Leigh Scott Adams (born 28 April 1971 in

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

, Victoria)Oakes, P.(2004). ''British Speedway Who's Who''. is an Australian 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. He is a multiple

Speedway Grand Prix Speedway Grand Prix are a series of stand-alone motorcycle speedway events over the course of a season used to determine the Speedway World Champion. The series started in 1995 replacing the previous format of a single event final. The first ...

winner and World Team Champion. He also won a record ten Australian individual championships, four Australian Under-21 Championships and the 1992 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship.

Career

Australia

Leigh Adams was a product of junior speedway in his home town of Mildura, which was also the home town of multiple Victorian and Australian champion Phil Crump who became his mentor. Adams started racing in 1979 and within a few years would prove himself as one of Australia's best junior solo riders. He finished 3rd in the 1983 Australian U/16 Championship at his home track, the Olympic Park Speedway, before finishing second in the 1985 Championship at the Sidewinders Speedway in Adelaide. Adams won the Australian Under-16 championship in 1986 at the age of 15 which was held in Mildura, before joining the senior ranks in 1987. Adams would win the first of four Australian Under-21 Championships in 1988 at North Arm in Adelaide, before going on to win again in 1990 at the Riverland Speedway in Renmark,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

at Olympic Park and 1992 at the Riverview Speedway in Murray Bridge. Adams won the Australian Solo Championship in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

(North Arm),

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

(

Brisbane Exhibition Ground The Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is a multi-purpose venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia. Established in 1875, it hosts more than 250 events each year, the largest being the Royal Queen ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

(Olympic Park),

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

(Murray Bridge),

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

(

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

), 2002 ( Wayville Showground, Adelaide),

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

(Gosford), 2005, 2006 and finally

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. He won his first national title at the North Arm Speedway in Adelaide with a 14 points from his 5 rides, and his tenth and last championship also in Adelaide at

Gillman Speedway Gillman Speedway (sometimes called Gillman Speedway Stadium) is a purpose built, long motorcycle speedway located in the Adelaide suburb of Gillman in South Australia. The track opened in 1998 and runs approximately 13 meetings per season fr ...

after dominating the three-round championship with 15 wins from 15 rides. Adams won his first Victorian State Championship in 1989 in Mildura in what was only his third season of senior riding, beating Phil Crump at Olympic Park. In the early days of his career, and the last of Crump's which had begun in 1970, Crump and Adams were known as "The Master and the Apprentice". Adams would also win the Victorian title in 1990 ( Myrtleford), 1991 and 1992 (Mildura), 1994 ( Undera) and 1995 (Mildura). While the reigning Australian U/21 and Senior Champion in 1992, Adams went on to win the 1992 Under-21 World Championship at

Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm (, ; Central Bavarian: ''Pfahofa an da Uim'') is a municipality in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district Pfaffenhofen. It is located on the river Ilm, and had a population of 23,282 in 2004. As of a press release in ...

in Germany to become the Australia's first U/21 World Champion since 1983. In 1997 and 1998, Adams won the 10 Round Australian Speedway Masters Series (also known as the "Series 500"). He finished runner up in the series to Jason Crump in 1999, and the final year the series was run in 2000 he was once again the Series 500 champion. 1999 also saw Adams win the Australian Long Track Championship in

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an ex ...

, South Australia, making him the only rider to have won the Australian U/16 (plus Pairs), U/21, Senior (plus Pairs) and Long Track championships. Adams holds the record for most Australian Solo Championship wins with 10 and jointly holds the record for most Australian Under-21 Championship wins with 2012 World Champion

Chris Holder Christopher Robert Holder (born 24 September 1987 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian speedway rider, who was the 2012 World Speedway Champion. He is also five times Australian champion (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. Career Hold ...

. Both riders won the junior title on four occasions.

International

Leigh first came to England in 1988 and completed four matches for

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by l ...

in the National Junior League. Adams had originally been recommended to Poole by their

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

team manager

Neil Street Neil Joseph Street (15 January 1931 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian international motorcycle speedway rider, manager and engineer. Career Street was born in Melbourne, Australia, first arrived in Britain in 1952 to ride for the Exeter ...

