Colin Pratt (1938-2021) *82

was a British motorcycle speedway rider and later promoter of the Coventry Bees who compete in the British Elite League. Born in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, Pratt lived near to Mike Broadbank from whom he bought his first speedway bike at the age of nineteen, and practised at the nearby Rye House track. After his National Service, he returned to the Rye House training track in 1960 and had his first competitive rides, reaching the final of the Whitsun Trophy. He was signed by the Southampton Saints, where he made his National League debut against Oxford. A broken wrist sustained at Swindon brought his debut season to an early end. He had only second-half rides for Southampton in 1961, and was loaned to Poole Pirates for whom he rode in three matches, Ipswich Witches (two matches), and then Stoke Potters where he started to score well, with paid 15 points against Wolverhampton and a 12-point maximum against Cradley Heath. In 1962 he scored 177 points from 34 matches for the Potters, and improved further in 1963, scoring 141 points in his first 12 matches and winning all five races to win the Gerry Hussey Memorial Trophy at Rye House, breaking the track record during the meeting. He moved on to the Swindon Robins before joining the Hackney Hawks in 1964. He rode for the Hawks for six years until the 1970 season when he moved to the Cradley Heath Heathens. However, he was forced to retire after he was involved in a road crash near Lokeren in Belgium. Five riders and officials died. Pratt was riding as a guest for the West Ham Hammers against a Danish select side in the Netherlands (in which he gained a five ride maximum). He sustained three broken bones in his neck and was warned by doctors that if he rode again and broke it he would be paralysed. After deciding the risk was too great he retired.[citation needed]

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