Robert Charles "Bob" Cooper (born 23 June 1950) is a British former

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 rode for

Leicester Lions Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League ...

and

Rye House Rockets The Rye House Rockets were a speedway team based at Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018. History Rye House began life in 1934 hosting open meetings. Whilst at Hackney in 1 ...

. Born in

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

, Cooper represented Central Midland Schools at

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

as a teenager.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, , p. 32 He combined his speedway career with his work as an engine fitter for

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. After attending a training school at

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

in 1971, he made his competitive debut the following year in a 'Stars of Tomorrow' event at King's Lynn in 1972. In 1974 he signed for Leicester Lions, riding in the junior team, and was loaned out to Rye House Rockets, averaging 4.78 over his debut season, also riding in one match in the top division for Lions, but failing to score from three rides. He continued to ride for Rye House until 1978 and made two further appearances for Leicester in 1975. He made 128 appearances for Rye House, scoring 628 points.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 162

References

1950 births Living people British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Rye House Rockets riders Leicester Lions riders Sportspeople from Rugby, Warwickshire {{England-speedway-bio-stub