(the father-in-law of Phil Crump), and it was Poole he subsequently joined for their

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Championship winning season of 1989. To further his career, Leigh then moved up a league to join Swindon Robins for the 1990 season. He made his Robins' debut when scoring 8+2 points from six rides against

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British Motorcycle speedway, speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964 Speed ...

in a Gold Cup match at Blunsdon on 24 March. Adams won the first of his record ten Australian national titles in 1992, and also captured the World Under-21 Championship after beating Mark Loram in a race-off at

, Germany. With Swindon relegated to the

British League Division Two The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of motorcycle speedway, speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the Na ...

after the 1992 season, Leigh moved on to spend three years with Arena Essex (1993–95) In October 1995, during the Speedway Grand Prix Qualification he won the GP Challenge, which ensured that he claimed a permanent slot for the 1996 Grand Prix. He repeated the success two years later in 1997. He had a single season with the London Lions in 1996 before returning to Swindon in 1997 and recorded a 9.96

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

in the inaugural season of the Elite League. Adams was again back with the Robins in 1998 but with Swindon again dropping down a league in 1999, he left and signed for the King's Lynn Stars. Adams remained at King's Lynn for the 2000 campaign and topped the Elite League riders averages, finishing the season on 10.24. In 2001, Adams signed for

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and won the Elite League Championship. He remained with Oxford in 2002, which was a year in which Adams won his first Speedway Grand Prix, after claiming the 2002 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia at the

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

in Gothenburg. The 2003 season saw Adams register a 9.97 league average back with

in a year which Poole won the treble; winning the League Championship, the Knock-Out Cup and the British League Cup. The year also saw him awarded a

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whe ...

, which took place at Swindon. Adams returned to Swindon in 2004 and again finished top of the Elite League averages on 10.94 and partnered

Charlie Gjedde Charlie Rasmussen Gjedde (born 28 December 1979 in Holstebro, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark, who won the Speedway World Cup with Denmark national speedway team, Denmark in 2006 Speedway World Cup, 2006. ...

to victory in the Elite League Pairs Championship. In 2005, Adams partnered new Swindon signing Lee Richardson to the Elite League Pairs Championship at Peterborough. On the world stage, Leigh ended his tenth season of Grand Prix activity with his highest ever ranking by winning the bronze medal after being the World No. 4 for the previous three years. Adams put together another successful season for Swindon in 2007, as the club finished runners-up in all three major domestic finals, being beaten by

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

in the Elite League Play-Offs final, Knock-Out Cup final and

Craven Shield The Craven Shield and Young Shield were short-lived Motorcycle speedway, speedway end of season cup competitions in the United Kingdom governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association ...

final. Adams completed his best ever Grand Prix campaign in 2007, finishing second overall to

Nicki Pedersen Nicki Pedersen (born 2 April 1977) is a Danish motorcycle speedway rider. He is a three time world champion having won the World Championship in 2003, 2007 and 2008. He has also won the World Cup with Denmark in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014. Car ...

. In a consistent Grand Prix campaign, he took victory in three rounds and completed the series with 153 points. In 2008, Adams became the Swindon Robins all-time top points scorer. His paid maximum at Lakeside in August 2008 took him onto 5,482.5 points, surpassing the previous record set by Martin Ashby who scored 5,476.5 during his time with the Robins. In 2009, he won the

Elite League Riders' Championship The Elite League Riders' Championship is a 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 ...

, held at Brandon Stadium on 2 October.

Retirement

In 2010 Leigh Adams announced his retirement from speedway after 20 years of international competition. This along with a junior career which started in 1982 and saw him win the Australian and Victorian Under-16 Championships. In 2011, Adams fulfilled a long-term ambition and entered the Finke Desert Race in Australia's

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

near

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

. On 6 June, while on a training ride with his brother and other riders, Adams crashed his motorbike into rocky terrain and sustained multiple injuries including fractured vertebrae, extensive spinal cord damage and broken ribs. He was flown from Alice Springs to

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

where he underwent a six-hour operation to stabilise and strengthen his badly injured spine. In 2012–13, Adams provided television commentary for Australia's World Series Sprintcars series.

Family

In 2014, Adams' son Declan finished 3rd in the Australian Under-16 Championship at the Pinjar Park Speedway in Perth, Western Australia.

Career honours

* 1986 Australian Under-16 Champion, Australian Under-16 Pairs Champion * 1988 Australian Under-21 Champion * 1989 Victorian State Champion * 1990 Australian Under-21 Champion & Victorian State Champion * 1991 Australian Under-21 Champion & Victorian State Champion * 1992 World Under-21 Champion, Australian Champion, Australian Pairs Champion, Australian Under-21 Champion (record 4th Australian U/21 Championship) & Victorian State Champion * 1993 Australian Champion * 1993 Commonwealth Champion * 1994 Australian Champion * 1994 Jack Young Memorial Cup winner & Victorian State Champion * 1995 GP Challenge winner & Victorian State Champion * 1996 Edward Jancarz Memorial winner * 1997 Jack Young Memorial Cup winner * 1997 Australian Masters Series 500 Champion * 1998 Australian Masters Series 500 Champion * 1998 Australian Champion & GP Challenge winner * 1999 World Team Cup Champion, Australian Long Track Champion & Golden Helmet of Pardubice winner. For this feat, he was award the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

