Martin Ashby

Martin Ashby

Born	(1944-02-05) 5 February 1944 (age 80) Marlborough, England
Nationality	British (English)
Career history
1961-1967, 1971-1979	Swindon Robins
1968-1970	Exeter Falcons
1980	Reading Racers
Individual honours
1968	Scottish Open Champion
1966, 1974	Pride Of The Midlands Winner
1975	Superama
1976	The Laurels
Team honours
1968, 1975	World Team Cup Winner
1967, 1980	British League Champion
1967	Midland Cup

Henry Martin Ashby (born 5 February 1944)^[1] is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from England,^[2] who reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in 1968. He also finished third in the Speedway World Pairs Championship in 1969, with Nigel Boocock and was a member of the Great Britain team that won the World Team Cups in 1968 and 1975.^[3]

Family

His brother David Ashby was a teammate for several years at Swindon

Career

Ashby began his career with the Swindon Robins in 1961 but was moved on to the Exeter Falcons in 1968 by the speedway rider control committee. Three years later he returned to Swindon, and remained there for the rest of his career, apart from a short spell at Reading Racers in 1980 where he helped secure the title. Ashby was a regular England international. Ashby held the club record for most appearances (641) and points total (5,4765½) until 2008 when Leigh Adams overtook the points record.^[4]

He was a British Finalist on ten occasions (1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977). He won the Speedway World Team Cup in 1968, with Great Britain and 1975, with England. He earned 49 England caps and 21 Great Britain caps.^[5]

His last season in the British leagues was a league winning season with the Reading Racers, during the 1980 British League season.^[6]

Since retiring, has been running a motorcycle workshop: repairs, and tuning etc.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

• 1968 – Göteborg, Ullevi – 11th – 5pts
• 1975 – London, Wembley Stadium – Reserve – did not ride^[7]

World Pairs Championship

• 1969* – Stockholm, Gubbängens IP (with Nigel Boocock) – 3rd – 21pts (10)

* Unofficial World Championships.

World Team Cup

• 1968* – London, Wembley Stadium (with Ivan Mauger / Nigel Boocock / Barry Briggs / Norman Hunter) – Winner – 40pts (8)
• 1969* -– Rybnik, Rybnik Municipal Stadium (with Nigel Boocock / Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs) – 2nd – 27pts (5)
• 1975 – Norden, Motodrom Halbemond (with Malcolm Simmons / Peter Collins / John Louis) – Winner – 41pts (10)

* 1968 and 1969 for Great Britain. All others for England.

References

1. Oakes, Peter; Mauger, Ivan OBE, MBE (1976). Who's Who of World Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ISBN 0-904584-04-6.
2. Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN 978-0-244-72538-9
3. Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 514. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
4. "The History Man". www.swindon-speedway.co.uk. 2008. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
5. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
6. "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
7. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5