Peter Craven
British speedway rider (1934-1963)
Peter Theodore Craven (21 June 1934 – 24 September 1963) was an English motorcycle racer. He was a finalist in each FIM Speedway World Championship from 1954 to 1963 and he won the title twice (in 1955 and 1962). He was British Champion in 1962 and 1963.
Personal life
Craven was born in Liverpool and had four sisters and an older brother, Brian Craven, who also became a speedway rider. He also had a twin brother who died at an early age. He got his first racing experience when he started participating in cycle speedway.
Career
Craven got his first taste of motorcycle speedway racing in 1949 at the Stanley Stadium, Prescot Road, Liverpool. He visited the stadium a day after his sixteenth birthday and drove a few laps on his brother's bike, before hitting the safety fence and sustaining a concussion. He was later given another chance to show his abilities to the Liverpool Chads, but after just one lap he hit the fence again. Despite this, he was included as a reserve in the team's away match against the Leicester Hunters.
“Peter Craven” enters the record as british speedway rider (1934-1963). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Peter, Craven and British can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Peter Craven” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.