Sydney Packwood Jackson (sometimes referred to as Sid Jackson) (3 July 1908 – 18 January 1988) was a British

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 was one of the stars of the early years of the sport in Britain, and an international rider who represented 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 ...

eight times.

Career

Prior to taking up speedway, Jackson rode in TT racing.Bamford, Robert (2003) ''Speedway: The Pre-War Years'', Tempus, , p. 197 He rode in the first year of British speedway in 1928, including the majority of the meetings held at

Leicester Stadium Leicester Stadium also known as the Blackbird Road Stadium, was a sports stadium on Parker Drive in Leicester. The stadium was initially used for Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing with motorcycle speedway starting there fi ...

, and between 1929 and 1931 captained the

team.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Pre-War Years'', Automedia, p. 75, 182-3 In 1929, he won fourteen individual titles. He won the Leicestershire Championship in both 1929 and 1930. He missed the start of the 1931 season, while he concentrated on obtaining a pilot's licence. When speedway closed down in Leicester in 1931 he moved on to

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees are a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon, Warwickshire, Brandon near Coventry, England. They are eight times champions of Britain. History Origins and 1920s The firs ...

, where he became the club captain. In 1933, Jackson joined

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 ...

, where he spent five years. He became an accomplished pilot, flying his

Avro Avian The Avro Avian is a series of United Kingdom, British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s. While the various versions of the Avian were sound aircraft, they were comprehensively outsold by the de Havilland Moth and ...

from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

to Australia in 1934. He broke his collar bone in a crash during June 1935. Jackson reached the final of the

Star Riders' Championship The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star (1888), The Star'', which was a London evening newspaper at that time. For the first year ...

in five consecutive years between 1930 and 1934. He was included in the England team in four Test series against Australia between 1930 and 1933. In the first test of 1933 at Wembley, he scored 15 points from reserve, including three race wins in England's 76-47 victory.Foster, Peter (2005) ''A History of the Speedway Ashes'', Tempus, , p. 32-33 He scored 12 points in the second test at Belle Vue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Syd 1908 births 1988 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Coventry Bees riders Leicester Stadium riders Wimbledon Dons riders 20th-century English sportsmen