John Davis (speedway rider)

John Henry Davis (born 10 November 1954 in Oxford, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider[1] who represented England when they won the World Team Cup in 1977 1980 Speedway World Team Cup Winner,

John Davis

Born	(1954-11-10) 10 November 1954 Oxford, England
Nationality	England
Current club information
Career status	Retired
German league	Diedenbergen
Polish league	Gdansk
Swedish league	Malilla
Career history
1971-1973	Peterborough Panthers
1971, 1981-1983	Poole Pirates
1971	West Ham Hammers
1971-1974	Oxford Cheetahs/Rebels
1972	Exeter Falcons
1975-1981, 1985-1987	Reading Racers
1983	Sheffield Tigers
1984	Wimbledon Dons
1988-1989	Kings Lynn Stars
1989-1991	Swindon Robins
1989-1990	Dackarna (SWE)
1991	Wimbledon/Eastbourne
Individual honours
1980 1984 1978 1978, 1981 1978 1975, 1978	Daily Express Spring Classic Golden Helmet of Pardubice Master of Speedway GP Winner Argentine Champion WJ Cearns The Laurels Manpower Winner German Open Winner. Geoff Curtis Memorial Trophy
Team honours
1977 1977 1980	World Team Cup Winner Spring Gold Cup winner British League Champion 4 x German Champion Diedenbergen Polish Champion Gdansk.

He was capped for England 68 times, and was the first Englishman to win the prestigious Czech Golden Helmet in Pardubice. He was also the first Englishman to race in the Polish League for Gdansk. He raced for Diedenbergen in the German League for ten seasons, winning four German titles, where he was consistently the top performer. He qualified for 16 consecutive British Final appearances, his best finish being second to the late Kenny Carter; this was when England ruled The Speedway World.[2]

In 1975, after 3 years at Oxford, he was caught up in the wrangle over whether Ole Olsen would ride for Oxford, and was in the strange position of guesting for himself in a couple of matches at the start of the season.[3] Eventually, the Speedway Control Board ruled that Olsen would stay with Wolverhampton Wolves, Dag Lovaas would ride at Oxford, and John could join Reading Racers.

After the end of his speedway career, Davis started a burger business in 1994 which progressed into Event Catering, supplying venues and events all over the south of the country with their Public Catering requirements. Among the contracts they obtained are The Royal Imperial War Museum at Duxford, Newbury Racecourse, Fontwell Racecourse, Bath Racecourse, Chepstow Racecourse, Wincanton Racecourse, The Ageas Bowl (Hampshire Cricket Ground), The PSP Southampton Boat Show, The Norfolk Spectacular Music Festival, Poole Speedway, Bucks Show, Romsey Show, Glastonbury Festival and quite a few Concerts including T4 on the Beach, The British MX GP, Lydden Hill for the Rally Cross events, and Red Bull Moto Cross Series.