Brian Leonard (speedway rider)

Last updated

Brian Leonard
Brian Leonard Cheetah.jpg
Born (1946-02-19) 19 February 1946 (age 78)
Newbury, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1962-1965 Poole Pirates
1962, 1972-1974, 1976 Swindon Robins
1965-1969 West Ham Hammers
1969 Hackney Hawks
1970 Newport Wasps
1970-1971 Wembley Lions
1975, 1976 Leicester Lions
1976-1978 Oxford Cheetahs
Team honours
1965 British League Winner
1965 British League Knockout Cup KO Cup Winner
1965, 1966, 1967London Cup Winner

Brian John Leonard (born 19 February 1946) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. [1]

Career

Born in Newbury, Leonard followed his father Maurice into speedway. [2] He started his career with second half rides at Oxford in 1962, and made his league debut later that year, riding for Poole Pirates and Swindon Robins. [3] His first two years in speedway were marred by injury, suffering two collarbone breaks, and he missed four and a half months in 1963 with two broken bones in his left leg. [2]

In 1965 he signed for West Ham Hammers, where he steadily improved, averaging over seven points per match in the 1967 season. [3] After a spell with Hackney Hawks in 1969, he moved on to Wembley Lions in 1970 [4] but in 1972 Wembley sent their entire team out on loan due to extra football fixtures stopping the speedway at Wembley and Leonard moved to Newport Wasps. [5] He moved to Swindon Robins in 1972, but by 1974 his average had dropped below four points. [3] He was signed by Leicester Lions in 1975 but released after a poor run of results, due in part to a back injury, which led to his retirement from the sport. [6] He returned in 1976 and fared better after dropping down to the National League with Oxford Cheetahs, [7] averaging over seven points. The following year he scored less well, and after two matches in 1978 he retired. [8]

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References

  1. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 Oakes, Peter (1963) "A Peter Oakes Speedtale on Brian Leonard (Poole)", Speedway Star , 28 September 1963, p. 23
  3. 1 2 3 Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) Who's Who of World Speedway, Studio Publications, ISBN   0-904584-04-6, p. 76
  4. ↑ "Leonard off with a bang" . Harrow Observer. 10 July 1970. Retrieved 27 September 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "Wembley Lions split" . Hull Daily Mail. 29 February 1972. Retrieved 5 September 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ Jones, Alan (2010) Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar, Automedia, p. 171
  7. ↑ Lawson, K (2018) “The Cheetahs – The Resurrection”. ISBN   978-0-244-69934-5
  8. ↑ Bamford, R & Shailes, G (2007). "The Story of Oxford Speedway". ISBN   978-0-7524-4161-0
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