Barry Briggs
New Zealand speedway rider
Barry BriggsMBE Born (1934-12-30 ) 30 December 1934 (age 90) Christchurch , New ZealandNationality New Zealander 1952–1959, 1974-1975 Wimbledon Dons 1960 New Cross Rangers 1961–1963 Southampton Saints 1964–1972 Swindon Robins 1976 Hull Vikings
1957, 1958, 1964, 1966 World Champion 1959, 1963 New Zealand Champion 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969 British Champion 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 British League Riders Champion 1955 London Riders' Champion 1958 Southern Riders' Champion 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970 Midland Riders' Champion 1967 Scottish Open Champion 1958, 1961, 1965 Pride of the Midlands winner 1960, 1963, 1964 Pride of the South winner 1961, 1963, 1965 The Laurels 1966 Olympique 1964 Internationale
1968, 1971 World Team Cup 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1962 National League Champion 1967 British League Champion 1961 National League KO Cup Winner1953, 1956, 1961 National Trophy Winner 1967, 1968 Midland Cup Winner1974 London Cup Winner1954 RAC Cup Winner
Barry Briggs MBE (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider.[ 1] [ 2]
Career
He won the World Individual Championship title four times: in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.[ 3] He appeared in a record 17 consecutive World Individual finals (1954–70), and a record 18 in all, during which he scored a record 201 points. He also won the London Riders' Championship in 1955 whilst riding for the Wimbledon Dons .[ 4] He is also a six-time winner of the British Championship . He won the first final in 1961 and then dominated the sixties titles by winning in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1969.[ 5] Briggs also twice won his home title, the New Zealand Championship , winning in 1959 and again in 1963.
Briggs also created a domestic record by winning the British League Riders Championship for six consecutive years from 1965–1970, representing the Swindon Robins .[ 6] [ 7] [ 8]
Briggs retired from British league racing in 1972 after an accident during Heat 5 of the World Final at Wembley Stadium with Swedish rider Bernt Persson .[ 9] As a result of the accident, Briggs lost the index finger of his left hand,[ 10] but returned in 1974, then announcing in 1975 that this would be his last season[ 11] but actually returning for another year with Hull Vikings, retiring for a final time in 1976.
During the early to mid-1970s, Briggs was one of a number of World Champion riders (along with fellow kiwi Ivan Mauger and Denmark 's Ole Olsen ) as well as a number of others such as Edward Jancarz and Zenon Plech from Poland and England's Chris Pusey , who embarked on world tours to Australia , his native New Zealand and the USA . Their trips to the USA, primarily the Costa Mesa Speedway in Los Angeles , helped spark the American motorcycle speedway scene which had been dormant on the world stage since the pre-World War II days of 1937 World Champion Jack Milne , his brother Cordy Milne and Wilbur Lamoreaux .
After retirement
In 1973 Briggs was awarded an MBE for his services to sport and in 1990 he was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame . From 17 March 2010 Briggs took part in a John o' Groats to Land's End bike ride to raise money for the BBC's Sport Relief .[ 12]
In retirement, Briggs became the mentor to many young riders who went on to race in World Finals including fellow Kiwi Mitch Shirra . He also lent his voice to television, becoming a speedway commentator in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America.
World final appearances
Individual World Championship
1954 – London, Wembley Stadium – 6th – 9pts
1955 – London, Wembley Stadium – 3rd – 12+2pts
1956 – London, Wembley Stadium – 7th – 10pts
1957 – London, Wembley Stadium – Winner – 14pts + 3pts
1958 – London, Wembley Stadium – Winner – 15pts
1959 – London, Wembley Stadium – 3rd – 11+3pts
1960 – London, Wembley Stadium – 6th – 9pts
1961 – Malmö , Malmö Stadion – 4th – 12pts + 1pt
1962 – London, Wembley Stadium – 2nd – 13pts
1963 – London, Wembley Stadium – 3rd – 12pts
1964 – Gothenburg , Ullevi – Winner – 15pts
1965 – London, Wembley Stadium – 4th – 10pts
1966 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – Winner – 15pts
1967 – London, Wembley Stadium – 5th – 11pts
1968 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – 2nd – 12pts
1969 – London, Wembley Stadium – 2nd – 11pts + 3pts
1970 – Wrocław , Olympic Stadium – 7th – 7pts
1972 – London, Wembley Stadium – 14th – 3pts[ 3]
World Pairs Championship
World Team Cup
Note: Briggs rode for Great Britain in the World Team Cup from 1962
World Longtrack Final
References
^ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport . Little, Brown. p. 515. ISBN 0-316-72645-1 .
^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF) . British Speedway . Retrieved 5 August 2023 .
^ a b Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship . Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
^ Jacobs, Norman (2001). Speedway in London . Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-2221-9
^ Belton, Brian (2003). Hammerin' Round . Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 0-7524-2438-6
^ Martin Rogers (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway . Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ISBN 0-904584-45-3
^ "Speedway Champ" . Sunday Mail (Glasgow) . 17 October 1965. Retrieved 31 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive .
^ "Speedway" . Birmingham Daily Post . 20 October 1969. Retrieved 1 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive .
^ Barry Briggs Wembley and beyond
^ Bott, Richard (1973) The Champions Book of Speedway No. 4 , Stanley Paul & Co. Ltd., ISBN 0-09-116380-3 , pp. 24–31
^ Lawson,K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”.pg144 ISBN 978-0-244-99725-0
^ "Barry Briggs: The Ride" . Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2010 .
External links