Colin Pratt

Colin George Pratt (10 October 1938 – 2 October 2021) was a British motorcycle speedway rider and later promoter of the Coventry Bees who compete in the British Elite League. He earned 14 international caps for the England national speedway team and 7 caps for the Great Britain team. He was later the manager of the Great Britain national team from 1979 to 1980 and from 1986 to 1993.

Racing career 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. 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. 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.

Pratt was also a full England international and rode in two World Team Cup finals. He also qualified for the final of the Speedway World Championship in 1967. It was as a Hackney rider that he won the London Riders' Championship in 1967 and again in 1968.

Promoter and team manager Pratt became co-promoter at the Rye House Rockets with former boss Len Silver in 1979. In 1983, he spent a season as team manager at King's Lynn Stars before becoming promoter at Cradley Heath in 1984.

Personal life Pratt died on 2 October 2021, at the age of 82 from cancer.

World Final Appearances Individual World Championship 1967 - London, Wembley Stadium - 13th - 4pts

World Team Cup 1966 - Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Barry Briggs / Terry Betts / Ivan Mauger / Nigel Boocock) - 4th - 8pts (0) 1967 - Malmö, Malmö Stadion (with Ray Wilson / Barry Briggs / Ivan Mauger / Eric Boocock) - 3rd= - 19pts (0)