Frank Joseph Auffret (born 23 December 1950) is a 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 from England.

Career

Born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, Auffret entered the sport via

cycle speedway Cycle speedway is a form of bicycle racing on short oval dirt tracks, usually outdoors, occasionally indoors, typically 70–90 metres long. Like motorcycle speedway, riders use machines without brakes or multiple gears but, unlike motor speed ...

, and after winning the Tyneside Cycle Speedway Championship in 1967, he took up the motorized form of the sport.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, , p. 12 He first rode in second half races at Middlesbrough Teessiders in 1969 and made his league debut in 1970 for

Hackney Hawks Hackney Hawks speedway opened in 1963 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London and operated until 1983. The team replaced the Hackney Wick Wolves who had raced at the stadium from 1935 to 1939. The Hawks were then themselves replaced by the ...

in division one, riding in two heats but failing to score, also riding for

Rayleigh Rockets The Rayleigh Rockets were a Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the Rayleigh Weir Stadium in Rayleigh, Essex . History The Rockets inaugural league season was in 1949 Speedway National League Division Three, ...

.Bott, Richard (2009) "Being Frank", ''Backtrack'', Issue 32 (May–June 2009), p. 17-19 He established himself in the Teesside team in the second division in 1971, and his average improved to 8.62 in 1973. He was selected for the Young England team in 1972 and 1973. In 1973, he also rode in the top division 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

Halifax Dukes The Halifax Dukes were a Speedway team which operated from 1949–1951 and again from 1965 until their closure in 1985 at The Shay Stadium in Halifax. The team were nicknamed the "Dukes" after the local Duke of Wellington's Regiment, whose tra ...

, and he signed for Leicester in 1974, averaging almost 6.5 in division one. He stayed with Leicester in 1975. He represented the full England team in 1974 and 1975. In 1976, he moved on to

Hull Vikings The Hull Vikings were a speedway team from Hull, England, who operated primarily from The Boulevard (stadium) and Craven Park from 1971 to 2005. History The team originated as the Hull Angels and were based at Hedon Stadium in Hedon on the ...

, riding for them for six seasons until their closure in 1981.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 157 He made three appearances for Middlesbrough Tigers in 1982 before retiring from the sport. At retirement Auffret had earned six international caps for the England.

After speedway

After his speedway career, Auffret gained a diploma in Management Studies and Marketing from Teesside University and worked in local government before becoming a website designer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auffret, Frank 1950 births Living people British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Middlesbrough Hackney Hawks riders Halifax Dukes riders Hull Vikings riders Leicester Lions riders Middlesbrough Bears riders