Ronald Johnston (31 December 1930 – 29 July 2014) was a New Zealand

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 rode for the

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wit ...

. He also rode in four World Finals (

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

) during his career finishing a best 5th in 1960. He earned 16 caps for the New Zealand national speedway team.

Career

Johnston began riding at the Tahuna Park track in Dunedin in 1949. He moved to England in 1950 and joined the Belle Vue Aces. In his first season, he was at first loaned out to the Belfast Bees and the

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield Tigers (sponsored by Tru Plant) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. They were founded in 1929 an ...

before establishing himself as a member of the Belle Vue team. He captained the team from 1957 until his retirement at the end of 1961. Under his captaincy, Belle Vue won the Britannia Shield three times, and the Daily Mail National Trophy in 1958. Johnston won the 1952 New Zealand Championship, and he rode for Australasian teams in England and on the continent. He was the captain of New Zealand during the test match series against

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 ...

in 1952/53.

World Final Appearances

– London,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

– 12th – 6pts *

– London, Wembley Stadium – 6th – 9pts *

– London, Wembley Stadium – 8th – 8pts *

– London, Wembley Stadium – 5th – 10pts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Ron 1930 births 2014 deaths New Zealand speedway riders Belle Vue Aces riders Sheffield Tigers riders New Zealand expatriate speedway riders in England Sportspeople from Dunedin