Chris Morton

Last updated

Chris Morton
Chris Morton.jpg
Born (1956-07-22) 22 July 1956 (age 68)
Davyhulme, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1973 Ellesmere Port Gunners
1973–1990 Belle Vue Aces
1993 Sheffield Tigers
Individual honours
1980 Intercontinental Champion
1983 British Champion
1983, 1987, 1993 Northern Riders Champion
1984 British League Riders' Champion
1974 British Under-21 Champion
1978 Volkswagen/Daily Mirror Grand Prix
1988Ace of Aces Grasstrack Champion
1980Manpower Trophy
1980 Daily Mirror Golden Hammer
Team honours
1973, 1975 British League KO Cup winner
1980 World Team Cup Winner
1982 British League Champion
1984 World Pairs Champion
1984 British League Pairs Champion
1975, 1976, 1977, 1978Northern Trophy
1983British League Cup Winner

Christopher John Morton, MBE (born 22 July 1956 [1] ) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. [2] He earned 115 international caps for the England national speedway team and 7 caps for the Great Britain team, making him the third most capped England & British rider of all-time. [3]

Contents

Career

Born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, he rode bikes from a young age at the farm of Peter Collins' parents. Morton made his debut for Ellesmere Port Gunners (on loan from Belle Vue Aces) on 15 May 1973. He showed rapid improvement then following an injury to Aces Captain Chris Pusey in June 1973 he was drafted into the Belle Vue team scoring 6 points on his debut in an away meeting at Cradley Heath. The following season he became British Under-21 Champion at just 17 years of age.

During the late 1970s, Morton was a guest resident international rider at the famous Rowley Park Speedway in Adelaide, South Australia where he often rode against the likes of home town hero John Boulger and Mildura's Phil Crump.

He rode for the England team at test level and represented them in the World Team Cup, winning the competition in 1980.

Morton became British Champion in 1983 and World Pairs Champion with best friend Peter Collins in 1984.

He won the 1984 British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October. [4]

He rode for Belle Vue for 18 seasons, starting for the 1973 British League season [5] and ending after the 1990 British League season. [6] During the 18 seasons he regularly averaged around the 10 point mark, including an impressive 10.30 and 10.31 in 1983 and 1984 respectively.

After retirement

He retired from riding in 1990, leaving a legacy of being one of the most significant riders ever to ride for Belle Vue. In 1991, he became the manager of Berwick Bandits in 1991. [7] He also played a major role in the introduction of speedway to Buxton in 1994. [8]

In 2005, he returned to Belle Vue as commercial manager and then in December 2006, he was part of a consortium who bought the Aces and currently holds the position of Operations Director, having previously also acted as team manager. [9] [10]

He was awarded his MBE for services to speedway in 1992. In 2024, he was part of a team that undertook a marathon charity cycling ride for the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund but was taken ill and required an emergency hernia operation. [11]

Family

Brother Dave was also a speedway rider.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

World Team Cup

World Longtrack Championship

Finalist

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Collins (speedway rider)</span> British world champion motorcycle speedway rider

Peter Spencer Collins is an English former speedway rider who spent his whole career (1971–1986) with the Belle Vue Aces, the team he supported as a child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Crump</span> Australian speedway rider

Jason Philip Crump is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Australia. He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, and a World Cup winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zenon Plech</span> Polish speedway rider (1953–2020)

Zenon Plech was a Polish international motorcycle speedway rider. He finished third in the Speedway World Championship in 1973 and as the runner-up in 1979. He earned 76 international caps for the Poland national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Mauger</span> New Zealand speedway rider (1939–2018)

Ivan Gerald Mauger was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by Tony Rickardsson of Sweden. In 2010, Mauger was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

<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">Egon Müller</span> Motorcycle speedway rider from Germany

Egon Müller is a German former motorcycle speedway rider. He was the was winner of the Speedway World Championship in 1983, winning the title in his homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. He earned 44 international caps for the West German national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Ermolenko</span> American speedway rider

Guy Allen Ermolenko is a former motorcycle speedway rider. During his career he was known as Sam Ermolenko. In 1993, he won the Speedway World Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Jancarz</span> Polish speedway rider (1946–1992)

Edward 'Ed' Jancarz was a Polish international speedway rider. He earned 76 international caps for the Poland speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Kennett</span> English speedway rider (1953–2023)

Gordon William Kennett was an English motorcycle speedway rider. In 1978, he won the World Pairs Championship and finished runner-up to Ole Olsen in the 1978 Individual Speedway World Championship, at Wembley. He earned 53 international caps for the England national speedway team.

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

Michael Andrew Lee is a British former international speedway rider who won the World Championship in 1980. He earned 72 international caps for the England national speedway team.

Kelvin Martin Tatum MBE is a former British international motorcycle speedway and grasstrack rider. He earned 65 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finn Thomsen</span> Danish speedway rider

Finn Thomsen is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark. He earned 30 caps for the Denmark national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Jessup</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

David John Jessup is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. He was a world championship runner-up, world pairs champion, world cup winner and British champion. He earned 97 international caps for the England national speedway team.

Neil Clive Evitts is a former English international motorcycle speedway rider. He was the 1986 British champion and earned 27 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvyn Cox</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

Marvyn Cox is a former motorcycle speedway rider. Cox was twice a winner of the German Individual Championship in 1993 and 1995, when he raced under a German licence. At retirement he had earned 25 international caps for the England national speedway team.

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

John Henry Davis is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who represented England, when they won the World Team Cup in 1977 and 1980.

Ronnie Dean Correy is an American former international motorcycle speedway rider. He was a World Pairs Champion, winning the title in 1992, a world cup winner and earned 23 caps for the United States national speedway team.

Jiří Štancl is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Czechoslovakia. He earned 39 international caps for the Czechoslovakia national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Maier (speedway rider)</span> German speedway rider

Karl Maier (born 24 August 1957) is a German former speedway rider. He competed in motorcycle speedway and Longtrack racing. He reached seventeen world longtrack championship finals and was world champion four times. He also earned 38 international caps for the West German national speedway team.

Aleš Dryml Sr. is a Czech former motorcycle speedway rider who competed in speedway, longtrack and grasstrack racing. He earned 32 international caps for the Czechoslovakia national speedway team.

References

  1. ↑ Oakes, P & Rising, P (1986). 1986 Speedway Yearbook. ISBN   0-948882-00-X
  2. ↑ Lawson,K (2018) "Riders, Teams and Stadiums". ISBN   978-0-244-72538-9
  3. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Speedway" . Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 28 October 1984. Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  6. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Morton C. (2005). Until The Can Ran Out. NPI Media Group. ISBN   0-7524-3473-X
  8. ↑ "Buxton Speedway is under Orders" . Manchester Evening News. 13 July 1994. Retrieved 27 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ Frost, Richard (2006) "Morton in Takeover", Speedway Star , 14 October 2006, p. 3
  10. ↑ "Karlsson out to tame the Wolves", Middleton Guardian , 1 April 2010, retrieved 22 July 2012
  11. ↑ "Dramatic conclusion for heroic speedway fundraising ride". Cumbria Crack. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  12. ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN   0-7524-2402-5
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.