Geoffrey Cyril Mardon (24 November 1927 – 6 August 2015) was a New Zealand

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 rode for the Aldershot Shots, the

Wimbledon Dons The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London.Jacobs, N. ''Speedway in London'', The track opened in 1928 and the Dons operated there from 1929 until 1991. They ...

and the

Southampton Saints Southampton Saints were a speedway team which operated from 1928 until its closure in 1963. Its track was located at Banister Court Stadium in Southampton, Hampshire. History Southampton was one of the founder members of the 1929 Speedway So ...

Career

Mardon began riding at the Aranui Speedway in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

in 1949, the same track that would later start the careers of

World Champion 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, ...

s and fellow Christchurch natives

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times – in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedw ...

and

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by Tony Rickardsson o ...

. He moved to England in 1951 and joined the third division team, Aldershot. He qualified as second reserve for the 1951 World Final. The following year he moved up the first division to ride for the

. He rode in the 1953 World Final and finished in 3rd place. In 1954 Mardon was the third highest individual points scorer in the

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 ...

. He rode in the World final again and he won the Brandonapolis at Coventry. Later in the year he married Valerie Moore, the sister of Ronnie Moore. At the beginning of 1955 he decided to retire and live in New Zealand. After a four-year break Southampton persuaded him to return to British speedway in 1959. He rode for the Saints for a year and qualified for the World final. He continued to race when he returned to New Zealand and in 1964 he won the New Zealand Championship. Mardon also raced cars. In 1954 he competed in an Erskine Staride in England and in 1958 he drove a RA Vanguard in the

Lady Wigram Trophy The Lady Wigram Trophy is a New Zealand motorsport race trophy formerly awarded to the winner of the Wigram Airfield race. It made up part of the Tasman Series and classes like Formula Holden, Formula 5000, Formula Pacific and Formula Three. Th ...

race. In the mid 1960s he drove a New Zealand built sportscar, the Stanton Corvette and in 1970 and 1971 he drove for the Begg Chevrolet Formula 5000 team in the

Tasman Series The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...

and the New Zealand Gold Star Championship. He died on 6 August 2015 in Christchurch.

World final appearances

Mardon had four appearances in world championship finals:Jones, M. (1979). ''World Speedway Final : a history from 1929''. London: MacDonald & Jane's. *

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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

- Reserve - Did Not Ride * 1953 -

- 3rd - 12pts * 1954 -

- 11th - 5pts *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

- 10th - 6pts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mardon, Geoff 1927 births 2015 deaths New Zealand speedway riders Wimbledon Dons riders Southampton Saints riders Aldershot Shots riders Sportspeople from Christchurch New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand racing drivers