Philip Manston Hart (19 August 1907 – 5 July 1996) known as Tiger Hart during his speedway career 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 England. He competed in the earliest days of speedway and won two qualifying rounds of the

1938 Individual Speedway World Championship The 1938 Individual Speedway World Championship was the third edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. The Championship was won by the 28 year-old Australian Arthur 'Bluey' Wilkinson, in front of a new ...

. He earned two 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 ...

in unofficial test matches against Australia in 1937.

Biography

Hart, born in Balham, London, was described as an Australian racer when he first arrived in Britain during the pioneer years of British speedway in 1930. However, it transpired that Hart had run away to Australia, aged just 16, after an argument with his father over the purchase of a motorbike. He even raced for Australia in an event at the Wessex Stadium in Copnor Gardens, Portsmouth, described as a match between England and Australia. He began his British leagues career riding for High Beech, during the

1931 Speedway Southern League The 1931 Southern League was the third season of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams, and its final season before amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Leagues. The Northern teams also had their third season ...

season. The following season, he was signed by the

West Ham Hammers The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team that raced at West Ham Stadium in London, England, from 1929 to 1971. The team were twice champions of the United Kingdom. History Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived at West Ham in 1928, the ina ...

, when the Southern and Northern leagues merged to form the National League. Another season was spent at West ham in 1933 before he moved to race for the Plymouth Tigers on loan. Hart transferred from West Ham to Hackney Wick Wolves in 1935, but struggled to find a starting place until 1936, when he raced with Hackney and also with

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

in the Provincial League. He also became a favourite at the

Arlington Stadium Arlington Stadium was a baseball stadium located in Arlington, Texas, United States, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. It served as the home of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1972 until 1993, after which the ...

in Eastbourne, winning some events there. In 1937, he only rode in the Provincial league, posting a 7.41 average for the Hall Green/Birmingham Bulldogs and topped their averages in 1938 at 8.82 and became their team captain. He made two appearances for England during 1937, with some newspapers confusing the fact that he was riding for England and not Australia. In 1938, he also rode for a newly formed

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 Sunday Amateur Dirt Track League and averaged 10.27. This was also the season that he had such a good run in the 1938 World Championship. He returned to his parent club Hackney in 1939 but the season was ended early by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war had finished Hart resumed his speedway career with

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British Motorcycle speedway, speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League (1929–31), Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of Britis ...

from 1946 to 1947. He topped their averages in 1946. After he retired he became the team manager at Tamworth Hounds and later the Birmingham Brummies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Tiger 1907 births 1996 deaths British speedway riders Birmingham Bulldogs riders Birmingham Brummies riders High Beech speedway riders Nottingham speedway riders Plymouth Tigers riders West Ham Hammers riders