Vic Harding (5 July 1952 in

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

– 8 June 1979

Whipps Cross Whipps Cross is an area of the districts of Leytonstone and Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England. It is most famous for Whipps Cross University Hospital. The area The name Whipps Cross specifically applies to t ...

) was a

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.

Career

Harding began at the Rye House training school in 1970 run by

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 spent several seasons trying to break into a league team.Fenn, C.(2003). ''Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight''. In 1974 the Sunderland Gladiators handed him the chance. In 1975 he moved to Weymouth Wizards.Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. In 1977

signed him for the

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 ...

from Weymouth and spent most of that season as reserve. In 1978 he began improving so much that by 1979 he was a heat leader.

Death

Tragedy struck on 8 June 1979 when Harding was killed whilst riding for Hackney at

Hackney Wick Stadium Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in the London Borough of Hackney. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west sid ...

, Waterden Road. He was in a heat as a replacement for

Bo Petersen Bo Petersen (born 21 February 1958 Bolbro, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark. He was the 1980 Danish champion. Career Petersen first rode in the United Kingdom with the Hackney Hawks. Signed by Len Silver in 1978 he s ...

but during the race he was involved in a terrible crash with Steve Weatherley. Harding was killed and Weatherley was left with a broken back and paraplegia.Jacobs, Norman (2001). ''Speedway in London''. Following this tragic accident, the Hawks hosted a Vic Harding Memorial Trophy every season in Harding's honour. It was in fact the last ever meeting hosted by the

References

External links

Hackney Hawks Website
* http://hackneyreunion.com/ 1952 births 1979 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Motorcycle racers who died while racing Hackney Hawks riders Hull Vikings riders Sunderland Stars riders Exeter Falcons riders Weymouth Wildcats riders Poole Pirates riders Leicester Lions riders Crayford Kestrels riders Sport deaths in England {{England-speedway-bio-stub