Aubrey "Aub" Lawson (born 5 April 1914 in Kelly's Gully, Warialda,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

- died 20 January 1977) was an Australian international

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

rider who featured in ten

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

finals including the 1939 final which was never run due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Lawson first came to the UK in 1939 and rode in two leagues for the

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

and

Middlesbrough Bears The Middlesbrough Bears were a British speedway team which operated under various names from 1929 until their closure in 1996. History Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived in Middlesbrough during 1928 when an attendance of 15,000 turned up f ...

but at his mother's insistence, his sister accompanied him as chaperone. It was not until after the war in 1947 that he returned to the UK when league racing started again. He joined the

West Ham Hammers The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team that raced at West Ham Stadium in London, England, from 1929 to 1971. The team were twice champions of the United Kingdom. History Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived at West Ham in 1928, the ina ...

where he stayed for five seasons, top scoring in three of them. In 1951 he won the London Riders' Championship whilst riding for the Hammers. After a year back in Australia he returned to the UK where he joined the

Norwich Stars Norwich Stars were a motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England, which operated from 1930 until their closure in 1964.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History Origins and 1930s Speedway came to Norwich ...

, where he remained until he retired from racing in 1960. Lawson then returned to Australia where he continued racing in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, winning his then record 5th NSW Championship in 1963, adding to those he had won in 1948, 1950, 1953 and 1954.

World final appearances

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

- London,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

- Event cancelled due to

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 8th - 8pts *

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 4th - 10pts *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 10th - 7pts *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 9th - 7pts *

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 14th - 4pts *

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 4th - 11pts *

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 3rd - 11pts *

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 5th - 11pts *

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 14th - 4ptsBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

References

External links

Lawson, Aubrey (1914 - 1977)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Aubrey 1914 births 1977 deaths Australian speedway riders Sportsmen from New South Wales Wembley Lions riders West Ham Hammers riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England Norwich Stars riders 20th-century Australian sportsmen