in 2000. * 2000 Australian Champion, Australian Masters Series 500 Champion, Golden Helmet of Pardubice & Alfred Smoczyk Memorial winner * 2001 World Cup Champion, British Elite League (Oxford), Golden Helmet of Pardubice & Jack Young Solo Cup winner * 2002 World Cup Champion, Australian Champion, Scandinavian GP & Jack Young Solo Cup winner * 2003 Australian Champion, British Elite League, KO Cup, British League Cup (Poole), Slovenian GP & Jack Young Solo Cup winner * 2004 Golden Helmet of Pardubice, British Elite League Best Pairs & Swedish GP * 2005 Australian Champion, British Elite League Best Pairs * 2006 Australian Champion * 2007 Swedish GP, Scandinavian GP & Latvian GP winner * 2008 European GP, Scandinavian GP & Alfred Smoczyk Memorial winner * 2009 Australian Champion (record 10th Australian Championship) & Elite League Riders' Champion

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

Pocking Pocking (; ) is a town in the Passau (district), district of Passau, in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is situated about 30 km south-west of Passau, close to the Austria, Austrian border. History A Roman settlement was founded in the area of Poc ...

, Rottalstadion - 15th - 4pts

World Pairs Championship

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

, Ellermühle Stadium (with Todd Wiltshire) - 2nd - 41pts (16) *

Lonigo Lonigo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16,400 inhabitants. In its ''frazione'' of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani (Bagnolo), Villa Pisani, a Renaissance patrician villa designed ...

Santa Marina Stadium The Santa Marina Stadium is a 5,000-capacity motorcycle stadium in the Lonigo, Italy. The stadium is situated in the southern part of Lonigo, which itself is 25km south of Vicenza. The stadium is affiliated to the Federazione Motociclistica Ita ...

(with Craig Boyce / Shane Parker) - 7th - 10pts (4) *

Vojens Vojens () is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 7,424 (1 January 2025).Speedway Center (with Craig Boyce / Jason Lyons) - 6th - 13pts (7)

World Team Cup

Brokstedt Brokstedt is a municipality in the district of Steinburg, in Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most ...

, Holsteinring Brokstedt (with Craig Boyce) - 4th - 17pts (7) *

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium (with

Jason Crump Jason Philip Crump (born 6 August 1975) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Australia (UK born). He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, and a World Cup winner. In a 21-year career in Speedway, Crump finished with sev ...

/ Craig Boyce) - 5th - 14pts (0) *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

, Svítkova Stadion (with Jason Crump / Ryan Sullivan / Jason Lyons / Todd Wiltshire) - Winner - 40pts (14) *

, Brandon Stadium (with Jason Crump / Ryan Sullivan / Todd Wiltshire / Craig Boyce) - 4th - 29pts (12)

World Cup

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

(with Jason Crump / Todd Wiltshire / Craig Boyce / Ryan Sullivan) - Winner - 68pts (16) *

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, East of England Showground (with Todd Wiltshire / Jason Lyons / Jason Crump / Ryan Sullivan) - Winner - 64pts (17) *

- Vojens, Speedway Center (with Jason Crump / Todd Wiltshire / Jason Lyons / Ryan Sullivan) - 2nd - 57pts (15) *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Smallmead Stadium (with Travis McGowan / Ryan Sullivan / Todd Wiltshire / Jason Crump) - 4th - 35pts (8) *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Leszno Leszno (, , ) is a historic city in western Poland, seat of Leszno County within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Leszno is a former residential cit ...

, Alfred Smoczyk Stadium (with Ryan Sullivan / Jason Crump /

/ Davey Watt / Rory Schlein) - 3rd - 29pts (5) *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

- Vojens, Speedway Center (with Chris Holder / Jason Crump / Ryan Sullivan / Davey Watt) - 4th - 21pts (6) *

- Leszno, Alfred Smoczyk Stadium (with Davey Watt /

Troy Batchelor Troy Matthew Batchelor (born 29 August 1987) is an Australian speedway rider. Career Australia Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Troy Batchelor enjoyed his first success when he won the 2001 Queensland and New South Wales Under-16 championshi ...

/ Chris Holder / Jason Crump] - 2nd - 43pts (12)