| John Boulger | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Australia | |
| Date of birth | 18 June 1945 | |
| Place of birth | Adelaide, South Australia | |
| Nickname | JB | |
| Current club information | ||
| Career status | Retired | |
| Career history | ||
| Long Eaton Archers Leicester Lions Cradley United |
1967 1968-1973, 1977-1979 1974-1976 |
|
| Individual honours | ||
| Australian Champion South Australian Champion |
1971, 1973 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982 |
|
| Team honours | ||
| World Team Cup | 1976 | |
John Boulger (born 18 June 1945 in Adelaide, South Australia) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider. After he retired from riding Solo's, Boulger raced in Speedcars from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s. Boulger won a record nine South Australian Championships as well as two Australian Solo Championships during his career.
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John Boulger started his racing career in the early 1960s racing scrambles before moving into Solo speedway racing in 1966 at what would be his home track, Rowley Park Speedway in Adelaide. He quickly went from promising rookie to star rider within a couple of seasons and became the best South Australian rider of his generation.
After finishing second to Sydney's Jim Airey at the ⅓ Mile Sydney Showground in 1970, Boulger won his first Australian Solo Championship in 1971 at Perth's ⅓ Mile Claremont Speedway. He finished in third place at Rowley Park in 1972 and won his last title in 1973 at the Sydney Showground. He finished the 1974 championship at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground in 2nd place to cap a four year run where he never finished the Australian title off the podium. He would place once more finishing 3rd in 1979 at Olympic Park in Mildura. Boulger's win in 1973 was the last time a South Australian rider would win the national title until Ryan Sullivan won in 2004.
During the 1970s Boulger had a virtual strangle hold on the South Australian Championship. He won his first title in 1970 before winning every title between 1972 and 1978, all held at Rowley Park Speedway. He would win his ninth and last SA Championship at the new Speedway Park in 1982.
Boulger retired from riding in 1984 and decided to stay in speedway by first teaching young riders the art of racing a Solo motorbike. In 1985 he started racing Sprintcars before moving on to drive Speedcars with some success including winning the Harry Neale Memorial at Speedway Park. Boulger would race for a few more seasons before retiring from the sport in the mid-1990s to concentrate on driving his taxi.[1][2]
John Boulger arrived in England in 1969 to ride for Long Eaton, scoring a paid 12 point maximum on his debut against Exeter. Boulger changed teams the following year to ride for Leicester Lions where he remained for six seasons. His next club was Cradley United and he returned to Leicester Lions in 1977 where he stayed until 1979 when he retired from British League racing.[3]
Boulger had the honor of captaining the victorious Australian team at the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup held at London's White City Stadium. He also partnered Phil Crump in the 1974 World Pairs final at Hyde Road Stadium finishing in second place behind Sweden's 1974 World Champion Anders Michanek and Sören Sjösten.