Michael Lee (speedway rider)

Last updated

Michael Lee
Michael Lee.jpg
Born (1958-12-11) 11 December 1958 (age 65)
Cambridge, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1975 Boston Barracudas
1975–1982, 1985–1986, 1991 King's Lynn Stars
1983–1984 Poole Pirates
Individual honours
1976 British Junior Champion
1977, 1978 British Champion
1977Westernapolis winner
1979 Commonwealth Champion
1979 Intercontinental Champion
1980 World Champion
1981 Long Track World Champion
1981,1983Pride of the East
1979 Internationale
1980Silver Plume
Team honours
1977, 1980 World Team Cup Winner
1977 British League KO Cup Winner
1980Gauntlet Gold Cup

Michael Andrew Lee (born 11 December 1958) is a British former international speedway rider [1] who won the World Championship in 1980. [2] [3] He earned 72 international caps for the England national speedway team. [4]

Contents

Career

Born in Cambridge, England, Lee began his professional speedway career in 1975 with Boston in the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom, the National League. In his first season, he recorded an impressive average points score of 9.13, he also rode part-time for top division team King's Lynn. [5]

In 1976, Lee moved full-time to British League team King's Lynn and finished the season with an average of 9.22, he was also the British Junior Champion that year.

At the end of the 1977 season, Lee had become the top scorer in the British League with an average of 10.64. He also won the first of his two British Speedway Championship titles. Lee won the World Team Cup with England and he had also made his first appearance in a World Championship Final. [6]

In 1979, Lee finished 3rd in the World Finals, beating Kelly Moran, Billy Sanders and Ole Olsen in a run-off race to claim the bronze medal. The next year, Lee won the World Championship in Gothenburg for the only time, finishing ahead of King's Lynn team mate Dave Jessup. He was also triumphant again with England in the World Team Cup. [6] In 1981 he became the first British rider to win the World Long Track Championship, taking the title in Gornja Radgona ahead of Christoph Betzl and Anders Michanek. [7] He continued to ride for King's Lynn until the end of the 1982 season. [8]

Lee opted for a change in clubs in 1983 and moved to the Poole Pirates. He had another successful year, finishing with and average of 10.43. At the start of the 1984 season Lee was involved in an incident that would result in him being banned from speedway for a year. In a cup match against former club King's Lynn, Lee was excluded mid-race for a starting offence in heat 5 and returned to the pits in the wrong direction, allegedly causing the other riders to take evasive action. Despite the three other riders and the home promoter giving evidence that he had posed no danger, the Speedway Control Board fined him and banned him for 5 years, although this was later reduced on appeal. [5] Many people at the time, including Lee himself, felt that the incident and the length of the ban had been used as a pretext to force him out of the sport.

In 1983, Lee appeared in his last World Final at the Motodrom Halbemond in Norden, West Germany. Installed as one of the pre-meeting favourites in what was described as the most open World Final for a number of years, Lee finished third on 11 points behind local favourite Egon Müller (15) and Australia's Billy Sanders (12). Lee also finished second as part of the English team at the 1983 World Team Cup Final in Vojens, Denmark.

After his ban ended, Lee returned to King's Lynn for two seasons, but he was given another fine after he didn't show up to a match in June 1986 and he seemingly quit the sport. Lee made his comeback to speedway on 16 February 1991, riding in the West End Speedway International at the Wayville Showground in Adelaide, South Australia where he finished fourth in the Final behind local rider Shane Bowes, Todd Wiltshire, and Swede Dennis Lofqvist. He then finished third behind Wiltshire and Troy Butler in the "Mr Melbourne" meeting at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, before heading back to England to take up a short-lived stint with King's Lynn.

Personal life

Lee was convicted of growing cannabis for his own use in 2007 but avoided a jail term. [9] He was subsequently fined for possession of cannabis and amphetamines in July 2013. [10] On 8 October 2013 Lee was charged with rape and other sexual offences [11] but was cleared of the charges at a trial in May 2014. [12]

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

World Team Cup

World Longtrack Championship

Finalist

Family

Michael Lee is the son of former well known British Scrambler Andy Lee.

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">Chris Morton</span> English motorcycle speedway rider (born 1956)

Christopher John Morton, MBE is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Gundersen</span> Danish speedway rider

Erik Gundersen is a former motorcycle speedway rider. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time, having won the Speedway World Champion on three occasions, the Long Track World Championship twice and the World Pairs Championship five times. He is also a seven-time World Team Cup winner with Denmark, and earned 91 international caps for the country.

<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">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">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">Mark Loram</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

Mark Roysten Gregory Loram is a British former motorcycle speedway rider, who won the World Speedway Championship in 2000 and won the British Championship in 1997, 1999, and 2001. He earned 36 international caps for the England national speedway team and 10 caps for the Great Britain team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Louis (speedway rider)</span> British motorcycle speedway rider (1941–2024)

John Charles Louis was an English international motorcycle speedway rider. He was the father of Great Britain International Chris Louis. He earned 54 international caps for the England national speedway team and four caps for the Great Britain team. He later managed the England national team from 1994 to 1998.

<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">Anders Michanek</span> Swedish speedway rider

Anders Michanek is a Speedway rider. In 1974 he won the Speedway World Championship in his Swedish homeland with a maximum score of 15 points.

<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">Malcolm Simmons (speedway rider)</span> British speedway rider

Malcolm Simmons was a motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 73 international caps for the England national speedway team and five caps for the Great Britain team.

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

Simon Antony Wigg was an English speedway, grasstrack and longtrack rider. He won five World Long Track Championships and finished runner-up in the Speedway World Championship in 1989. He earned 57 international caps for the England 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.

<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.

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.

Lance Alan King is a former speedway rider from the United States. He earned 47 international caps for the United States national speedway team.

References

  1. ↑ Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN   978-0-244-72538-9
  2. ↑ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN   0-948882-81-6
  3. ↑ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 523. ISBN   0-316-72645-1.
  4. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 Bamford, Robert; Shailes, Glynn (2004). 50 Poole Pirates Greats. Tempus Publishing. pp. 73–75. ISBN   0-7524-3257-5.
  6. 1 2 Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN   0-7524-2402-5
  7. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1982). Daily Mirror 1982 Speedway Yearbook. Sportsdata. ISBN   0862150728.
  8. ↑ "Boulevard comeback for Michael Lee" . Hull Daily Mail. 25 August 1981. Retrieved 6 September 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ "Drugs downfall of speedway superstar". Eastern Daily Press. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  10. ↑ "Michael Lee, ex-speedway world champion, fined for drugs". 26 July 2013 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  11. ↑ "Former speedway champion Michael Lee charged with rape". 8 October 2013 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "Speedway champion Michael Lee cleared of rape and sex assaults". BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
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.