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Michael Lee (speedway rider)
Encyclopedia
Michael Andrew Lee is a former international speedway rider
who won the Speedway World Championship
in 1980. A controversial character, he was banned for allegedly endangering other riders in the early eighties.
in the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom
, the National League
. In his first season he recorded an impressive average
points score of 9.13, he also rode part-time for top division team King's Lynn
.
In 1976, Lee moved full time to British League
team King's Lynn and finished the season with an average
of 9.22, he was also the British Junior Champion
that year.
At the end of the 1977 season, Lee had become the top scorer in the British League with an average
of 10.64. He also won the first of his two British Speedway Championship
titles. Lee won the World Team Cup
with England
and he had also made his first appearance in a World Championship Final
.
In 1979, Lee finished 3rd in the World Finals, beating Kelly Moran
, Billy Sanders
and Ole Olsen in a run-off race to claim the bronze medal. The next year, Lee won the World Championship
in Gothenburg
for the only time, finishing ahead of King's Lynn team mate Dave Jessup
. He was also triumphant again with England in the World Team Cup.
Lee opted for a change in clubs in 1983 and move to the Poole Pirates
. He had another successful year, finishing with and average
of 10.43. At the start of the 1984 season Lee was involved in an incident that would result in him being banned from speedway for a year. In a cup match against former club King's Lynn, Lee was excluded mid-race for a starting offence in heat 5 and returned to the pits in the wrong direction, allegedly causing the other riders to take evasive action. Despite the three other riders and the home promoter giving evidence that he had posed no danger the Speedway Control Board fined him and banned him for 5 years, although this was later reduced on appeal. Many people at the time, including Lee himself, felt that the incident had been used as a pretext to force him out of the sport.
After his ban ended, Lee returned to King's Lynn for two seasons but he was given another fine after he didn't show up to a match in June 1986 and he seemingly quit the sport. He made a short come-back in 1991 with King's Lynn.
Lee was convicted of growing cannabis for his own use in 2007 but avoided a jail term.
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
who won the Speedway World Championship
Speedway World Championship
The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world. Today, it is organised as a series of Speedway Grand Prix events, where points are awarded according to performance in the event and tallied up at the end of each...
in 1980. A controversial character, he was banned for allegedly endangering other riders in the early eighties.
Career
Lee began his professional speedway career in 1975 with BostonBoston Barracudas
The Boston Barracudas are a speedway team in the British Conference League. Originally founded mid-season in 1970 when the Kings Lynn Starlets changed name, they competed in the National League until 1987. In 2000 the club was reformed, entering the Conference League....
in the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the National League
Speedway National League
The National League was the top division of Speedway in the United Kingdom from 1932 until 1965 when it became known as the British League. Prior to 1932 there were only small regional leagues competing within the sport in the UK. The National League was re-incarnated in 1975 as the second division...
. In his first season he recorded an impressive average
Calculated Match Average
Calculated Match Averages are calculated for every motorcycle speedway rider.The CMA is calculated from the following:\left \times4...
points score of 9.13, he also rode part-time for top division team King's Lynn
King's Lynn Stars
King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the British Elite League. The nickname "Stars" comes from the defunct Norwich Stars team...
.
In 1976, Lee moved full time to British League
Speedway British League
The British League was the top division of Speedway in the United Kingdom from 1965 until 1995 when it became known as the Premier League. Prior to 1965 the division had been known as the National League....
team King's Lynn and finished the season with an average
Calculated Match Average
Calculated Match Averages are calculated for every motorcycle speedway rider.The CMA is calculated from the following:\left \times4...
of 9.22, he was also the British Junior Champion
British Speedway Under 21 Championship
The British Speedway Under-21 Championship is an annual speedway competition open to riders of British nationality aged at least fifteen on the date of the first meeting, and under twenty-one on 1 January in the year of the competition...
that year.
At the end of the 1977 season, Lee had become the top scorer in the British League with an average
Calculated Match Average
Calculated Match Averages are calculated for every motorcycle speedway rider.The CMA is calculated from the following:\left \times4...
of 10.64. He also won the first of his two British Speedway Championship
British Speedway Championship
The British Speedway Championship is an annual motorcycle speedway competition open to British national speedway riders. The winner of the event becomes the British Speedway Champion. It has been open in the past to riders from British dominions and was dominated in its early years by riders from...
titles. Lee won the World Team Cup
Speedway World Team Cup
The Speedway World Team Cup was an annual speedway event held each year in different countries. The competition started in 1960 and was replaced with the Speedway World Cup in 2001.-Format:From 1960 until 1985 each team consisted of four riders and a reserve...
with England
Great Britain national speedway team
The Great Britain national speedway team are one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by Poole Pirates manager Neil Middleditch and the captain is Chris Harris of the Belle Vue Aces....
and he had also made his first appearance in a World Championship Final
Speedway World Championship
The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world. Today, it is organised as a series of Speedway Grand Prix events, where points are awarded according to performance in the event and tallied up at the end of each...
