Great Britain national speedway team
The Great Britain national speedway team (also known as GB speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by the Tai Woffinden.
Great Britain | |
---|---|
Team captain | Tai Woffinden |
Nation colour | Blue |
SWC Wins | 10 (inc SON) (1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1989, 2021) |
Squad |
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History
The national speedway team held test matches against the Australia as early as 1928, although the first official test match is listed as 30 June 1930 at Wimbledon Stadium.[1]
The team won the Speedway World Team Cup on five occasions as England and four times as Great Britain from 1968 to 1989. They were a major force in the 1970s, winning five consecutive tournaments, two as England and three as Great Britain.[2] Key riding members of the title wins include Peter Collins (five wins), Malcolm Simmons (four wins), New Zealand born Ivan Mauger and Ray Wilson (all three wins).[3] Prior to 1974, the Great Britain team often consisted of riders from other Commonwealth Nations including Australia and New Zealand.[4]
The cup eluded the team after 1989, although they came close in 2000, missing out when Mark Loram fell in a race-off and 2004 where a team of Mark Loram, Lee Richardson, Gary Havelock, David Norris and Scott Nicholls missed out by one point. Both the 2000 and 2004 narrow defeats were at the hands of Sweden and both in somewhat controversial fashion.
In June 2018, Great Britain competed as one of 15 nations in the inaugural Speedway of Nations tournament and in August 2018, Great Britain hosted a top-level international test match for the first time in over 15 years when they took on Australia at Glasgow's Peugeot Ashfield Stadium.
At the 2021 Speedway of Nations in Manchester, Team GB ended a 32 years drought. After finishing third in qualifying, they beat Denmark 6–3 in the Grand Final qualifier and then beat Poland in the Grand Final 5–4. The winning team included Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley and Tai Woffinden.[5]
Major tournament wins
World Team Championships
Year | Venue | Standings (Pts) | Riders | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|
1968 | London Wembley |
1. Great Britain (40) 2. Sweden (30) 3. Poland (19) 4. Czechoslovakia (7) |
Ivan Mauger (NZ) | 12 |
Nigel Boocock | 10 | |||
Martin Ashby | 8 | |||
Barry Briggs (NZ) | 7 | |||
Norman Hunter | 3 | |||
1971 | Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski |
1. Great Britain (37) 2. Soviet Union (22) 3. Poland (19) 4. Sweden (18) |
Ray Wilson | 12 |
Ivan Mauger (NZ) | 10 | |||
Jim Airey (AUS) | 9 | |||
Barry Briggs (NZ) | 6 | |||
Ronnie Moore (NZ) | dnr | |||
1972 | Olching Olching Speedwaybahn |
1. Great Britain (36) 2. Soviet Union (21) 3. Poland (21) 4. Sweden (18) |
Ivan Mauger (NZ) | 11 |
John Louis | 9 | |||
Terry Betts | 9 | |||
Ray Wilson | 8 | |||
Ronnie Moore (NZ) | dnr | |||
1973 | London Wembley |
1. Great Britain (37) 2. Sweden (31) 3. Soviet Union (20) 4. Poland (8) |
Peter Collins | 12 |
Terry Betts | 9 | |||
Malcolm Simmons | 8 | |||
Ray Wilson | 8 | |||
Dave Jessup | dnr | |||
1974 | Chorzów Stadion Śląski |
1. England (42) 2. Sweden (31) 3. Poland (13) 4. Soviet Union (10) |
Peter Collins | 12 |
John Louis | 12 | |||
Dave Jessup | 10 | |||
Malcolm Simmons | 8 | |||
