British Riders' Championship

Last updated

British Riders' Championship
Sport motorcycle speedway
Founded1946
CountryUnited Kingdom
Notes
replaced by
British League Riders' Championship

The British Riders Championship was an individual motorcycle speedway competition held in the United Kingdom for three years from 1946 until 1948. The competition was introduced after the Second World War in the absence of the World Championship and existed for three seasons. In 1949, the World Championship was re-introduced and so the competition was no longer run. After some pre-qualifying meetings, the final in each season was held at Wembley Stadium. [1]

Contents

History

The first winner was Tommy Price, who won the final held at Empire Stadium on 12 September 1946, in front of 85,000 spectators. [2] [3] There were no less than 23 qualifying rounds, where riders from National and Northern League tracks respectively, competed in six meetings each. [2]

Jack Parker won the 1947 final held at Empire Stadium on 11 September. Parker won the title after a run off and also broke the halfway (2 laps) track record (37.6 secs) in heat 2. [4] [5] There were three qualifying rounds, with 28 riders progressing to the Championship round, held over seven meetings. [4]

Vic Duggan won the 1948 Championship final held again at Empire Stadium on 16 September, in front of nearly 90,000 spectators. [6] [7]

Results

YearWinnerTeam2ndTeam3rdTeam
1946 Tommy Price Wembley Lions Jack Parker Belle Vue Aces Bill Kitchen Wembley Lions
1947 Jack Parker Belle Vue Aces Bill Kitchen Wembley Lions Bill Longley New Cross Rangers
1948 Vic Duggan Harringay Racers Ron Johnson New Cross Rangers Alec Statham Wimbledon Dons

See also

Related Research Articles

Harringay Stadium was a major greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway venue in Harringay, north London. It was built and opened in 1927 and closed in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Nielsen (speedway rider)</span> Danish speedway rider

Hans Hollen Nielsen is a Danish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1977 to 1999. Nielsen is notable for winning four Speedway World Championship titles. During his career, he won a total of 22 world championships, making him arguably the most successful speedway rider of all time. In 2012, Nielsen was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements. He later managed the Danish national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford Cheetahs</span> British motorcycle speedway team

The Oxford Cheetahs are a British speedway team based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964, 1985, 1986, 1989 and 2001. The club folded in 2007 but returned to racing when participating in the SGB Championship 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ole Olsen (speedway rider)</span> Danish speedway rider

Ole Bjarne Olsen is a Danish former professional motorcycle speedway rider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Holder</span> Australian speedway rider (born 1987)

Christopher Robert Holder is an Australian speedway rider, who was the 2012 World Speedway Champion. He is also five times Australian champion (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Price</span> British speedway rider

Thomas Price was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. In 1949 he won the first Speedway World Championship to be held after the Second World War. He earned 23 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic Duggan</span> Australian speedway rider

Victor John Duggan was a motorcycle speedway racer who won the London Riders' Championship in 1947 whilst with the Harringay Racers.

The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championships were held in 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1936 Individual Speedway World Championship</span> First official edition of the World motorcycle speedway championship

The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. The forerunner to the World Championship was generally regarded to be the Star Riders' Championship. The final was held at London's Wembley Stadium in front of 74,000. It was the first of a record 26 times that Wembley would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.

The 1949 Individual Speedway World Championship was the fourth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Parker (speedway rider)</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

John (Jack) Parker was an international motorcycle speedway rider who made his debut at the Whitsun meeting at High Beech in 1928. He won the British Riders' Championship in 1949 and finished second in the 1949 World Championship. He earned 89 international caps for the England national speedway team.

The 1947 National League Division One was the 13th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

The 1948 National League Division One was the 14th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the third post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

The 1950 National League Division One was the 16th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fifth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

The 1952 National League Division One was the 18th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the seventh post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season.

The 1950 National League Division Three was the fourth season of British speedway's National League Division Three

The 1962 Provincial Speedway League was the third season of the Provincial League.

Henry Whitfield was a British motorcycle speedway rider who went on to manage Middlesbrough Bears. He earned one international caps for the England national speedway team.

The 1956 Southern Area League was the third season of the regional third tier/division of speedway racing in the United Kingdom British teams. Brafield Flying Foxes were no longer competitors with Southern Rovers taking their place. Southern Rovers had no track and raced all their 'home' fixtures on away tracks.

References

  1. http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/1948/brc.pdf%5B%5D
  2. 1 2 "1946 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  3. "Tommy Price wins Speedway Championship" . Daily Herald. 13 September 1946. Retrieved 3 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. 1 2 "1947 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  5. "Speedway title for Jack Parker" . Bradford Observer. 12 September 1947. Retrieved 3 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "1948 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  7. "Speedway title for Jack Parker" . Daily News (London). 17 September 1948. Retrieved 3 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.