Laurie Etheridge (born 12 September 1948 in

Pulborough Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north–south ...

, England) is a former international

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. He earned one international cap for the

England national speedway team The Great Britain Speedway Team (also known as GB Speedway Team) is one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by the 2018 Speedway World Champ ...

Career

His first attempt at speedway, in 1963, was thwarted when his bike was stolen and he did not resume the sport until 1966. In 1967, he signed for

Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History In 1947, the Falcons competed in a league for the first time when they finished fourth ...

and managed three appearances for them in that season. His career really started the following year, when he was signed up 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 ...

Len Silver Len Silver (born 2 February 1932, east London, United Kingdom) is a former speedway rider and is former promoter of the Rye House Rockets. Racing career Silver stopped racing in 1957 but returned to the Ipswich Witches in 1960 after a layoff d ...

and their partner team

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, ...

. A good season for Rayleigh resulted in a full-time contract for Hackney. He was a

Crayford Kestrels The Crayford Kestrels were a Speedway team which operated from 1968 until their closure in 1983. They were based at Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium in Crayford. History Crayford were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968 and f ...

regular for eight years from 1975, achieving nearly 300 league and cup appearances as a Kestrel. Crayford held a testimonial season for Etheridge in 1982. In the 1975 National League Riders' Championship at Wimbledon on 27 September, Etheridge and Brian Collins both finished on 13 points but in the run-off for the title, Collins fell off in the first lap and Etheridge rode a solitary four laps to be crowned champion. Etheridge was in the side when Crayford won their only trophy during the

1980 National League season The 1980 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary The league was increased from 19 teams to 20 from the previous season. Exeter Falcons dropped down from the British League to join the 19 inc ...

. The Crayford team became the Fours Champions during the 1980

National League Four-Team Championship The National League Four-Team Championship was a contest between teams competing in the second tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. Teams were grouped into fours, with one rider from each team in each race. The winners and second place of each ...

, however due to machine troubles Etheridge didn't start a race in the final of the tournament. His last race was at Newcastle for Canterbury in 1983. Notable performances: *England v Russia (1974) *National League Riders Champion (1975) *National League series GB v Denmark (1978) – there was also a series against Australia *National League Four Team Tournament (1980) *Testimonial Year Crayford Kestrels v England (1982)

Retirement

Post-speedway, he worked in industrial plumbing and central heating. He lives in West Sussex with his wife, Denise, and they have two married daughters and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etheridge, Laurie Living people 1948 births English motorcycle racers British speedway riders Exeter Falcons riders Rayleigh Rockets riders Canterbury Crusaders riders Crayford Kestrels riders Hackney Hawks riders Sheffield Tigers riders Coventry Bees riders