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 from England. He finished runner-up in the 1982 Speedway World Championship as well as winning the Intercontinental Final in 1982, the British Under-21 Championship in 1977 and the
British League Riders' Championship
The British League Riders Championship was an individual motorcycle speedway contest between the top riders (or two riders) with the highest Calculated Match Average, average from each club competing in the British League in the UK, or the top ...
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, England, Collins started his career with the
Crewe Kings
The Crewe Kings was a British Motorcycle speedway, Speedway team which operated in Crewe, Cheshire from 1969 until its closure in 1975.
History Origins
A speedway track operated for a short time in the late 1920s / early 1930s, at the Londo ...
before moving Belle Vue Aces. He was loaned to the Stoke Potters in 1976 but in 1977 he made a place with the Aces his own, riding alongside brother
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
He moved to the Leicester Lions in 1980 where he stayed until 1983. He won the
British League Riders' Championship
The British League Riders Championship was an individual motorcycle speedway contest between the top riders (or two riders) with the highest Calculated Match Average, average from each club competing in the British League in the UK, or the top ...
, held at Hyde Road on 18 October 1980.
During the 1982 season he qualified for his first and only Speedway World Championship final, winning the Intercontinental Final title on the way. He finished runner-up that day, despite being the only rider to beat the eventual and defending champion, home town (
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...
.
An incident involving Penhall and the late Kenny Carter in heat 14 saw Carter excluded. Both riders were being beaten by Peter Collins at the point of the crash. Despite protests by Carter it was he who was excluded rather than Penhall; If Penhall had been excluded then the title may have headed in Les's direction, although that's a strange conclusion to come to given Carter had more points than Penhall at that stage, and would have been favourite to win a re-run Heat 14. Older brother Peter had been comfortably leading the race when Carter fell. Penhall won the re-run from Peter Collins and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
In 1984, Collins moved to the Sheffield Tigers, still in the top flight British League. In 1986, he dropped down to the National League and signed for the
Edinburgh Monarchs
The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish speedway team 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 and also runs a ...
1996 saw Collins riding in the top flight again, with the Cradley Heathens at Stoke followed by a year in the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
back with the Stoke Potters. Collins missed the whole of the 1998 season but in 1999 he returned to the sport with Edinburgh's rivals, the Glasgow Tigers.
Glasgow
It was at Glasgow in the 2001 and 2002 seasons he rode with his son Aidan. The 2002 team was unique as there was a second father and son connection. Former Leicester teammate Mark Courtney was also in the line-up with his son Scott.
He had a spell in 2002 with the Workington Comets but returned to Glasgow in 2003 where he was again ever present, as he was in 2000 and 2001.
Family
Collins has four brothers all of whom were speedway riders, 1976 World Champion
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
,
Phil
Phil may refer to:
* Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names
* Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil"
* Phil, Kentucky, United States
* Phil (film), ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film
* -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as ...
,
Neil
Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. As a surname ...
and Stephen. His son Aidan and nephew Chris were also riders but have both retired from the sport.
World Final Appearances
Individual World Championship
*
1982
Events
January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
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Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
* -
Vojens
Vojens () is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 7,424 (1 January 2025).Speedway Center - 3rd - 7pts
''* Known as the European Under-21 Championship. Meeting declared after 12 heats due to rain.''
World Longtrack
Finalist
*
1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
Assen
Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...