John Davis (speedway rider)

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John Davis
John Davis international speedway rider.jpg
Born (1954-11-10) 10 November 1954 (age 69)
Oxford, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
Great Britain
1971-1973 Peterborough Panthers
1971, 1981-1983 Poole Pirates
1971 West Ham Hammers
1971-1974 Oxford Cheetahs/Rebels
1972 Exeter Falcons
1975-1981, 1985-1987 Reading Racers
1983 Sheffield Tigers
1984, 1991 Wimbledon Dons
1988-1989 Kings Lynn Stars
1989-1991 Swindon Robins
1991 Eastbourne Eagles
Sweden
1989-1990 Dackarna
Poland
1991 Gdańsk
Individual honours
1984 Golden Helmet of Pardubice
1978The Laurels
Team honours
1977 World Team Cup Winner
1980 British League champion
1977Spring Gold Cup Winner

John Henry Davis (born 10 November 1954 in Oxford, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider [1] who represented England, when they won the World Team Cup in 1977 and 1980. [2]

Contents

Career

Davis was capped for the England national speedway team 68 times, [2] and was the first Englishman to win the prestigious Czech Golden Helmet of Pardubice. He also raced in the Swedish and Polish Leagues for Dackarna and Wybrzeże Gdańsk. [3] He raced for Diedenbergen in the German League for ten seasons, winning four German titles, where he was consistently the top performer. He qualified for 16 consecutive British Final appearances, his best finish being second to the late Kenny Carter; this was when England ruled The Speedway World. [4]

He started his career with Peterborough Panthers, during the 1971 British League Division Two season and improved over the next two seasons to the extent that he became a regular for his home city club, the Oxford Rebels. [5]

In 1975, he left Oxford after being caught up in the wrangle over whether Ole Olsen would ride for Oxford, and was in the strange position of guesting for himself in a couple of matches at the start of the season. [6] Eventually, the Speedway Control Board ruled that Olsen would stay with Wolverhampton Wolves and Dag Lovaas would ride at Oxford, allowing Davis to join Reading Racers. He would spend seven years at Smallmead Stadium and consistently produced a high average including 10.32 in 1979. [5] He helped Reading win the league title during the 1980 British League season.

From 1981 to 1983, he rode for Poole Pirates as their main heat leader before switching to Wimbledon for the 1984 season. He returned to Reading for three more years (1985–1987) and then rode for King's Lynn Stars and Swindon Robins respectively before retiring after the 1991 season.

Retirement

After the end of his speedway career, Davis started a burger business in 1994, which progressed into event catering over the south of the country.[ citation needed ]

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

World Team Cup

European Grasstrack Championship

Final

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References

  1. ↑ Lawson,K (2018) "Riders, Teams and Stadiums". ISBN   978-0-244-72538-9
  2. 1 2 "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "John Harry Davis Wielka Brytania". Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Oakes, P & Rising, P (1986). 1986 Speedway Yearbook. ISBN   0-948882-00-X
  5. 1 2 "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Lawson,K (2018) "Rebels 1975 – The Last Season". ISBN   978-0-244-99725-0
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