Simon Cross

For the rugby union player, see Simon Cross (rugby player).
Simon Cross
Born (1965-05-31) 31 May 1965
Hereford, England
Nationality  England
Current club information
Career status Retired
Polish league 1992 Gniezno
Swedish league 1995/96 Smederna
Career history
1982
1983
1982-1995
1991
1996
Oxford Cheetahs
Weymouth Wildcats
Cradley Heath Heathens
Middlesbrough Bears
Coventry Bees
Individual honours
1988
1986 1994
1987
1986
1987
Overseas Champion
British Masters grasstrack Champion
British 350 grasstrack Champion
European Grasstrack Champion
WA State Champion (Aust)
Team honours
1989
1983
1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
1995
1983, 1984, 1987
1984, 1986
1984 1985 1988 1989 1990
World Team Cup
National League Pairs Champion
British League KO Cup winner
British League Fours Champion
Midland Cup Champions
League Cup Champions
Premiership Champions

Simon James Cross (born 31 May 1965 in Hereford, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider who spent most of his career with the Cradley Heath Heathens.

Career

Simon Cross and Kelvin Tatum finished runner-up in Speedway World Pairs Championship[1] in 1988 and he finished runner-up in the British Championship in 1990.[2] He won the National League Pairs Championship in 1983 with Martin Yeates.

In early 1987, Cross was part of a touring troupe to Australia which included (among others) World Champion Hans Nielsen, Tommy Knudsen, Shawn Moran and Rick Miller. While in Australia he won the 1986/87 Western Australian State Championship at the Claremont Speedway in Perth.

1987 also saw Cross qualify for his first and only World Final, run over two days at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. He finished in 10th place with 10 points scored (7 on day one, 3 on day two).

1989 World Team Cup Final

Simon also represented Great Britain when they won the 1989 Speedway World Team Cup Final at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford. Cross was involved in the famous crash on turn 1 of the first heat of the meeting which not only took all four riders out of the meeting, but ended the career of his Cradley team mate and three time World Champion Erik Gundersen. The Dane led out of the gates, only for his engine to seize and lock up in the first turn causing all four riders (Gundersen, Cross, Jimmy Nilsen (Sweden) and Lance King (USA)) to crash. Gundersen suffered head and spinal injuries after his head was hit by another bikes rear wheel as he lay on the track. None of the riders took any further part in the meeting.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

World Team Cup

References

  1. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
  2. 2007 British Final Match Programme


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.