Great Britain national speedway team
| Great Britain | |
 |
|
| Team manager | Neil Middleditch |
|---|---|
| Team captain | Chris Harris |
| Nation Colour | Blue |
| SWC Wins | 9 |
| Squad: | Chris Harris (c) |
| Daniel King | |
| Scott Nicholls | |
| Tai Woffinden | |
| Ben Barker | |
The Great Britain national speedway team (also known as Team GB) are one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by Poole Pirates manager Neil Middleditch and the captain is Chris Harris of the Belle Vue Aces.
Contents |
[edit] Speedway World Cup
The England national speedway team has won the Speedway World Team Cup on five occasions with the Great Britain side winning four times. They were a major force in the 1970s, winning five tournaments in a row, three as England and two as Great Britain. Key riding members of the title wins include Peter Collins (five wins), Malcolm Simmons (four wins), New Zealand-born Ivan Mauger, Dave Jessup and Ray Wilson (all three wins). The cup has eluded them since 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 narrow defeats were at the hands of Sweden and both in somewhat controversial fashion.
[edit] Wins as Great Britain
| Year | Venue | Standings (Pts) | GB Riders and Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 |  Wembley |
1.  GREAT BRITAIN (40)2.  Sweden (30)3.  Poland (19)4.  Czechoslovakia (7) |
Ivan Mauger | 12 |
| Nigel Boocock | 10 | |||
| Martin Ashby | 8 | |||
| Barry Briggs | 7 | |||
| Norman Hunter | 3 | |||
| 1971 | Wroclaw |
1. GREAT BRITAIN (37) 2.  Soviet Union (22)3. Poland (19)4. Sweden (18) |
Ray Wilson | 12 |
| Ivan Mauger | 10 | |||
| Jim Airey | 9 | |||
| Barry Briggs | 6 | |||
| Ronnie Moore | - | |||
| 1972 |  Olching |
1. GREAT BRITAIN (36) 2. Soviet Union (21)3. Poland (21)4. Sweden (18) |
Ivan Mauger | 11 |
| John Louis | 9 | |||
| Terry Betts | 9 | |||
| Ray Wilson | 8 | |||
| Ronnie Moore | - | |||
| 1973 | 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 | - | |||
[edit] Wins as England
| Year | Venue | Standings (Pts) | Eng Riders and Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Chorzow |
1. ENGLAND (42) 2. Sweden (31)3. Poland (13)4. Soviet Union (10) |
Peter Collins | 12 |
| John Louis | 11 | |||
| Dave Jessup | 10 | |||
| Malcolm Simmons | 8 | |||
| Ray Wilson | - | |||
| 1975 | Norden |
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 | - | |||
| 1977 | Wroclaw |
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 | Wroclaw |
1. ENGLAND (40) 2.  USA (29)3. Poland (15)4. Czechoslovakia (12) |
Michael Lee | 11 |
| Chris Morton | 11 | |||
| Peter Collins | 10 | |||
| Dave Jessup | 8 | |||
| John Davis | - | |||
| 1989 | Odsal |
1. ENGLAND (48) 2.  Denmark (34)3. Sweden (30)4. USA (8) |
Jeremy Doncaster | 13 |
| Paul Thorp | 12 | |||
| Kelvin Tatum | 12 | |||
| Simon Wigg | 11 | |||
| Simon Cross | 0 | |||
[edit] U-21 Speedway World Cup
| Year | Place | Pts. | Riders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | - | - | 3rd place in Qualifying Round 1 |
| 2006 | - | - | 3rd place in Qualifying Round 1 |
| 2007 | 2 | 36 | Edward Kennett (14), Lewis Bridger (11), James Wright (6), Daniel King (5), Tai Woffinden |
| 2008 | - | - | 3rd place in Qualifying Round 1 |
[edit] Titles
| Preceded by Sweden |
World Champions 1968 (1st title) |
Succeeded by Poland |
| Preceded by Sweden |
World Champions 1971 (2nd title) 1972 (3rd title) 1973 (4th title) 1974 (5th title) 1975 (6th title) |
Succeeded by Australia |
| Preceded by Australia |
World Champions 1977 (7th title) |
Succeeded by Denmark |
Preceded by New Zealand |
World Champions 1980 (8th title) |
Succeeded by Denmark |
| Preceded by Denmark |
World Champions 1989 (9th title) |
Succeeded by USA |
[edit] Famous British riders
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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