WHO IS THIS MARK LORAM?

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WHO IS THIS MARK LORAM?

Now that the Olympics are over and all the medals have been handed out, did anyone notice that a British Speedway rider, Mark Loram, became the WORLD Champion in Speedway?

On Saturday 23rd September 2000 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in front of a crowd of 25,000 people and millions of television viewers, Mark Loram became the new Speedway World Champion. He is the first British World Champion since 1992 when Gary Havelock won it, ironically also in Poland. Both Mark Loram and Gary Havelock are currently Poole Pirates riders, although Gary was riding for Bradford at the time he won the world championship. It is the first time that Poole has had a rider win the world championship while riding for them. Mark started his speedway career at Ipswich, where his brother-in-law Chris Louis, also a Grand Prix rider, still rides.

Mark Loram now joins a prestigious list of British World Champions, such as, Gary Havelock (1992), also a current Poole rider, Michael Lee (1980), a former Poole rider, who now tunes engines for top Grand Prix riders, Peter Collins (1976), who now commentates on Speedway Grand Prix and Elite League matches on television.

There is also Tommy Price (1949), Freddie Williams (1950, 1953), and Peter Craven (1955, 1962), who were British World Champions under the previous World Championship format of a one-off meeting, principally held at the famous Twin Towers of Wembley Stadium.

The Grand Prix system, which was introduced in 1995, is run over 6 meetings held in various countries within Europe.

In 2001 a Grand Prix round will be held in Australia, which is where it all began in the 1920s, (unless, of course, you are American), and also the British round of the Grand Prix will be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, perhaps better known as the Cardiff Arms Park, the hallowed ground of Welsh Rugby Union.

Speedway may be a minority sport, but it seems to be re-emerging very fast, thanks to TV coverage.

A very good aspect of speedway is that there is NO crowd trouble. That means that it is probably the safest family-orientated sport to go and watch, unlike some other sports.

If you want to know more about speedway, the easiest way to find out is to visit a track near you.

If you want more information from the comfort of your own home, why not visit this website again and let us know your views and needs.