Bill Kitchen (speedway rider)

William (Bill) Kitchen (7 December 1908 in Galgate, Lancashire, England – May 1994) was an international speedway rider who started his career with the Belle Vue Aces in 1933.[1]

Bill Kitchen
Born(1908-12-07)7 December 1908
Galgate, England
DiedMay 1994 (aged 85)
Nationality England
Current club information
Career statusRetired
Career history
1933–1939Belle Vue Aces
1946–1954Wembley Lions
Individual honours
1940Northern Riders' Champion
1950Australian Champion (3 Lap)
Team honours
1933, 1934, 1935, 1936,
1946, 1947, 1949, 1950,
1951, 1952, 1953		National League Champion
1933, 1934, 1935, 1936,
1937, 1948		National Trophy Winner
1934, 1935, 1936, 1937A.C.U. Cup Winner
1939, 1947British Speedway Cup winner
1948, 1949, 1950, 1951London Cup winner
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Isle of Man TT career
TTs contested4 (1930–1933)
TT wins0
Podiums0

Career summary

Before he started speedway Kitchen was a prominent road trials rider and had taken part in the Isle of Man TT.[2]

His pre-war career was with Belle Vue. In 1946 he became captain of the Wembley Lions and finished second in the British Speedway Championship.[2] He finished fifth in the Speedway World Championship in 1939.[3]

Kitchen was a member of a National League winning team eleven times in twenty years, a feat made even more exceptional given the fact that the outbreak of World War II cost his Belle Vue team the chance of earning Kitchen a twelfth title (the Aces were top of the league when it was abandoned), and the fact that the competition was suspended a further six seasons during the war.

Kitchen was also a regular England international with over forty appearances after the war as well as over thirty pre-war caps.

In 1950, Bill Kitchen won the Australian 3 Lap Championship at the Tracey's Speedway in Melbourne.

After retirement, Bill ran a motor spares shop bearing his own name, in Station Road Harrow until at least the 1980s.

World Final appearances

References
  1. Addison J. (1948). The People Speedway Guide. Odhams Press Limited
  2. Morgan, Tom (1947) The People Speedway Guide, Odhams Press, p. 76
  3. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.