Aaron Summers (speedway rider)

Aaron Summers
Born (1988-03-01) 1 March 1988 (age 36)
Adelaide, South Australia
NationalityAustralian
Career history
Great Britain
2007Buxton Hitmen
2007–2009Edinburgh Monarchs
2008, 2011–2014Redcar Bears
2010Birmingham Brummies
2010, 2012–2013Coventry Bees
2015Swindon Robins
2015–2017Glasgow Tigers
2016Leicester Lions
2018–2021Berwick Bandits
2018Rye House Rockets
2018Somerset Rebels
2019Peterborough Panthers
2022Ipswich Witches
2022Oxford Cheetahs
Poland
2018Kraków
Individual honours
1994Australian Under-16 Solo Champion
Team honours
2008Premier Trophy
2008Premier League
2010Elite League
2010Premier League Fours Champion

Aaron Richard Summers (born 1 March 1988) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider.[1][2][3]

Career

Born in Adelaide, Summers first had success as a junior, winning the Australian Under-16 Solo Championship in 2004.[4]

He began his British speedway career in 2007, riding for Buxton Hitmen in the Conference League and Edinburgh Monarchs in the Premier League.[4] In his second season, he won the Premier League and the Premier Trophy with the Monarchs, also riding for Redcar Bears' Conference League team.[4][5]

In 2009, he stayed with the Monarchs, and the following year rode for Birmingham Brummies in the Premier League and for Coventry Bees in their title-winning Elite League season.[6][7] He was part of the Birmingham four who won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, on 15 August 2010, at the East of England Arena.[8]

In 2011, he began a four-year stay with Redcar Bears in the Premier League and in 2012 and 2013 returned to the Coventry Bees Elite League team. In 2015 he left the Bears and signed for Glasgow Tigers where he captained the team, doubling up in the Elite League with Swindon Robins and ending the season with a 6.82 Elite League CMA. He started the 2016 season with Tigers but with no Elite League place, but was signed by Leicester Lions in April to replace Grzegorz Walasek.[9]

He rode for Berwick Bandits and Peterborough Panthers during 2019 and remained with Berwick for the 2021 season.[10] In 2022, he rode for the Ipswich Witches in the SGB Premiership 2022 and also joined the Oxford Cheetahs for the SGB Championship 2022. The Cheetahs were returning to action after a 14-year absence from British Speedway.[11][12]

After the 2022 season, Summers returned to Australia and retired from speedway.

Honours

Individual

  • Australian Under-16 Champion (2004)

Team

  • Premier Trophy (2008 - Edinburgh Monarchs)
  • Premier League (2008 - Edinburgh Monarchs)
  • Premier League Play-Off winner (2008, 2009 - Edinburgh Monarchs)
  • Elite League (2010 - Coventry Bees)
  • Premier League Four-Team Championship (2010 - Birmingham Brummies)

References

  1. ^ "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Aaron Summers Australia". Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  3. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Rider Index", speedwaygb.co. Retrieved 10 April 2016
  5. ^ "Could Aaron Summers be Monarchs' secret weapon?", Sunday Express, 16 April 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2016
  6. ^ "Birmingham Brummies sign Aaron Summers on loan", BBC, 17 December 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2016
  7. ^ "Birmingham Brummies: Speedway star Aaron Summers to visit fracture clinic", Birmingham Mail, 28 June 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2016
  8. ^ "2010 Birmingham results". Birmingham Speedway. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  9. ^ Lanning, Phil (2015) "Glasgow Tigers sign Aaron Summers and he admits: "I've re-joined biggest club in Scotland"", Daily Record, 4 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016
  10. ^ "Summers, Aaron". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Speedway and Oxford Cheetahs set to return to Oxford Stadium". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Oxford Cheetahs: Speedway side set for British Championship return in 2022". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 November 2021.