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)
Lee Richardson
Scott Nicholls
Tai Woffinden
Simon Stead

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

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.

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 -

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

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

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

Famous British riders

References

External links