Ben Ryan Wilson (born 15 March 1986 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England) is a former professional

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.

Career

Wilson started his career with the Sheffield Prowlers on his 15th birthday in the Conference League. He was selected as the

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' Tigers 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. The Tigers traditionally hold their race ...

reserve for the 2003 season, and after a slow start he continued into 2004, where he showed more promise. In 2005, Wilson moved up to second string in which he partnered Sean Wilson, and continued to improve his

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

throughout the year. In 2006, his form from 2005 was noticed and he was signed to double up with

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves are a British speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They are sponsored by Parry's International Travel, and signed a deal with owner Dave Parry (previous speedway rider for the Wolverhampton Wolves) for the 20 ...

in the Elite League, as well as riding for Sheffield. He also won the British Under-21 Championship at the Norfolk Arena, by beating Danny King and

Lewis Bridger Lewis Alan Bridger (born 4 November 1989, in Hastings, Sussex) is a motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Bridger stepped straight into Elite League racing from the Conference League after one season with the Weymouth Wildcats. His ...

. This result earned Wilson a reserve position at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

that year. He also came second in the

Premier League Pairs Championship The SGB Championship Pairs Championship formerly the Premier League Pairs Championship (from 1997 to 2016) is a motorcycle speedway contest for the second tier teams in the SGB Championship in the United Kingdom. The teams consist of the top two ri ...

with team-mate

Ricky Ashworth Richard David Ashworth (born 17 August 1982 in Salford, England) is a former professional speedway rider who has represented Great Britain. Biography Son of David Ashworth and Mandy Winnard, Ricky was raised in Salford (originally from Irlam) ...

, only beaten by the holders Glasgow Tigers. In 2007, Wilson was once again re-signed by the

to fill the third heat leader role. After two seasons out of the sport he signed to ride for Stoke Potters in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in 2014. He won the

National League Pairs Championship The National League Pairs Championship is a motorcycle speedway contest for tier three clubs in the United Kingdom. The Championship is between the top two riders from each club competing in the National League (speedway), National League. The me ...

with

Jon Amstrong Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Mildenhall Stadium Mildenhall Stadium is a speedway, stock car racing and Greyhound Board of Great Britain regulated greyhound racing venue located in Mildenhall, Suffolk between Cambridge and Norwich. The stadium is known as Suffolk Downs when greyhound racing ta ...

, on 15 June 2014. His last season before retirement was in the

2019 National Development League speedway season The National League speedway 2019 now known as the National Development League for the 2019 season was the third tier/division of British speedway. There were several team changes for the 2019 league season with reigning league champions and KO cu ...

(the third tier of British speedway) riding for

Plymouth Gladiators The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. Under several names Plymouth have competed during various seasons from 1932. The club was reformed after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006 by former St Austell Gulls r ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ben Ryan 1986 births Living people British speedway riders Plymouth Gladiators speedway riders Sheffield Tigers riders Wolverhampton Wolves riders