Frank Auffret

Frank Auffret

Auffret, riding for Leicester
Born	(1950-12-23) 23 December 1950 (age 74) Middlesbrough, England
Nationality	British (English)
Career history
1970	Hackney Hawks
1971-1973, 1982	Teesside Teessiders/Tigers
1973	Halifax Dukes
1973-1975	Leicester Lions
1976-1981	Hull Vikings
Team honours
1974	Midland Cup Winner

Frank Joseph Auffret (born 23 December 1950) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Auffret earned six international caps for the England national speedway team.[1][2]

Career

Born in Middlesbrough, Auffret entered the sport via cycle speedway, and after winning the Tyneside Cycle Speedway Championship in 1967, he took up the motorized form of the sport.[3] He first rode in second half races at Middlesbrough Teessiders in 1969 and made his league debut in 1970 for Hackney Hawks in division one, riding in two heats but failing to score, also riding for Rayleigh Rockets.[3][4]

Auffert was given a chance in the Teesside first team during May 1971, after promoter Ron Wilson dropped Pete Reading.[5] He established himself in the Teesside team in the second division in 1971, and his average improved to 8.62 in 1973.[3] He was selected for the Young England team in 1972 and 1973.[3] In 1973, he also rode in the top division for Leicester Lions and Halifax Dukes, and he signed for Leicester in 1974, averaging almost 6.5 in division one.[3] He stayed with Leicester in 1975 but insisted on being put on the transfer list for the 1976 season.[6] He represented the full England team in 1974 and 1975.[3] In 1976, he moved on to Hull Vikings, riding for them for six seasons until their closure in 1981.[4][7]

He made three appearances for Middlesbrough Tigers in 1982[8] before retiring from the sport.[1]

After speedway

After his speedway career, Auffret gained a diploma in Management Studies and Marketing from Teesside University and worked in local government before becoming a website designer.[4]

References

1. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
2. "World shocks as Hunter and Auffret go out". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 25 June 1975. Retrieved 15 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) Who's Who of World Speedway, Studio Publications, ISBN 0-904584-04-6, p. 12
4. Bott, Richard (2009) "Being Frank", Backtrack, Issue 32 (May–June 2009), p. 17-19
5. "Reading out- chance for Auffret". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. 26 May 1971. Retrieved 15 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Auffret - I won't ride for Lions". Leicester Daily Mercury. 24 January 1976. Retrieved 11 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. Jones, Alan (2010) Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar, Automedia, p. 157
8. "1982 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 October 2023.