Jim McMillan (speedway rider)

Last updated

Jim McMillan
Jim McMillan.jpg
Born (1945-12-03) 3 December 1945 (age 78)
Glasgow, Scotland
NationalityBritish (Scottish)
Career history
1966-1972, 1983 Glasgow Tigers
1973 Coatbridge Tigers
1974-1975 Hull Vikings
1976-1980 Wolverhampton Wolves
1981-1982 Belle Vue Aces
1984-1986 Berwick Bandits
1984 Oxford Cheetahs
Team honours
1982 British League Champion

James Dunn Templeton McMillan (born 3 December 1945), better known as Jim McMillan or Jimmy McMillan, is a retired Scottish motorcycle speedway rider. [1] [2]

Contents

Biography

Born in Glasgow, McMillan worked as a sheet metal worker and took up speedway at the training school at Cowdenbeath in early 1966, following in the footsteps of two of his uncles who were also speedway riders - Doug Templeton and Willie Templeton. [3] [4] Later that year he broke into the Glasgow team in the British League and went on to average 3.54 points from thirteen matches. [3] He rode more regularly in 1967 and added over a point to his average. [3] He continued to progress in 1968, raising his average to 8.31, with three full maximum scores during the season. [3] This led to his selection for the Great Britain team in the test series against Sweden, and also for the British Lions team that toured Australia in the Winter of 1968/1969. [3] He went on to represent the British Lions 41 times, Great Britain 16 times, and Scotland in 31 matches (including captaining Scotland in the country's first ever match against Australia in 1969). [5] [6] In both the 1969 and 1970 seasons he averaged over ten points per match, and he captained the Tigers team. [3] [7] In 1972 he rode as a reserve in the World Final. [3] After moving with the team to Coatbridge in 1973, he moved to Hull Vikings the following year and after two successful seasons for the club moved on to Wolverhampton Wolves in 1976, going on to ride for the team for five years. In 1981 he signed for Belle Vue Aces. With his average down to 5.44 at the end of the 1982 season he dropped down to the National League with Glasgow, averaging 9.85 in the lower division. Three seasons followed with Berwick Bandits before he retired at the end of the 1986 season.

Heat 11, Grand Prix Final, White City. L-R Jim McMillan, Peter Collins, Kevin Holden, Billy Sanders KHolden.jpg
Heat 11, Grand Prix Final, White City. L-R Jim McMillan, Peter Collins, Kevin Holden, Billy Sanders

McMillan rode in the British League Riders' Championship five times between 1969 and 1974, his best finish a third place in 1971. [3]

As well as riding in British speedway, McMillan rode in New Zealand, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the United States, and Australia, where he finished as runner-up in the Queensland Championship in 1969/70. [3]

After retiring from the sport, McMillan worked as a machine examiner and a Technical Adviser to the Speedway Control Bureau. [4] [8]

World Final appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

Related Research Articles

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.

Bengt Gustaf Jansson is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden.

<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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Briggs</span> New Zealand speedway rider

Barry Briggs is a New Zealand former speedway rider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Young (speedway rider)</span> Australian speedway rider (1925–1987)

Jack Ellis Young was a 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sören Sjösten</span> Swedish speedway rider

Sören Willy Ernfrid Sjösten was a motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Wilson (speedway rider)</span>

Raymond Wilson is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who was World Pairs Champion in 1972 and British Speedway Champion in 1973, was also England Team Captain for five years in the early 1970s. He was the first Englishman to record a maximum score in a World Team Cup Final. His father Ron Wilson, was also a speedway rider for Leicester and Oxford in the early 1950s.

John Robert Vickers (Ken) McKinlay was an international speedway rider, captaining Scotland, England, Great Britain and Europe teams. He also finished on the rostrum of the British Speedway Championship finals twice, second in 1964 and third in 1965. His nickname Hurri-Ken was given to him by famous speedway promoter Johnnie Hoskins.

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

Nigel Boocock was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. who appeared in eight Speedway World Championship finals. He holds the record number of caps for Great Britain (64) and the record for total number of caps, when including England (154).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Ashby</span> English speedway rider

Henry Martin Ashby is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from England, who reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in 1968. He also finished third in the Speedway World Pairs Championship in 1969, with Nigel Boocock and was a member of the Great Britain team that won the World Team Cups in 1968 and 1975.

James Sydney Airey is an Australian former international motorcycle speedway rider, who rode in the 1971 World Final in Göteborg, Sweden and was a member of the Great Britain team that won the 1971 Speedway World Team Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antoni Woryna</span> Polish speedway rider

Antoni Woryna was an international motorcycle speedway rider from Poland, who appeared in the Speedway World Championship finals five times.

Viktor Ivanovich Trofimov is a former Soviet international speedway rider who reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in 1972 and 1975. He also finished on the rostrum of the World Team Cup nine times between 1965 and 1976 but never won a gold medal. He achieved four silver and three bronze medals. In the speedway team championship of the USSR he rode for 18 years for the team, "Raduga" (Rovno) and won two bronze medals. First race - April 30, 1960; retirement - October 15, 1995. He was born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR. In September 2011, a book was published about the sports career of Viktor Trofimov titled English "RADUGA" Viktor Trofimov.

Andrzej Wyglenda is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Harkins</span> Scottish former motorcycle speedway rider

Robert Pearson Harkins is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Scotland.

Thomas Leadbitter was a British scrambles, motorcycle speedway and grasstrack rider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Hunter (speedway rider)</span>

George Hunter was a motorcycle speedway rider. He rode for the Edinburgh Monarchs and the Wolverhampton Wolves.

Václav Verner (1949-2018) was an international speedway rider.

William Muir Templeton was a motorcycle speedway rider from Scotland.

Douglas Templeton was a motorcycle speedway rider from Scotland.

References

  1. Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN   978-0-244-72538-9
  2. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) Who's Who of World Speedway, Studio Publications, ISBN   0-904584-04-6, p. 207-8
  4. 1 2 Roberts, Wayne "Interview: Jim McMillan", speedwayplus.com, retrieved 2012-04-07
  5. Oakes, Peter (1982) 1982 Speedway Yearbook, Studio Publications, ISBN   0-86215-072-8, p. 123
  6. "Home Scots to Beat Speedway Aussies", Evening Times , 26 June 1969, p. 23, retrieved 2012-04-07
  7. "Bobby's Speedway Rise", Evening Times , 18 September 1970, p. 43, retrieved 2012-04-07
  8. "SCB Contact Details/SCB Officers", SCB, retrieved 2012-04-07