Philippe Bergé (born 20 June 1971 in

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

) is a French 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 clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider, who competed in

Grasstrack Motorcycle Grasstrack is a form of track racing which typically, in its current form, takes place on a flat track consisting of two straights and two bends usually constructed in a field. It is one of the oldest types of motorcycle sports in t ...

, Longtrack and

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

. He is a former champion of France and earned 3 caps for the

France national speedway team The France national speedway team is one of the nations who compete in international motorcycle speedway and is controlled by the French Motorcycling Federation. History The French speedway team were latecomers to the Speedway World Team Cup, ...

Speedway career

Bergé came to prominence when he reached the final of the 1993 Individual Long Track World Championship, he then reached a second longtrack final the following year. He began his British league career riding for

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British Motorcycle speedway, speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964 Speed ...

during the 1996 Premier League speedway season, he was signed midway through the season but still rode 14 times for the club. In 1996, he became the champion of France and competed in his third world longtrack final at the 1996 Individual Long Track World Championship and showed enough good form during 1996 to be retained by the Cheetahs for the 1997 Premier League speedway season, where he rode 35 times and averaged above 8 and recorded a maximum score in the second leg of the

Premier League Knockout Cup The Premier League Knockout Cup was a motorcycle speedway Knockout Cup competition in the United Kingdom between 1995 and 2016, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB). History The teams from the Premier League, the top tier of league rac ...

final. He also finished in 7th place during the 1997 Individual Long Track World Championship. He left Oxford for the Isle of Wight Islanders following Oxford's move to the Elite League and also rode a few matches for

Swindon Robins The Swindon Robins are a motorcycle speedway team from England, established in 1949 that have competed primarily in the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom. They are five times league champions of the United Kingdo ...

before switching to

Peterborough Panthers The Peterborough Panthers were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Peterborough, England from 1970 to 2023. They were three times List of United Kingdom speedway league champions, champions of the United Kingdom, winning the highest lev ...

, who he helped win the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and reach the Knockout Cup final. He was also part of the Peterborough four that won the

Premier League Four-Team Championship The SGB Championship Fours formerly the Premier League Four-Team Championship is a contest between teams competing in the second tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. Teams are grouped into fours, with one rider from each team in each race. The ...

, which was held on 30 August 1998, at the

East of England Arena The East of England Showground is a large showground area (667,731sqm) located on East of England Way near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The Showground is owned by Bellway as of around 2019 and the site currently includes the East of E ...

. He competed in the

1998 Individual Long Track World Championship The 1998 Individual Long Track/Grasstrack World Championship was the 28th edition of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, FIM Motorcycle speedway, speedway Individual Long Track World Championship. The world title was won by Kelvin Ta ...

and reached his third European Grasstrack final in 1999.

Major results

World Individual Longtrack Championship

* 1993 Individual Long Track World Championship 18th, 2pts *

1995 Individual Long Track World Championship The 1995 Individual Long Track World Championship was the 25th edition of the FIM speedway Individual Long Track World Championship. The event was held on 17 September 1995 at the Eichenring motorcycle speedway arena in Scheeßel, Germany. The w ...

12th, 5pts * 1996 Individual Long Track World Championship 11th, 6pts * 1997 Individual Long Track World Championship 7th, 64pts *

21st, 11pts

Family

His son

Dimitri Bergé Dimitri Bergé (born 5 February 1996) is a motorcycle speedway rider from France. Career Bergés' major honours include the 2009 125cc Grasstrack and the World 250cc Longtrack Champion 2012. He was a World Under-21 finalist in 2016 and 20 ...

is also an international speedway rider.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berge, Philippe 1971 births Living people French speedway riders French motorcycle racers Isle of Wight Islanders riders Oxford Cheetahs riders Peterborough Panthers riders Swindon Robins riders Expatriate speedway riders in England Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship riders