Lionel Maurice Van Praag, GM (17 December 1908 – 15 May 1987) was an 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 ...

champion, who won the inaugural

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 10 September 1936. Van Praag's victory saw him established as Australia's first ever motorsport World Champion.

1931 UK Southern League Champion

In his first full season in British speedway, Lionel was a member of the Wembley Lions team that won the last ever Southern League and the National Trophy in 1931.

1932 UK National League Champion

Lionel won the inaugural

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 ...

title in 1932 with the Wembley Lions

1936 World Speedway Final

Circumstances

Lionel won the run-off for the

against Eric Langton in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

in somewhat controversial circumstances. The Championship was decided by bonus points accumulated in previous rounds. Despite being unbeaten in the final,

Bluey Wilkinson Arthur George "Bluey" Wilkinson (27 August 1911 – 27 July 1940) was an Australian speedway rider. Wilkinson was Speedway World Champion in 1938 after narrowly missing out on winning the inaugural Championship in 1936. Early life Born in ...

was not crowned Champion. Bonus points accumulated by Van Praag and Langton took them to the top of the standings and into a run-off (match race).

The Match Race

As they lined up at the tapes, Langton broke them which would ordinarily lead to disqualification. However, Van Praag stated he did not want to win the title by default and insisted that a race should take place. At the restart Langton made it to the first bend in front and led until the final bend on the last lap when Van Praag darted through the smallest of gaps to win by less than wheel length.Chaplin, John (1990) ''Speedway Special'', , p. 109–114

Controversy

Afterwards, controversial allegations were abound that the two riders had 'fixed' the match race, deciding between them that the first person to the first bend would win the race and the Championship and split the prize money; Langton led into the first bend but was overtaken by Van Praag. Van Praag reportedly paid Langton £50 "conscience money" after the race for going back on the agreement.

Australia

Van Praag was also a successful rider in his home country, though he never won the Australian Championship, finishing second in 1941 (3 laps), 1946 (3 laps), and 1947 (2 & 3 laps), as well as finishing third in 1940 (3 laps). He won the NSW State Championship in 1941 at the Sydney Sports Ground and the Victorian Championship in 1947. Van Praag also represented

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 test matches at home against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on numerous occasions at tracks around the country including the Sydney Showground, Sydney Sports Ground, Wayville Showground (

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Claremont Speedway The Claremont Speedway was a racing circuit in the grounds of the Claremont Showground in the suburb of Claremont in Western Australia's capital city of Perth. The speedway held its first meeting on 14 May 1927, and its final meeting on 31 M ...

(

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

) and the Exhibition Speedway in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

World Final appearances

–

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– Winner – 14pts plus 12 bonus pts (won run-off) *

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

–

– 7th – 6pts + 11 bonus pts *

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

–

– 4th – 11pts + 7 bonus pts

World War II

Van Praag was awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...

for bravery 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 ...

, when a

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a retired 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3 ...

, in which he was second pilot was shot down, by two

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ese aircraft over the

Sumba Strait Sumba Strait (Indonesian: Selat Sumba) is a strait in Indonesia. It separates the island of Sumba from the major islands of Flores and Sumbawa, as well as minor islands including Komodo and Rinca. It connects the Indian Ocean to the Savu Sea ...

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. Van Praag, a sergeant at the time, and the aircraft captain, Flying Officer Noel Webster helped two colleagues—one semi-conscious and the other a non-swimmer—to shore after spending thirty hours in the water during which they had to fight off several shark attacks. After the war, Van Praag participated in one more speedway championship, but retired in 1950 to concentrate on his career as a pilot. Van Praag also appeared in the 1933 British film '' Money for Speed'' which starred John Loder,

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was a British actress, director, writer, and producer. Throughout her 48-y ...

, Cyril McLaglen and

Moore Marriott George Thomas Moore Marriott (14 September 1885 – 11 December 1949) was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film '' Dandy Dick'' (1935), but he ...

. Ginger Lees, Frank Varey and speedway promoter Johnnie Hoskins also featured.

Personal life

Van Praag was Jewish. In 1990, Van Praag was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

. In 2008, he was inducted into the Australian Speedway Hall of Fame.

Legacy

In 2000, th
Australian Capital Territory Place Names Committee
named a street, Van Praag Circuit (ten weeks later renamed Van Praag Place), after him.

Players cigarette cards

Van Praag is listed as number 45 of 50 in the 1930s Player's

cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible car ...

collection.

References

External links

The Flying Dutchman
– lionelvanpraag.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Praag, Lionel 1908 births 1987 deaths Australian speedway riders Individual Speedway World Champions Australian World War II pilots Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Recipients of the George Medal Wembley Lions riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England New Cross Rangers riders Australian people of Dutch-Jewish descent Jewish Australian sportspeople Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Military personnel from New South Wales