Junior Bainbridge

Ronald Arthur Bainbridge (26 April 1924 – 5 November 2000) was an Australian motorcycle speedway rider. During his speedway career he rode as Junior Bainbridge and earned 9 international caps for the Australia national speedway team.

Biography Bainbridge, born in Melbourne, was spotted riding by Charlie Spinks in 1946. After two moderate seasons his average improved significantly during 1949, when he hit 8.17 and then increased this to 8.68 in 1950. He became a crowd favourite and expectations were high when he rode for them.

He reached the Championship round of the 1950 Individual Speedway World Championship and the 1951 Individual Speedway World Championship and averaged an impressive 9.18 in 1952 for Glasgow.

His final season at Glasgow was in the 1953 Speedway National League Division Two, because the following year he signed for Ipswich Witches at a cost of £500, to help clear the debts of the Scottish club.

He would spend four years with the Suffolk club, recording 9.32 and topping the team's averages during his first season with them.

He retired from British speedway after the 1957 season but returned to Australia and continued to ride for a few years, riding for Australia against England as late as January 1960.