the British Championship at Bradford, and now he was World Champion.

He had also appeared in the now infamous Long Track World Championship in Baarlo and, had it not been for the still-debated actions of an over-zealous starter, Dave may have held two World and one British titles in the same year. Though it is being kind to say that his Ford-engined cars were never the most elegant, he pushed them to a total of forty seven finals prior to his retirement in the late 1980s.

Mark Knowles

Further Photographs of Dave Mellor can be found on Brian Watson’s excellent website Ovalaction.com – Click HERE to be taken direct to Dave Mellor’s page.

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Final wins provided by BSCDA Historian Nigel Anderson

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WIN #	YEAR	DATE	VENUE	SURFACE
1	1978	Jul 7th	Bradford	Shale
2	1978	Sep 2nd	Coventry	Shale
3	1979	Aug 18th	Leicester	Shale
4	1979	Aug 26th	Northampton	Tarmac
5	1980	May 11th	Northampton	Tarmac
6	1980	Jun 1st	Hartlepool	Tarmac
7	1980	Jul 6th	Northampton	Tarmac
8	1980	Aug 16th	Leicester	Shale
9	1980	Sep 20th	Leicester	Shale
10	1980	Dec 28th	Sheffield	Shale
11	1981	Mar 21st	Long Eaton	Shale
12	1981	Mar 29th	Northampton	Tarmac
13	1981	Apr 11th	Long Eaton	Shale
14	1981	May 16th	Leicester	Shale
15	1981	Aug 30th	Northampton	Tarmac
16	1981	Sep 11th	Long Eaton	Shale
17	1981	Oct 24th	Belle Vue	Shale
18	1981	Nov 6th	Long Eaton	Shale
19	1981	Nov 7th	Coventry	Shale
20	1981	Nov 8th	Northampton	Tarmac
21	1982	Mar 28th	Northampton	Tarmac
22	1982	Apr 3rd	Coventry	Shale
23	1982	Apr 23rd	Long Eaton	Shale
24	1982	Apr 25th	Northampton	Tarmac
25	1982	Apr 26th	Sheffield	Shale
26	1982	May 3rd	Belle Vue	Shale
27	1982	May 8th	Long Eaton	Shale
28	1982	May 24th	Sheffield	Shale
29	1982	Jun 27th	Rochdale	Shale
30	1982	Jul 3rd	Coventry	Shale
31	1982	Jul 17th	Leicester	Shale
32	1982	Jul 24th	Northampton	Tarmac
33	1982	Aug 14th	Long Eaton	Shale
34	1982	Aug 29th	Northampton	Tarmac
35	1982	Oct 11th	Sheffield	Shale
36	1982	Dec 27th	Sheffield	Shale
37	1983	Apr 16th	Northampton	Tarmac
38	1983	Apr 16th	Leicester	Shale
39	1983	May 28th	Long Eaton	Shale
40	1983	Oct 2nd	Northampton	Tarmac
41	1984	May 19th	Leicester	Shale
42	1984	Jul 29th	Northampton	Tarmac
43	1984	Oct 15th	Sheffield	Shale
44	1985	Apr 21st	Sheffield	Shale
45	1985	Sep 15th	Hartlepool	Tarmac
46	1985	Oct 6th	Skegness	Tarmac
47	1989	Jun 4th	Coventry	Shale