Steve Schofield (speedway rider)

Steve Schofield
Born (1958-02-27) 27 February 1958 (age 66)
Carshalton, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
Great Britain
1980–1983Weymouth Wildcats
1982–1983Reading Racers
1984–1985Wolverhampton Wolves
1986–1988, 1991–1997Poole Pirates
1989–1990Hackney Kestrels
1998Oxford Cheetahs
Poland
1992–1996Gdańsk
Individual honours
1997Long Track World Championship silver
1998Long Track World Championship bronze
1990Southern Riders' Champion
1988British Masters (Grasstrack)
Team honours
1994League champion (tier 1)
1994Fours winner (tier 1)
1986National League Riders' runner-up (tier 2)
1990Pairs champion (tier 2)

Steven Schofield (born 27 February 1958) is a British former motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in speedway, longtrack and grasstrack Racing.[1] He earned 12 international caps for the England national speedway team.[2]

Career

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Longtrack and grasstrack

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Schofield reached eight World Longtrack world championship finals and won the silver medal in 1997 and the bronze medal in 1998. He also reached seven European Grasstrack Champion finals and was the British Masters 500cc grasstrack champion in 1988, following seven consecutive 350cc titles from 1980 to 1986.[1]

Speedway

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Schofield began his British leagues career riding for Weymouth Wildcats in 1980 but it was not until the 1981 National League season that he became a first team regular.[3] He enjoyed two more seasons of consistent riding at Weymouth recording an average of 8.97 in 1983.[4]

He spent two seasons at Wolverhampton Wolves from 1984[5] to 1985 before joining Poole Pirates in 1986. In his first season at Poole he finished runner-up in the National League Riders' Championship and averaged 10.36.[6] He topped the Poole averages for the next two years in 1987 and 1988.

For the 1989 National League season, he joined Hackney Kestrels and topped the league averages for the London club.[7] The following season the success continued as he topped the league averages for a second consecutive season and won the National League Pairs, partnering Andy Galvin for Hackney, during the 1990 National League season.[8][9] In 1990, he won the Southern Riders' Championship.[10]

After two very successful seasons with Hackney, Schofield re-joined the Poole Pirates, where he would spend seven more seasons.[11] With Poole, he won the 1994 league title and fours championship.[12] His final season was the 1998 Elite League speedway season, with Oxford Cheetahs.[2]

He retired through injury having been involved in a bad crash with Jason Crump and Joe Screen at the Bonfire Burn-up.[13]

Major results

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World Longtrack Championship

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Best Grand-Prix Results

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European Grasstrack Championship

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British Grasstrack Championship

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500cc Finals

  • 1982 second
  • 1983 third
  • 1988 first
  • 1992 second
  • 1994 second
  • 1996 second

References

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  1. ^ a b "Steve Schofield". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  3. ^ "1981 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Wolves boosted by Ravn signing". Sports Argus. 3 March 1984. Retrieved 29 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Steve Schofield". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  8. ^ "1990 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Potters pairs bid comes unstuck". Staffordshire Sentinel. 18 June 1990. Retrieved 26 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "1990 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Poole history". Poole Pirates. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  12. ^ "1994 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  13. ^ "BACK FOR BOYCEY". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 26 May 2023.