Merv_Harding

Merv Harding

Merv Harding

Australian motorcycle speedway rider (1926 – 1971)

Mervyn Welsley Harding (8 March 1926 – 7 March 1971) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from Australia. He earned 11 international caps for the Australia national speedway team.[1]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Biography

Harding, born in Woodville, South Australia, began his British leagues career riding for Ashfield Giants[2] during the 1949 Speedway National League Division Two season.[3] He impressed immediately averaging 8.85, second only behind fellow Australian Ken Le Breton in the team averages.[4]

He spent four year with the Scottish club, before joining New Cross Rangers in 1952.[5] In-between he reached the Championship round of the 1950 Individual Speedway World Championship, winning two qualifying rounds on the way.[6]

His British racing career came to an abrupt end when he crashed and fractured his skull in July 1953.[7]

References

  1. [1]
    "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  2. [2]
    "Bulldog Riders to oppose Young Stars of Wembley". Bristol Evening Post - Wednesday. 11 May 1949. Retrieved 7 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. [3]
    "1949 season". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  4. [4]
    "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  5. [5]
    "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  6. [6]
    "Duval in round three". Liverpool Echo. 6 July 1950. Retrieved 7 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. [7]
    "Aussie Speed men come North on three wheels". Manchester Evening News. 9 July 1953. Retrieved 7 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Stub icon

This biographical article relating to Australian speedway is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Merv_Harding, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.