Bob Andrews (speedway rider)

Bob Andrews

Born	27 October 1935 (1935-10-27) (age 89) Edmonton, London, England
Nationality	British (English) / New Zealander
Career history
1954-1955	California Poppies
1956-1964	Wimbledon Dons
1965	Wolverhampton Wolves
1968-1969, 1971-1972	Cradley Heathens
1970	Hackney Hawks
Individual honours
1960, 1961, 1962, 1964	Speedway World Championship finalist
1966	New Zealand Champion
Team honours
1969	World Pairs Champion
1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961	National League Champion
1956, 1959, 1960, 1962	National Trophy winner
1954	Southern Area League Champion
1959	Britannia Shield

Robert Thomas Andrews (born 27 October 1935) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from England and New Zealand.[1] Andrews was capped by England 21 times, Great Britain 12 times and later was capped 27 times for the New Zealand national speedway team.[2]

Speedway career

Andrews was a leading rider in the 1960s and reached the final of the Speedway World Championship on four occasions in 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1964.[3][4]

He rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1956-1970,[5] riding for California Poppies, Wimbledon Dons, Wolverhampton Wolves,[6] Cradley Heathens[7] and Hackney Hawks.

He later emigrated to New Zealand and gained international caps for the country and rode the last of his World finals in New Zealand colours.[8][9]

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

• 1960 - London, Wembley Stadium - 17th - 2pts
• 1961 - Malmö, Malmö Stadion - 5th - 10pts
• 1962 - London, Wembley Stadium - 6th - 9pts
• 1964 - Gothenburg, Ullevi - 13th - 4pts

World Pairs Championship

• 1969* – Stockholm, Gubbängens IP (with Ivan Mauger) – Winner – 28pts (10)

* Unofficial World Championships.

World Team Cup

• 1961* - Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Ron How / Peter Craven / Ken McKinlay) - 3rd - 21pts (6)

* 1961 for England.

References

1. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
2. "Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
3. "World Speedway finals" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
4. Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 514. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
5. "History Archive". British Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
6. "New look season starts with the annual Wolves - Cradleys clash". Wolverhampton Express and Star. 20 March 1965. Retrieved 27 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Bob Andrews". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
8. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
9. "Bob Andrews". Historic Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.