.
In 1979, Lee finished 3rd in the World Finals, beating Kelly Moran
Kelly Moran
Kelly Moran was a professional speedway rider who rode for a number of British clubs and also represented USA....
, Billy Sanders
Billy Sanders
William Robert Sanders 'Billy Sanders' was an Australian international Speedway rider who won six Australian Championships and was a five time Speedway World Championship finalist with a career best second place in Germany 1983.-Australian Speedway:Billy Sanders bought his first speedway bike from...
and Ole Olsen in a run-off race to claim the bronze medal. The next year, Lee won the World Championship
Speedway World Championship
The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world. Today, it is organised as a series of Speedway Grand Prix events, where points are awarded according to performance in the event and tallied up at the end of each...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
for the only time, finishing ahead of King's Lynn team mate Dave Jessup
Dave Jessup
David John Jessup is a former speedway rider who finished runner-up the Speedway World Championship in 1980 to fellow countryman Michael Lee. The same season he won the World Pairs Championship with Peter Collins and became British Speedway Champion after finishing runner-up in 1978 and third in...
. He was also triumphant again with England in the World Team Cup.
Lee opted for a change in clubs in 1983 and move to the Poole Pirates
Poole Pirates
Poole Pirates are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the British Elite League...
. He had another successful year, finishing with and average
Calculated Match Average
Calculated Match Averages are calculated for every motorcycle speedway rider.The CMA is calculated from the following:\left \times4...
of 10.43. At the start of the 1984 season Lee was involved in an incident that would result in him being banned from speedway for a year. In a cup match against former club King's Lynn, Lee was excluded mid-race for a starting offence in heat 5 and returned to the pits in the wrong direction, allegedly causing the other riders to take evasive action. Despite the three other riders and the home promoter giving evidence that he had posed no danger the Speedway Control Board fined him and banned him for 5 years, although this was later reduced on appeal. Many people at the time, including Lee himself, felt that the incident had been used as a pretext to force him out of the sport.
After his ban ended, Lee returned to King's Lynn for two seasons but he was given another fine after he didn't show up to a match in June 1986 and he seemingly quit the sport. He made a short come-back in 1991 with King's Lynn.
Lee was convicted of growing cannabis for his own use in 2007 but avoided a jail term.
World Final Appearances
- 19771977 Individual Speedway World ChampionshipThe 1977 Individual Speedway World Championship.-World final:*September 2, 1977 Göteborg, Ullevi*Referee: Torrie Kittelsen-Classification:...
-
Sweden GothenburgGothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, UlleviUlleviUllevi is a stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. The stadium was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then Ullevi has also hosted the 1995 World Championships in Athletics and the 2006 European Championships in Athletics, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1983 and 1990, the UEFA Euro 1992...
- 4th - 12pts + 2pts - 19781978 Individual Speedway World ChampionshipThe 1978 Individual Speedway World Championship.-World final:*September 2, 1978 London, Wembley Stadium...
-
United Kingdom LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Wembley Stadium - 7th - 9pts - 19791979 Individual Speedway World ChampionshipThe 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship.-World final:*September 2, 1979 Chorzów, Silesian Stadium-Heat Results:...
-
Poland ChorzówChorzówChorzów is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
, Silesian Stadium - 3rd - 11pts +3pts - 19801980 Individual Speedway World ChampionshipThe 1980 Individual Speedway World Championship.-World final:*September 5, 1980 Göteborg, Ullevi...
- Sweden GothenburgGothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, UlleviUlleviUllevi is a stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. The stadium was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then Ullevi has also hosted the 1995 World Championships in Athletics and the 2006 European Championships in Athletics, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1983 and 1990, the UEFA Euro 1992...
- Winner - 14pts - 19811981 Individual Speedway World ChampionshipThe 1981 Individual Speedway World Championship.1981 was the last of a record 26 times that London's famous Wembley Stadium hosted the World Final.-World final:*September 5, 1981 London, Wembley Stadium*Referee: Sam Bass-Heat Results:...
- United Kingdom LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Wembley Stadium - 10th - 5pts - 19831983 Individual Speedway World ChampionshipThe 1983 Individual Speedway World Championship.-World final:*September 4, 1983 Norden, Motodrom Halbemond*Referee: Rolf RandborgKarl Maier replaced the injured Petr Ondrašík-Classification:...
-
Germany NordenNorden, Lower SaxonyNorden is a town in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the North Sea shore, in East Frisia.-External links:* *...
, Motodrom Halbemond - 3rd - 11pts