Danny Ayres (16 August 1986 – 1 February 2020) was a

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

rider who rode in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Career

Danny Ayres began his career in

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

and converted to speedway relatively late, in 2014. He rode for various teams, including

Kent Kings The Kent Royals (formerly Kings) are a British speedway team formed in 2013. Through 2021 they competed in the SGB Championship but also run a junior team in the National League. They were based at Central Park Stadium in Sittingbourne, with a t ...

, Glasgow Tigers,

King's Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" comes from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 1996 when Ki ...

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 ...

Redcar Bears The Redcar Bears are a British speedway team who currently compete in the SGB Championship (middle tier of the British speedway leagues). Their major team honour to date is the SGB Championship KO Cup win in 2019 against rivals Newcastle Diamo ...

, and

Scunthorpe Scorpions The Scunthorpe Scorpions are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. They have raced at various times since 1972, at three different venues. History 1972–1978 The original Scunthorpe side were known as Scunthorpe Saints from 19 ...

. He and Ben Morley were National League Pairs champions in 2015, and Ayres came second in the 2015 National League Riders' Championship. The final official averages of 2019 gave Danny Ayres an average of 5.51 on the Scunthorpe Scorpions

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

team. He was injured in a

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 ...

match in August 2019, breaking his left

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

. He did not ride again competitively until January 2020. At the time of his death, according to SpeedwayGB, "he aspreparing for the forthcoming season with Premiership Ipswich itchesand Scunthorpe corpionsin the Championship."

Death

Danny Ayres died unexpectedly in February 2020 of suicide. In the ''

East Anglian Daily Times The ''East Anglian Daily Times'' is a British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich. History The newspaper began publication on 13 October 1874, incorporating the ''Ipswich Express'', which had been published since 13 August ...

'', written after Ayres' death, he was described as being "hugely popular with speedway folk throughout the country for his all-action style." Various people paid tribute, including

Scott Nicholls Scott Karl Nicholls (born 16 May 1978) is a British speedway rider, who has won the British Championship seven times,Cradley Heathens Cradley Heathens was a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the National L ...

, and

Peterborough Panthers The Peterborough Panthers are a British speedway team based in Peterborough, England. They are three times champions of the United Kingdom, winning the highest level league in 1999, 2006 and 2021. History 1970–1994 The Panthers inaugural se ...

. No cause of death was announced at the time, but immediately after his death, his partner described it as him having "lost his battle" and encouraged anyone struggling with their mental health to seek help. At his funeral, on the 14 February, the hearse made a final lap of the Mildenhall Fen Tigers' track.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres, Danny British speedway riders 1986 births 2020 deaths Glasgow Tigers riders King's Lynn Stars riders Cradley Heathens riders Leicester Lions riders Redcar Bears riders Mildenhall Fen Tigers riders Scunthorpe Scorpions riders 2020 suicides Suicides in England