Raymond Wilson (born 12 March 1947) is a British former 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. He was World Pairs Champion in 1972 and British Speedway Champion in 1973, and was also England Team Captain for five years in the early 1970s. He was the first Englishman to record a maximum score in a World Team Cup Final. He earned 72 international caps for the England national speedway team and 36 caps for the Great Britain team.

Domestic career

Wilson was born on 12 March 1947 in Merton, Surrey, England.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, , pp. 113–114 He was born to a speedway family because his father Ron Wilson was a speedway rider for Leicester and Oxford in the early 1950s.competed in cycle speedway for Leicester Monarchs before following his father into a career in motorcycle speedway. He first rode at Leicester Stadium in 1962 after a league meeting and after occasional visits to the training track at Rye House and further second-half rides at Long Eaton in 1963, made his competitive debut in 1963 for

Long Eaton Archers Long Eaton 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 motor ...

, coming in as an emergency replacement against Stoke Potters. He was included in the Archers team in 1964, although the season was interrupted by a broken leg. In 1965, he rode with the Archers in the new British League, and in 1966 he rode in every league match for the Archers, finishing the season with an average of 8.6. He then raced in Australia over the Winter and in 1967, his performances improved again, averaging 10.36 per match. He also reached the British Final, scoring ten points and qualifying for the World Final, where he finished in eighth place.Arnold, Peter "Profiles of Some Leading Riders: Ray Wilson" in Silver, Len & Douglas, Peter (1969) ''The Speedway Annual'', Pelham Books, , pp. 121–124 He followed the Long Eaton promotion when they moved to Leicester to open the Leicester Lions. He stayed with the Lions for nine seasons, scoring over four thousand points (including bonus points) and earned a testimonial in 1974. He toured Australia with England for the test series in the winter of 1969. For the final three seasons of his career he joined the Birmingham Brummies. Outside speedway, Wilson ran his own haulage company. He is currently enjoying the role of Ambassador to his home town team, Leicester.

International career

Wilson first rode for England in 1966 against Scotland, and in 1967 rode in test matches against Sweden and Poland. He was part of England's line-up for the 1967 World Team Cup, becoming the youngest Englishman to feature in a World Team Cup final at aged twenty, and was part of the England team that toured Australia in 1967/8. 1967 also saw him appear in his first of four

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

finals. In 1970, he was captain of Leicester and was a regularly represented his nation. In 1972 he became World Pairs Champion with partner Terry Betts. He captained

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

when they won the World Team Cup in 1973, and was also a member of the winning teams in 1971, 1972 and 1974 (the latter for England). His maximum score in 1971 led to him gaining the nickname "World Cup Willy".

World Final appearances

Individual World Championship

* 1967 – London, Wembley Stadium - 8th - 7pts * 1971 –

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Ullevi - 4th - 11pts * 1973 – Chorzów, Silesian Stadium - 14th - 5pts * 1975 – London, Wembley Stadium

World Pairs Championship

* 1968* – Illerstadion, Kempten (with Geoff Mudge) - 2nd - 21pts (9) * 1972 – Ryavallen, Borås (with Terry Betts) - Winner - 24pts (15+3) ''* Unofficial World Championships.''

World Team Cup

* 1967* – Malmö, Malmö Stadion (with Eric Boocock / Barry Briggs / Ivan Mauger / Colin Pratt) - 3rd= - 19pts (4) * 1970* – London, Wembley Stadium (with Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs / Nigel Boocock / Eric Boocock) - 2nd - 31pts (4) * 1971* –

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 Jim Airey / Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs / Ronnie Moore) - Winner - 37pts (12) * 1972* – Olching, Olching Speedwaybahn (with Ivan Mauger / Terry Betts / John Louis) - Winner - 36pts (8) * 1973* – London, Wembley Stadium (with Malcolm Simmons / Peter Collins / Terry Betts) – Winner – 37pts (8) * 1974 – Chorzów, Silesian Stadium (with Peter Collins / John Louis / Dave Jessup / Malcolm Simmons) - Winner - 42pts (dnr) ''* 1967–1973 for

. All others for

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 ...

.''

References

External links

Leicester SpeedwayLeicester Speedway News & History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ray 1947 births Living people British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Speedway World Pairs Champions British Speedway Championship winners Birmingham Brummies riders Leicester Lions riders Long Eaton Archers riders 20th-century English sportsmen