Syd Jackson (sometimes referred to as Sid Jackson) (born c.1908) was a British

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 who was one of the stars of the early years of the sport in Britain, and an international rider who represented England several times. Prior to taking up speedway, Jackson rode in TT racing.Bamford, Robert (2003) ''Speedway: The Pre-War Years'', Tempus, , p. 197 He rode in the first year of British speedway in 1928, including the majority of the meetings held at

Leicester Stadium Leicester Stadium was a sports stadium on Parker Drive in Leicester. The stadium was initially used for greyhound racing with motorcycle speedway starting there five years later. It was also a venue for BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars. Greyhound ...

, and between 1929 and 1931 captained the

team.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Pre-War Years'', Automedia, p. 75, 182-3 In 1929, he won fourteen individual titles. He won the Leicestershire Championship in both 1929 and 1930. He missed the start of the 1931 season, while he concentrated on obtaining a pilot's licence. When speedway closed down in Leicester in 1931 he moved on to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, before spending five years with

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. He became an accomplished pilot, flying his

Avro Avian The Avro Avian was a series of British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s. While the various versions of the Avian were sound aircraft, they were comprehensively outsold by the de Havilland Moth and its descendants ...

from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1934.''Flight International'', Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, 1934, p. 1143 Jackson reached the final of the

Star Riders' Championship The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already m ...

in five consecutive years between 1930 and 1934. He was included in the England team in four Test series against Australia between 1930 and 1933. In the first test of 1933 at Wembley, he scored 15 points from reserve, including three race wins in England's 76-47 victory.Foster, Peter (2005) ''A History of the Speedway Ashes'', Tempus, , p. 32-33 He scored 12 points in the second test at Belle Vue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Syd British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Leicester Stadium riders Coventry Bees riders Wimbledon Dons riders