Arthur Claude Rye known as Claude Rye (13 January 1908 – 18 October 1988) was an international speedway rider from England. He earned four international caps for the

England national speedway team The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by th ...

Speedway career

Rye came to prominence in 1929 after gaining a two-year contract with

Preston (speedway) Preston were a British speedway team that existed from 1929 to 1932 and raced at Farringdon Park. History From 18 September 1924, Farringdon Park was leased by Preston Grasshoppers R.F.C. and in 1929 the club agreed a six-year sub-tenancy w ...

and then joined

Wimbledon Dons The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London from 1929 until 1991. The team were seven times champions of Britain. History Origins The speedway track opened ...

in 1931. In 1933, he won the Dirt Track Championnat du Monde (an early version of the

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

and rival of the

Star Riders' Championship The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star (1888), The Star'', which was a London evening newspaper at that time. For the first year ...

) at

Stade Buffalo Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...

in Paris during 1933. However it was also during 1933 that he broke a leg in his first Test appearance for England. He became the captain of Wimbledon and finished second in the league averages during the 1933 Speedway National League. He competed in the 1934 Star Riders' Championship and went on to represent England against the United States and Australia.

Personal life

Rye was the Managing Director of one of Britain's largest ball bearing firms and became a Freeman of the City of London.

Film appearance

The speedway scenes from the 1933 film

Britannia of Billingsgate ''Britannia of Billingsgate'' is a 1933 British musical comedy film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Violet Loraine, Gordon Harker, Kay Hammond and John Mills. A family who work in the fish trade at Billingsgate Market encounter a film c ...

were shot at

Hackney Wick Stadium Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in Hackney Wick, London, England. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west side ...

and featured some of the leading riders in Britain at the time including Rye, Colin Watson,

Arthur Warwick Arthur Ernest Warwick (18 August 1908 – 7 March 1982) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned seven international caps for the England national speedway team. Biography Warwick, born in East Ham, London, rode ...

Gus Kuhn Gustave Emil Kuhn (17 October 1898 – 30 August 1966) was a successful British TT and motorcycle speedway rider during the 1920s and 1930s. He earned four international caps for the England national speedway team and served in the Royal Na ...

Tom Farndon Thomas Farndon (11 September 1910 – 30 August 1935), was a British speedway rider who won the Star Riders' Championship in 1933 whilst with the Crystal Palace Glaziers. Career Born in Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City sta ...

and

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...

Players cigarette cards

Rye is listed as number 39 of 50 in the 1930s Player's

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible car ...

collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rye, Claude 1908 births 1988 deaths British speedway riders Preston Speedway riders Wimbledon Dons riders