Pete Smith (speedway rider, born 1942)

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Pete Smith
Pete Smith of Poole Pirates.jpg
Pete Smith (Poole Pirate)
Born (1942-07-11) 11 July 1942 (age 81)
Hanworth, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1962-1977 Poole Pirates
Team honours
1969 British League Champion
1963, 1964Provincial Southern League Winner

Peter Arthur Smith (born 11 July 1942, in Hanworth, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider [1] from England, who spent his entire career with the Poole Pirates. [2] [3] He earned seven international caps for the England national speedway team and two caps for the Great Britain team. [4]

Career

Smith began riding speedway motorcycles at the training track at Rye House Stadium in the early 1960s. In 1962, Smith took part in a number of second-half meetings at Wimborne Road and made his first full appearance for Poole at a challenge match at Rye House. [3] He continued to improve at Poole and by 1968, Smith had become the Pirates third heat-leader. Poole won the British League championship in 1969 and Smith rose to the number one position at the club with an average of 9.52. [5] Smith also made his first international appearances for England in 1969 against Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. He was made Poole's captain in 1971 and continued to ride for the club until his retirement from the sport in 1977. [3]

He made 620 appearances for Poole Pirates during his 15 years career establishing a club record. [6]

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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. 1 2 3 Bamford, Robert; Shailes, Glynn (2004). 50 Poole Pirates Greats. Tempus Publishing. pp. 116–118. ISBN   0-7524-3257-5.
  4. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Pete Smith | The History of Poole Speedway". www.poole-speedway.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
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