Vernon Walter Ross Gilbertson (2 February 1931 – 8 February 2009) was a

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 from Scotland.

Career

Gilbertson started racing in the British leagues during the 1954 Southern Area League, when riding for the California Poppies and helped them win the league title. He rode for California during both the 1955 and 1956 seasons, improving his average significantly to 9.00 in 1956. In 1957, California switched its promotion to

Aldershot Shots Aldershot Shots also known later as Aldershot Poppies were a speedway team that existed from 1950 to 1960, they were based primarily at Aldershot Stadium in Tongham, near Farnham. History In 1929, eight meetings were held at the 25 acres Ald ...

and Gilbertson recorded an even better average of 9.30. This led to him being signed by Southampton Saints in the top league for the 1958 Speedway National League. He also doubled up for

Eastbourne Eagles The Eastbourne Eagles were a British motorcycle speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England. They were founded in 1929 and are two times champions of Britain in 1995 and 2000. The team last raced on 31 July 2021. Hist ...

in the Southern Area League, where he helped the south coast club win the league title in 1959. In 1960, he rode for Southampton in the National League,

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by l ...

in the Provincial League and won the Southern Area League Riders' Championship representing Eastbourne. Gilbertson proved to be a leading rider, particularly in the Provincial League and added two more league titles in 1961 and 1962, helping Poole to succeed and gain the nickname 'The Flying Scotsman'. He recorded 1,707 points in 196 matches for Poole and also won the Championship of Sussex in 1961. Gilbertson continued to ride for Poole until the end of the 1965 British League season but then retired. However, he then returned four years in 1969, riding for Rochester/Romford Bombers in division 2 and produced a remarkable 10.10 average during his return season, while also doubling up with

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, ...

in division 1. He also set a track record at the Seedhill Stadium. After the 1970 season with Romford he joined Canterbury Crusaders and topped the team averages during both the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

seasons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbertson, Ross 1931 births 2009 deaths British speedway riders Scottish speedway riders Aldershot Shots riders California Poppies riders Canterbury Crusaders riders Eastbourne Eagles riders Exeter Falcons riders Poole Pirates riders Romford Bombers riders Southampton Saints riders