Richard John Knight (born 26 May 1959) is a 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, who represented the England team which finished third in the 1985

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 ...

. He earned 20 international caps for the

England national speedway team The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by th ...

Career

Knight, born in Cambridge, first rode in the British speedway leagues riding for

Mildenhall Fen Tigers The Mildenhall Fen Tigers are a British speedway team, founded in 1975, who last raced in the National Development League during 2023. History 1970s The original track was built in 1971 on farm land owned by Terry Waters, with Bernie Kla ...

during the

1978 National League season The 1978 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary Newport Dragons dropped out of the league after just one season of second tier racing following a dispute over rent at Somerton Park. ...

. The following season he remained with Mildenhall but also appeared for

Wimbledon Dons The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London from 1929 until 1991. The team were seven times champions of Britain. History Origins The speedway track opened ...

in the highest league. He significantly improved his average with Mildenhall and by 1983, his last season with the club, he was averaging 8.98. It was in 1984, that his career received a major boost when he was signed by

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British motorcycle speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30 ...

. The Suffolk club were one of the leading clubs in the world at the time and he contributed to a league and cup double winning season. His career continued to blossom and he was selected by England to represent them in the 1985 Speedway World Team Cup, where they reached the final and won the bronze medal. Knight joined King's Lynn Stars after the 1986 season and was the club's leading rider in 1987 and 1989. He also won the South African (Open) Championship in 1989. He would continue riding until the end of the 1994 season before he announced his retirement. He rode for

Berwick Bandits The Berwick Bandits are a British speedway club, based in Berwick-upon-Tweed. They currently compete in the SGB Championship, racing at Shielfield Park, with home matches usually taking place on Saturday evenings. They also run a second team ...

form 1991 to 1992 and for King's Lynn again from 1993 to 1994. In 2008, he returned to speedway to become Team Manager of

following the club's takeover in August of that year.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

- 10th - 7pts

World Team Cup

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

–

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, Veterans Memorial Stadium (with Jeremy Doncaster /

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

Kelvin Tatum Kelvin Martin Tatum Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 8 February 1964) is a former British international motorcycle speedway and grasstrack rider. He earned 65 international caps for the England national speedway team. Career Tatum atte ...

/ John Davis) – 3rd – 13pts (2)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Richard John 1959 births Living people British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Berwick Bandits riders Ipswich Witches riders King's Lynn Stars riders Mildenhall Fen Tigers riders Poole Pirates riders Wimbledon Dons riders 20th-century English sportsmen