Danny Bird (speedway rider)

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Danny Bird
Born (1979-11-16) 16 November 1979 (age 44)
Guildford, Surrey
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1998-2003 Isle Of Wight Islanders
1999 Poole Pirates
1999, 2000, 2002-2004 Ipswich Witches
2004, 2005, 2007 Reading Racers
2006 Glasgow Tigers
Team honours
2003 PL Knockout Cup
1998, 2001 Young Shield
2002, 2004, 2006 Pairs Championship

Daniel Lee Bird (born 16 November 1979) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. [1] [2]

Speedway career

Bird began his British racing career riding for Isle of Wight Islanders during the 1998 Premier League speedway season and helped his team win the end of season Young Shield. [3] Over the next three seasons he gradually improved his average and by the 2001 season was the team's heat leader alongside Ray Morton. He also won a second Young Shield in 2001. [4]

In 2002, he reached the first of three consecutive British Speedway Championship finals and won the Premier League Pairs Championship partnering Adam Shields for the Isle of Wight, during the 2002 Premier League speedway season. [5] The following season he won the Knockout Cup with the Islanders and also doubled up, riding for Ipswich Witches in the top division.

In 2004, he signed Reading Racers, moving from the Islanders and won another Premier League Pairs Championship, partnering Phil Morris for Reading, during the 2004 Premier League speedway season. [6] A serious broken leg injury in March 2005 curtailed the majority of the season for Bird and at the beginning of 2006 he signed for Glasgow Tigers. [7]

He won the Premier League Pairs Championship for the third time in 2006, partnering Shane Parker for Glasgow Tigers, during the 2006 Premier League speedway season. [8]

He rode in the top tier of British Speedway again, riding for the Reading Racers during the 2007 Elite League speedway season. [9]

His career came to a controversial ending after being banned following testing positive for drugs, which forced him to retire. [10] [11]

At retirement he had earned 1 international cap for the Great Britain national speedway team. [2]

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References

  1. ↑ "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "Speedway" . Western Daily Press. 31 October 1998. Retrieved 28 October 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "2001 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  5. ↑ "2002 Premier League Pairs at Workington". YouTube. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "Reading race to Pairs title". Crash.net. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "Danny Bird is back!". BBC. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  8. ↑ Bamford, Robert (2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 215–217. ISBN   978-07524-4250-1.
  9. ↑ "Greensheet Averages". British Speedway. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "DANNY BIRD STATEMENT". British Speedway. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "Bird gets two-year suspension". Berkshire Live. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
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