World Final Appearances
Individual World Championship
- 1960 -
London, Wembley Stadium - 11th - 5pts
| Born | 4 April 1927 Perth, Western Australia |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Chum Taylor |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Career history | |
| 1951-1952 | Ashfield Giants |
| 1951-1953 | Cardiff Dragons |
| 1953-1954 | Bristol Bulldogs |
| 1953 | Swindon Robins |
| 1958-1961 | Southampton Saints |
| 1963 | Oxford Cheetahs |
| 1964 | Poole Pirates |
| 1966 | Cradley Heathens |
| Individual honours | |
| 1958, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1970 | Western Australia Champion |
| 1966 | Australian Champion |
| Team honours | |
| 1954 | National League Div 2 Champion |
| 1954 | Southern Shield Winner |
| 1961 | National League KO Cup Winner |
| 1961 | National Trophy Winner |
| 1964 | Provincial Southern League Winner |
Edwin Vernon Thomas Taylor (born 4 April 1927) is a retired Australian motorcycle speedway rider who won the Australian Individual Speedway Championship in 1966. He was known as Chum Taylor by the press and speedway public. [1] He earned 28 international caps for the Australia national speedway team and one cap for the Great Britain national speedway team. [2]
Born in Perth, Western Australia, Taylor received the nickname 'Chum' after his grandmother's comment of "oh, my little chum!" on first seeing him when he was a day old. [3] He competed as an amateur jockey and worked as a cooper at the Swan brewery near his home, which allowed him to buy his first motorcycle. [3] After trying road racing and scrambling, Taylor began his speedway career at the Claremont Speedway in 1948. [3] Early success led to an offer to ride for the Ashfield Giants in the United Kingdom, going on to ride for Cardiff Dragons for two seasons. [3] He raced in Britain for several teams from 1951 to 1966 including Ashfield Giants (1951), Cardiff Dragons (1951-2), Bristol Bulldogs (1953), [4] Southampton Saints (1958-1961), [5] Oxford Cheetahs (1963), Poole Pirates (1964) and Cradley Heath Heathens in 1966. [6]
He represented Australia in the World Final in 1960, finishing in 11th place. He won the Western Australia Championship on a record five occasions (1958, 1962, 1963, 1968, and 1970), all at Claremont, and won the Australian Solo Championship in January 1966 at the Rowley Park Speedway in Adelaide. [3] [7]
Taylor represented Australia (and Australasia) several times at international level, first in 1958 in the second Test against England and again in 1959, 1960, 1967/68, 1969/70, 1970/71 (a series in which he captained the team), 1971/72, 1972/3, and for a final time in 1973, a series in which his son Glyn also rode. [8] [9] Glyn Taylor would go on to emulate his father by winning the WA State title in 1982 and 1983.
He retired from racing in 1973 at the age of 46 after a crash in a second half race at Crewe in which he broke his shoulder blade. [6] The Chum Taylor Cup is contested annually in his honour at the Pinjar Park Speedway north of Perth. [10]
Chum Taylor's autobiography, A Dangerous Life, was published in 1986.
In November 2013 he was inducted into the Motorcycling Western Australia Hall of Fame. [3]
London, Wembley Stadium - 11th - 5ptsPinjar is a rural locality in Perth, Western Australia. Its local government area is the City of Wanneroo.
Ove Fundin is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1951 to 1970. Fundin is notable for winning the Speedway World Championship Final five times, a record bettered only by Ivan Mauger and fellow Swede Tony Rickardsson who each won six World Championships. He finished runner-up in the championship 3 times (1957–59) and was third in 1962, 1964 and 1965 meaning that from his first win in 1956 until his last in 1967, Fundin did not finish lower than a podium place in a record eleven World Finals. He was known by the nickname of the "Flying Fox" or just "the Fox" because of his red hair. In 2013, Fundin was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.
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 who won one World Final and five GP Championships. Mauger rode for several British teams – Wimbledon Dons, Newcastle Diamonds, Belle Vue Aces, Exeter Falcons and the Hull Vikings. In 2010, Mauger was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.
Jack Ellis Young was an Australian motorcycle speedway rider who won the Speedway World Championship in 1951 and 1952. He also won the London Riders' Championship 1953 and 1954 and was a nine time South Australian Champion between 1948 and 1964.
Andrew Smith is a retired motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 29 international caps for the England national speedway team.
John Robert Vickers (Ken) McKinlay was a British international motorcycle speedway rider. He earned 23 caps for the Scotland national speedway team, 92 caps for the England national speedway team and 23 caps for the Great Britain team..
Ashfield Giants were a motorcycle speedway team based at Saracen Park, Glasgow, Scotland between 1949 and 1953. The track operated on an open licence in 1953 and were reformed for a one of season during the 2000 Speedway Conference League.
Harald Olof Ingemar Nygren was a Swedish motorcycle speedway rider, who reached the finals of the Speedway World Championship five times.
Trevor John Redmond was a motorcycle speedway rider from New Zealand. He earned 17 caps for the New Zealand national speedway team and 11 caps for the South African national team. Redmond also opened a speedway track in Neath, Wales in 1962 and le later became a promoter of stock car and hot rod racing, mainly in southwest England, through his Autospeed organisation.
John Boulger is a former international motorcycle speedway rider. Boulger won a record nine South Australian Championships, as well as two Australian Solo Championships during his career. As part of the Australian team, Boulger won the 1976 World Team Cup as captain.
Rowley Park Speedway is a former dirt track racing venue that was located on Torrens Road in Brompton, South Australia and supplanted the Kilburn speedway (1946–1951) on Churchill Road, and the earlier Camden motordrome (1935–1941) on the Bay Road. The speedway ran continually during Australia's speedway seasons from its opening meeting on 21 December 1949 until its last meeting on 6 April 1979.
The Western Australian Individual Speedway Championship is a Motorcycle speedway championship held annually in Western Australia to determine the WA State champion. The event is organised by the Speedway Motorcycle Club of WA and is sanctioned by Motorcycling Australia (MA).
Douglas Richard Underwood was an Australian motorcycle speedway rider.
Glyn Clifford Taylor is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider, who went on to a career building and curating speedway tracks, tuning engines, and in speedway promotion and team management.
Robert Peter Branford is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider.
Glenn Doyle is a retired Australian Motorcycle speedway rider. Doyle is a twice Australian Champion and won the Western Australian Championship in his adopted state on six occasions.
The Claremont Speedway was a racing circuit in the grounds of the Claremont Showground in the suburb of Claremont in Western Australia's capital city of Perth. The speedway held its first meeting on 14 May 1927, and its final meeting on 31 March 2000.
The 1982 Australian Individual Speedway Championship was held at the Claremont Speedway in Perth, Western Australia on 15 January 1982.
John Mountford was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. He was known as Jack Mountford during his speedway career.
Walter Neville Morton was a motorcycle speedway rider from England and rode in British speedway for a remarkable 31 years from 1933 to 1963.