Maurice Stobbart (22 December 1915 – 27 February 2001) was an English

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 anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider and promoter who started his career with York in 1931. He was the younger brother to

Roland Stobbart Roland Stobbart, (26 December 1909 - 6 March 1981) was an English motorcycle speedway, speedway rider and promoter. He earned two international caps for the England national speedway team. Biography Early days Roland Stobbart was born at Aspatr ...

Biography

Pre-war events

Observers generally regard Maurice Stobbart as a pre- and post-war northern-based speedway rider. He began racing motor cycles with

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in the 1931 season, moved to

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

at the start of the 1932 season then rode for the

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

in the 1933 season. Although he retired at the end of that season through a lack of success, Roland coaxed him back into the sport in 1937 when he began promoting events at

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

and

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

. In 1938-39 he rode for Newcastle Diamonds. In his very first race Stobbart broke the Newcastle track record by five seconds, a record that had stood since 1930. He entered six events that evening, he had four firsts, one second, and in the event not mentioned, he was leading when engine trouble robbed him of victory. Victories which earned him the opportunity to enter the qualifying round of the world Speedway championships.

Workington

Maurice began speedway racing at Workington in 1931; he was sixteen years of age. He demonstrated his ability in the very first event, when while taking a bend, he struck a post, burst his rear tyre but skilfully retained his balance. Although he often came to grief he showed tremendous promise and signed for York during that season. Returning to Workington in 1937 he equalled his brother’s long standing course and lap record on two occasions. He also won several Golden Helmets, Golden Sashes, Challenge Matches and Derwent Handicaps.West Cumberland Times, 1 September 1937

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stobbart, Maurice Sportspeople from Aspatria 1915 births 2001 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Speedway promoters Wembley Lions riders Newcastle Diamonds riders Sportspeople from Cumbria