Charles Edward Blacklock (1908 – 27 January 1935) 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 anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider from New Zealand.

Career

Blacklock was one of the early speedway pioneer riders who travelled to the United Kingdom from New Zealand. He was also a rugby player and just missed selection for the New Zealand side that toured England in 1929. He started racing in the British leagues during the

1931 Speedway Southern League The 1931 Southern League was the third season of 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 known as the ...

, when riding for the

Stamford Bridge Pensioners The Stamford Bridge Pensioners were a motorcycle speedway, speedway team which operated from 1929 until their closure in 1932.Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway - The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. History The team wer ...

and

Crystal Palace Glaziers Crystal Palace Glaziers were a British speedway team that existed from 1928 to 1939. History They first competed in the Southern League in 1929 and were based at Crystal Palace Exhibition Grounds, Sydenham, South London. The continued to comp ...

. In 1933, he became the champion of New Zealand after winning the

New Zealand Solo Championship The New Zealand Solo Championship is an annual individual motorcycle speedway championship. The championship has been running since 1929 though it has only been running each year since 1958. ''Unless stated, all riders are from New Zealand'' Winn ...

. After joining Harringay Tigers for the

1934 Speedway National League The 1934 National League Division One was the sixth season of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. It was also the first time that a second division/tier of racing was introduced following the creation of a reserves league. Summary Birmingham Bu ...

he was due to return to Britain in 1935 but his career came to an untimely end when he was killed in a track crash at Christchurch, after suffering head injuries.

References

1908 births 1935 deaths New Zealand speedway riders Crystal Palace Glaziers riders Harringay Tigers riders Stamford Bridge Pensioners riders Nottingham speedway riders {{NewZealand-speedway-bio-stub