Neil Joseph Street (15 January 1931 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian international

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, manager and engineer.

Career

Street was born 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 ...

, Australia, first arrived in Britain in 1952 to ride for the

Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a Motorcycle speedway, speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History Origins & 1920s Speedway began at the County Ground in 1929, ...

. He rode for the Swindon Robins and the

Newport Wasps Newport Wasps were a British motorcycle speedway team based at Somerton Park and then the Hayley Stadium in Newport, Wales, Newport, South Wales, from 1964 to 2012. The Wasps logo incorporates the traditional black and amber colours of the City ...

before retiring from racing in 1976. He made international appearances for Australia, Australasia, Great Britain and Norway. In 2002, he was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

'Motor Sport' Awards for his services to speedway.

Management

In 1981, he was appointed team manager of the Weymouth Wildcats. When they closed in 1984 he became manager of the Poole Pirates until 1999 when he handed over to

Neil Middleditch Neil Middleditch (born 7 January 1957 in Wimborne, Dorset) is a former motorcycle speedway rider, who rode for England and was the team manager of Great Britain. He earned seven international caps for the England national speedway team and was ...

. In 1984, he was also the team manager of the

. In 1997, he also took over as manager of the

and stayed in charge there until 2005. Street was also manager of the Australia speedway team and was in charge when they won the

World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

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 ...

and the

Speedway World Cup The Speedway World Cup is a motorcycle speedway event for national teams held in different countries. The first edition of the competition in the current format was held in 2001 and replaced the old Speedway World Team Cup, World Team Cup which ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Family

His daughter Carole married

rider Phil Crump and his grandson, Jason Crump, has won the World Speedway Championship three times, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

.Bamford, R.(2007). ''Speedway Yearbook 2007'';

Engine development

In 1974–1975, Street became involved in designing engines. Ivan Tighe designed a four valve head for the Jawa engine, with input from Street. The engine went for manufacturing in just four weeks and was taken to Newcastle for a meeting held to be held the night before the Australian championships, but the meeting was rained off, so the engine was yet untested on the track. Phil Crump then used the engine in the Australian Championships at Sydney and took nearly 3 seconds off the track record held by Jim Airey. This was considered a remarkable feat considering the fact that the engine was straight from the workshop and had not been tested at a meeting. Crump had been given the option of his normal 2-valve engine, but after trying the 4-valve refused to get off the motorcycle as confirmed by Ivan Tighe.

Death

Street died at home in his native Melbourne on 6 October 2011, aged 80. He had been diagnosed with cancer 5 years previously but kept the illness hidden from the media. His cancer spread to his leg and as a result had a fall a few weeks prior to his death and banged his head but he did not tell anyone. He was unaware that the fall had caused a brain hemorrhage and Street slipped into a coma during his sleep and died on 6 October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Street, Neil 1931 births 2011 deaths Australian speedway riders Motorcycle racers from Melbourne Swindon Robins riders Newport Wasps riders Expatriate speedway riders in Wales Exeter Falcons riders Australian expatriate speedway riders in England