Colin Cook (born 29 August 1954) is an English former

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider who rode for

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first ...

and

Leicester Lions Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League ...

in the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a second division starting in 1968 (which was renamed th ...

, before spending eight successive seasons with the

Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History In 1947, the Falcons competed in a league for the first time when they finished fou ...

Biography

Cook was born in

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...

in 1954.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, He took up speedway while working as a plant fitter, initially at Mildenhall, before joining

in the mid-1970s. He was loaned out to

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

team

Scunthorpe Saints The Scunthorpe Scorpions are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. They have raced at various times since 1972, at three different venues. History 1972–1978 The original Scunthorpe side were known as Scunthorpe Saints from 197 ...

in 1975, averaging 5.91 in his first season. After a further season at Scunthorpe he moved on to the

Boston Barracudas The Boston Barracudas were a speedway team that competed from 1970 to 1987 and again from 2000 to 2008. the team were based at Boston Sports Stadium in New Hammond Beck Road, Boston, Lincolnshire. History 1970–1987 The Boston Barracudas were ...

in 1977.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 162 A much improved season saw his average rise and he also won the

National League Pairs Championship The National League Pairs Championship is a motorcycle speedway contest for tier three clubs in the United Kingdom. The Championship is between the top two riders from each club competing in the National League. The meetings comprise a competit ...

with

Rob Hollingworth Robert Hollingworth (born 31 December 1955) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Hollingworth started his British leagues career during the 1973 British League Division Two season, where he rode for Berwick Bandits. The f ...

. In 1978, he was recalled by Ipswich and was part of the cup-winning team that year. Cook transferred to

early in the 1979 season for 2,500. In 1982, he rose to the position of third heat-leader for the Lions, but his time at Leicester was hampered by injuries. After the Lions closed down in 1983, Cook moved back to Boston in 1984, before spending the last eight years of his career with the

, retiring at the end of the 1992 season.Oakes, Peter (1993) ''1993 Speedway Yearbook'', Front Page Books, , p. 122-4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Colin 1954 births People from Southwold Living people Ipswich Witches riders Scunthorpe Scorpions riders Boston Barracudas riders Leicester Lions riders Exeter Falcons riders