Peter Kelly
Born7 May 1935 (1935-05-07)
Manchester England
Died2 January 2023(2023-01-02) (aged 87)
Christchurch, New Zealand
NationalityBritish
Career history
1960–1961Stoke Potters
1961–1962Belle Vue Aces
1962Bradford Panthers
1963–1967, 1969–1970Newcastle Diamonds
1969, 1970–1971Berwick Bandits
Team honours
1964league champion (tier 2)

Peter Frederick Kelly (7 May 1935 – 2 January 2023) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned one international cap for the England national speedway team.[1]

Biography

Kelly, born in Manchester, first appeared in the British leagues in 1959, riding for Yarmouth Bloaters but only began to race regularly for the Stoke Potters during the 1960 Provincial Speedway League season.[2] The following season, he stayed with Stoke but also raced in the top league with Belle Vue Aces.[3]

Kelly raced with Belle Vue and Bradford Panthers in 1962[4] before sealing a move to Newcastle Diamonds in 1963. At Newcastle, he made significant progress in terms of form from 1963 to 1967 and twice averaged over eight.[5] He helped Newcastle win the 1964 Provincial Speedway League title.

At the beginning of the 1968 season, Kelly announced his retirement from speedway, largely due to a serious crash he was involved in at Hackney.[6]

He reversed his decision in 1969, returning to race for Berwick Bandits for three seasons from 1969 to 1971,[7] under the promotion of Liz and Ken Taylor.[8]

Kelly later emigrated to New Zealand, where he died in 2023.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "1960 season". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Southern Stars tackle Potters in Hanley". Staffordshire Sentinel. 16 August 1962. Retrieved 20 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Kelly to retire from Speedway". Newcastle Journal. 13 January 1968. Retrieved 20 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Peter Kelly". WWOS backup. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Peter Kelly obituary". Berwick Speedway. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
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