Craig William Cook (born 21 May 1987) is a British speedway rider.

Career

Born in

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle, Cumbria, C ...

, Cook's speedway career began in 2008. In 2009 Cook won the National League Riders Championship and three years later won the

Premier League Riders' Championship The Premier League Riders Championship was a contest between the top riders (or two riders) with the highest average points total from each club competing in the Premier League in the United Kingdom. The championship was inaugurated in 1995, the s ...

. He rode for

Peterborough Panthers The Peterborough Panthers are a British speedway team based in Peterborough, England. They are three times champions of the United Kingdom, winning the highest level league in 1999, 2006 and 2021. History 1970–1994 The Panthers inaugural se ...

in 2010. He moved on to

Edinburgh Monarchs The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish Speedway team, currently based in Armadale. They compete in the SGB Championship, racing on Friday nights during the Speedway season. The club is run by a board of directors, chaired by Alex Harkess. The ...

, who he rode for in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

between 2011 and 2015, and was part of the

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 13 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, with ...

team that competed in the Elite League from 2011 until 2018. He finished second in the

2014 British Speedway Championship The 2014 British Speedway Championship was the 54th edition of the British Speedway Championship. The Final took place on 16 June at Monmore Green in Wolverhampton, England. The Championship was won by the defending champion Tai Woffinden, who ...

and the 2015 British Speedway Championship. His domestic success as also seen him recognised internationally, with appearances in the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, and he was a member of the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

team that finished fourth in 2014 Speedway World Cup. In 2017, he became the British Champion. In 2018, Cook became a full-time member of the Speedway Grand Series after being given a qualification position after he had finished fourth in the Speedway Grand Prix Challenge Final. This was due to Patryk Dudek, who finished third in the SGP Challenge Final meeting, and also finishing second in the 2017 Speedway Grand Prix Series. Cook joined Glasgow Tigers in the

SGB Championship The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). I ...

in 2018 and would stay with them until 2022. In 2019, he left Peterborough to join the

King's Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" comes from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 1996 when ...

and enjoyed a good season, finishing sixth in the SGB Premiership 2019 averages. In 2021, he rode in the top tier of British Speedway, riding for the King's Lynn Stars in the SGB Premiership 2021. In 2022, he rode for the

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. The Tigers traditionally hold their race ...

in the

SGB Premiership 2022 The 2022 SGB Premiership was the 87th season of the top tier of British Speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Premiership. Sheffield Tigers topped the regular season table and met Belle Vue Aces in the play off final but Belle Vue ran out the win ...

and for Glasgow in the SGB Championship 2022. In 2023, he returned to the Edinburgh Monarchs for the

SGB Championship 2023 The 2023 SGB Cab Direct Championship season will be the 76th season of the second tier of British Speedway and the 6th known as the SGB Championship. The British Speedway Network (BSN) would stream 35 matches live for the second year running. S ...

, he had previously been with them from 2011 to 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Craig 1987 births Living people British speedway riders English motorcycle racers British Speedway Championship winners Belle Vue Aces riders Buxton Hitmen riders Edinburgh Monarchs riders Glasgow Tigers riders King's Lynn Stars riders Peterborough Panthers riders Scunthorpe Saints riders Sheffield Tigers riders Workington Comets riders