Russell Wade "Rusty" Harrison (born 11 October 1981 in

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

) is an Australian

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.

Career summary

Harrison won the Australian Under-16 Championship in 1995 in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and again in 1997 at his home track in Adelaide (

Sidewinders Speedway The Sidewinders Speedway is a junior Motorcycle speedway that was opened in 1978 in the semi-industrial Adelaide suburb of Wingfield in South Australia. The Sidewinders U/16 Speedway Club Inc. was founded two years earlier in 1976 by Graham ...

), before going on to be the Australian Under-21 Champion in 2001, winning again at home in Adelaide, this time at the

Gillman Speedway Gillman Speedway (sometimes called Gillman Speedway Stadium) is a purpose built, long motorcycle speedway located in the Adelaide suburb of Gillman in South Australia. The track opened in 1998 and runs approximately 13 meetings per season fro ...

. In 2002 he was third in the Australian Under-21 Championship at Gillman behind winner

Travis McGowan Travis McGowan (born 13 January 1981 in Mildura, Victoria) is an Australian speedway rider. Career McGowan started racing motorbikes the age of ten, and in 1993 he won the Australian Under-16 Championship at Darwin's Northline Speedway. Succ ...

and second placed

Cameron Woodward Cameron Jackson Woodward (born 8 January 1985 in Mildura, Victoria) is an Australian speedway rider who has won the Victorian State Championship on three occasions. Career A product of junior speedway at the Olympic Park Speedway in Mildura ...

. Harrison also won the South Australian Championship in 2003 Gillman. As of 2015, Harrison's 2003 win was the last time a South Australian born rider has won the SA Championship (Adelaide based, but Darwin born

Rory Schlein Rory Robert Schlein (born 1 September 1984) is an Australian speedway rider. Career Born in Darwin, Northern Territory, Schlein, lived in the southern Adelaide suburb of Hallett Cove and won the Australian Under-16 Championship at the Northl ...

would win the title from 2004-2007). Harrison made his debut in British speedway in 2001 riding for Glasgow Tigers. In 2001 he joined

Workington Comets The Workington Comets are a British speedway club, based in Workington, Cumbria, racing out of the Northside Training Track. The team previously operated from 1970 to 2018 and were based at Derwent Park Stadium which they shared with Workington ...

where he stayed for three seasons, before moving to

Edinburgh Monarchs The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish Speedway team, currently based in Armadale. They compete in the SGB Championship, racing on Friday nights during the Speedway season. The club is run by a board of directors, chaired by Alex Harkess. The cl ...

in 2005. In 2005 he also rode as a Reserve for

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British motorcycle speedway, speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier List of United Kingdom speedway league champions, League championship 13 times. They currently compete ...

in the Elite League at number seven. He moved back to Workington in 2006 after apparently refusing to take his last two rides for Edinburgh during rain soaked meeting against

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 ...

on 7 July 2006, before riding for Stoke Potters in 2007. In September 2007, Harrison decided to retire from speedway after being affected by the serious injuries suffered by team-mate

Garry Stead Garry Stead (born 5 January 1972 in Holmfirth, England) is a former international speedway rider. As a child Stead showed a real interest in speedway, being a regular supporter at the Shay watching the Halifax Dukes, and spent many years as a ...

. This followed a poor run of form when he had already decided to stop riding that season, saying, "I just haven't got going at all and I feel I have been letting too many people down" said the Australian. You are a danger to yourself and others when your head is not right and it's best that I stand down now before anything else happens." However, in early 2008 the

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 Kin ...

signed Harrison for the 2008 season. He rode for Glasgow Tigers and

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of British speedway, during the 1952 Speedway National Lea ...

in 2009, and rode for

between 2010 and 2012. He quit the Comets in June 2012 due to family and work commitments, but towards the end of 2012 signed for the Comets again to ride in 2013.Comets Hero Rusty Agrees Stunning Speedway Return
, ''

Times & Star Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specific ...

'', 7 December 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Russell Wade 1981 births Living people Australian speedway riders Sportspeople from Adelaide Glasgow Tigers riders Workington Comets riders Edinburgh Monarchs riders Stoke Potters riders Belle Vue Aces riders King's Lynn Stars riders