Ray Wilson | dnr | |||
1975 | Norden Motodrom Halbemond |
1. England (41) 2. Soviet Union (29) 3. Sweden (17) 4. Poland (9) |
Peter Collins | 12 |
Malcolm Simmons | 11 | |||
Martin Ashby | 10 | |||
John Louis | 8 | |||
Dave Jessup | dnr | |||
1977 | Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski |
1. England (37) 2. Poland (25) 3. Czechoslovakia (23) 4. Sweden (11) |
Peter Collins | 10 |
Michael Lee | 9 | |||
Dave Jessup | 9 | |||
John Davis | 6 | |||
Malcolm Simmons | 3 | |||
1980 | Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski |
1. England (40) 2. United States (29) 3. Poland (15) 4. Czechoslovakia (12) |
Michael Lee | 11 |
Chris Morton | 11 | |||
Peter Collins | 10 | |||
Dave Jessup | 8 | |||
John Davis | dnr | |||
1989 | Bradford Odsal Stadium |
1. England (48) 2. Denmark (34) 3. Sweden (30) 4. United States (8) |
Jeremy Doncaster | 13 |
Paul Thorp | 12 | |||
Kelvin Tatum | 12 | |||
Simon Wigg | 11 | |||
Simon Cross | 0 | |||
2021 | Manchester National Speedway Stadium |
1. Great Britain (64+6+5) 2. Poland (74+4) 3. Denmark (68+3) 4. Australia (49) 5. France (47) 6. Latvia (42) 7. Sweden (30) |
Robert Lambert | 32+4+3 |
Dan Bewley | 11+2+2 | |||
Tai Woffinden | 14 | |||
Tom Brennan | 7 |
Titles
World Pairs Championship
Year | Venue | Standings (Pts) | Riders | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Borås Saxarna Speedway |
1. England (24) 2. New Zealand (24) 3. Sweden B (22) 4. Sweden A (22) 5. Poland (15) 6. Czechoslovakia (12) 7. Hungary (6) |
Ray Wilson | 15+3 |
Terry Betts | 9 | |||
1976 | Eskilstuna Eskilstuna Motorstadion |
1. England (27) 2. Denmark (24) 3. Sweden (22) 4. Australia (16) 5. New Zealand (15) 6. Scotland (12) 7. Poland (10) |
John Louis | 17 |
Malcolm Simmons | 10 | |||
1977 | Manchester Hyde Road |
1. England (28) 2. Sweden (18) 3. West Germany (18) 4. Czechoslovakia (17) 5. New Zealand (17) 6. Finland (14) 7. Australia (12) |
Peter Collins | 15 |
Malcolm Simmons | 13 | |||
1978 | Chorzówr Stadion Śląski |
1. England (24) 2. New Zealand (24) 3. Denmark (21) 4. Czechoslovakia (18) 5. Poland (15) 6. West Germany (13) 7. Sweden (11) |
Malcolm Simmons | 15+3 |
Gordon Kennett | 9 | |||
1980 | Krsko Matija Gubec Stadium |
1. England (29) 2. Poland (22) 3. Denmark (21) 4. Sweden (18) 5. New Zealand (16) 6. Finland (14) 7. Yugoslavia (6) |
Dave Jessup | 15 |
Peter Collins | 14 | |||
1983 | Göteborg Ullevi |
1. England (25) 2. Australia (24) 3. Denmark (19) 4. United States (18) 5. Sweden (16) 6. West Germany (12) 7. New Zealand (11) |
Kenny Carter | 15 |
Peter Collins | 10 | |||
1984 | Lonigo Pista Speedway |
1. England (27) 2. Denmark (25) 3. New Zealand (25) 4. United States (19) 5. Australia (14) 6. Czechoslovakia (10) 7. Italy (6) |
Chris Morton | 14 |
Peter Collins | 13 |
International caps (as of 2022)
Since the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix era, international caps earned by riders is largely restricted to international competitions, whereas previously test matches between two teams were a regular occurrence. This means that the number of caps earned by a rider has decreased in the modern era.[6]
References
- "United Kingdom international matches". International Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
- "Speedway: Great Britain claim first world title since 1989 with win over Poland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.