Jack Chapman (speedway rider)
Australian motorcycle speedway rider
Wenley Jack Chapman (3 March 1907 – 14 February 1994) was an Australian motorcycle speedway rider. He earned 17 official and unofficial international caps for the Australia national speedway team.
Biography
Chapman, born in Adelaide, was credited with holding the world mile record in 1928. He was one of the early pioneers of speedway, particularly in the United Kingdom, when he travelled over from Australia for the second season of the sport in 1929.
After making one just cup appearance for the Sheffield in 1929, Chapman returned home for the 1930 Australian season and became the 1930 Australian champion over 3 laps. He began his British leagues career riding for Sheffield Blades during the 1930 Speedway Northern League season. He averaged 8.41 for the Sheffield team.
Chapman missed the 1931 season but joined Stamford Bridge Pensioners in 1932, a season where he also captained the Australian select team.
In 1933, Chapman rode for Nottingham and also made a couple of appearances for Wimbledon Dons. However, in 1934, the entire Nottingham team was transferred to the Birmingham Bulldogs, following the demise of the Nottingham team.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jack Chapman (speedway rider)” 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.