Ronald Nunan Preston (born July 15, 1958) is an American 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 anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider who was the European Junior Champion in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. __TOC__

Motorcycle racing career

Born in Newport Beach, California, Preston began his racing career with the Poole Pirates in 1979 and spent two years there before moving to the Eastbourne Eagles in 1982. He was the first American to take part in the World Junior Championships and won silver medals with the USA team at the 1980 and 1981

Speedway World Team Cup The Speedway World Team Cup was an annual speedway event held each year in different countries. The competition started in 1960 and was replaced with the Speedway World Cup in 2001. Format From 1960 until 1985 each team consisted of four riders ...

. He retired from the sport at the end of the 1982 season due to a friend's death. Preston has two children. Preston was slated to ride in the

1979 Speedway World Pairs Championship The 1979 Speedway World Pairs Championship was the tenth FIM Speedway World Pairs Championship. The final took place in Vojens, Denmark. The championship was won by host Denmark (25 points) who beat England (24 points) and Poland (20 points). Pr ...

Final with Bruce Penhall at the Speedway Center in Vojens, Denmark after first Kelly Moran had to pull out due to injuries suffered in a practice crash and the Moran's replacement Steve Gresham failed to arrive. However, Preston was left stranded at the

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

in London, England and could not make it to Denmark in time, which forced Penhall to ride the Pairs Final alone.

World Final appearances

World Team Cup

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

- Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Bruce Penhall / Scott Autrey / Dennis Sigalos /

Bobby Schwartz Robert Benjamin 'Bobby' Schwartz (born August 10, 1956) is an American professional speedway rider. He became World Pairs Champion with Bruce Penhall in 1981 and Dennis Sigalos in 1982. Career Born in Santa Barbara, California, Schwartz was in ...

) – 2nd – 29pts (0)

References

1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Newport Beach, California American speedway riders Poole Pirates riders Eastbourne Eagles riders {{speedway-bio-stub