Frank Charles Pearce (4 January 1901 – 20 January 1987) was an English born Australian

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. He was champion of Australia (4 lap) in 1929 and earned eight international caps for the Australia national speedway team.

Biography

Pearce, born in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, London, emigrated to Australia shortly after his ninth birthday in 1910. He became a mechanic and entered the new sport of speedway. He was one of the early pioneers of the sport, winning the golden helmet three times before travelling to the United Kingdom in 1928 to take part in some of the first races ever staged in the country. He raced the 1928 Australian season and enhanced his reputation further by winning the 1928, 4 lap Australian Solo Championship, at the

Davies Park Davies Park is a sporting venue in the suburb of West End in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is grass. It is located at the corner of Jane St, Montague Road & Riverside Drive, West End. It is the home ground of the Souths Logan Magpies, a ...

. He decided not to return to Britain for the 1929 and 1930 seasons but agreed to sign for High Beech for his first season of league racing, during the

1931 Speedway Southern League The 1931 Southern League was the third season of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams, and its final season before amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Leagues. The Northern teams also had their third season ...

. His first season was a tough one, he was made captain but during his first meeting for the team he suffered an injury and only managing to record a 3.83 season average. The following season in 1932, he moved to race for Plymouth Tigers, where he joined a team full of other Australians. The season was much better and Pearce averaged 6.37. Despite a better season he would miss the 1933 season before returning to Plymouth for the 1934 Speedway National League season. After the 1934 season Plymouth folded and Pearce returned to Australia. He was put sale for the 1935 season but decided not to travel. During

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 ...

, he was a munitions worker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Frank 1901 births 1987 deaths Australian speedway riders 20th-century Australian sportsmen High Beech speedway riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England Plymouth Tigers riders