Peter Craven

Career



Peter Theodore Craven, was born in Liverpool on the 21st. June 1934, one of a boy of twins; his brother Paul died when he was 3 years old. Peter's elder brother Brian  started the Speedway 'bug' in the family when he progressed from cycle speedway to the 'real thing' when the Stanley Park stadium re-opened in 1949.

Peter went along for his first ride a day after his 16th birthday, borrowing Brian's machine. He did a few laps and then promptly hit the safety fence, sustaining concussion which damped his ardor for a few months.

Peter was given a try out Liverpool but he hit the fence again, after only one lap. In spite of this minor set back he was included in the team as reserve for an away match against Leicester.

During 1951 season he made 8 league appearances for the 'Chad's' in division II, scoring 8 points. The following year he shared 10 league outings equally between Liverpool and Belle Vue.

He managed to combine his commitments racing for Belle Vue, whilst completing his national service. During 1954 he made 24 league appearances and topped the score chart for the Northern Club with 200 points for an average of 8.3 points per meeting. That year he also qualified for his first Wembley World Final, where he scored 3 points, one above the brilliant new Swedish sensation,Ove Fundin.

Now out of an Army uniform, the following year at Wembley,  Peter was a sensation taking the World Championship at his second attempt.

1955 World Champion.


In 1958,  Peter captained the English team against Sweden in Sweden, finishing top scorer in the three test series; he also topped the score chart in the five series test against Australasia, scoring 73 points.

After scoring 11 points Peter was involved in a run off for third position at the World final, again at Wembley, he fell but remounted to finish fourth overall.

1959 was a typical Craven season. In 81 meetings, he amassed a total of 1,099 points from 428 races.  Wembley and the world Final was not a good year for Peter, with bad gating and track bumps causing problems and he subsequently finished the meeting with only 7 points. However, that year he took on Ove Fundin and won the Golden Helmet Match Race Championship, the Champions of Champions Cup at Poole; the Northern Cup at Belle Vue; the Internationale Derby at Ipswich; the Pride of the East at Norwich; the Tom Farndon Memorial Trophy at New Cross; the Champagne Derby again at Belle Vue' the CTS Trophy at Norwich; and the Pride of the Midlands, at Leicester.

Peter in typical action.


Peter lost his Golden Helmet  championship to Ronnie Moore at the start of the 1960 season, but again finished the highest British scorer in qualifying for the world final. On the night of the Wembley final, Peter was involved in a triple run off for first place, with Ronnie Moore and Ove Fundin. Still recovering from an earlier spill, the best Peter could manage was third in the run off, and subsequently third on the night.

That same year he also visited Poland with the English team, and at home was in devasting form. Track records fell all over the place, and he picked up many individual honours, whilst successfully representing his country in  test matches.

During 1961 Peter captained the 'Lions' on a tour to Austria, was third in the first Internationale  individual championship meeting held for only one occasion, at the Harringay stadium venue; was second in the British Final at Wembley won by Barry Briggs and caused a surprise, when he fell in his first ride at the Malmo World Final (The first to be held outside England and the Wembley stadium), in which he only scored a total of 6 points.

With the late Dick Fisher.


He did however, go on that season to finish second in the Laurels at Wimbledon; the Pride of the South and the Pride of the Midlands; he won the Pride of the East, the Kings of Oxford Trophy at Oxford and was runner up in the Tom Farndon Memorial Trophy at New Cross

1962, and another vintage Craven year. He followed his 3 rounds  British Championship  victories by notching up 14 points to carry off his second World Individual Championship,  now back at Wembley. He topped the National League points chart, won the Kings of Oxford Trophy again, was third in the Internationale; was runner-up in the Pride of the East at Norwich; and with Gerald Jackson won the Best pairs event at Wimbledon.

1962 World Champion once again. With Ove Fundin and Barry Briggs.


As World Champion, at the start of the 1963 season, he was automatically selected as challenger for the Golden Helmet Match Race title, held by his old rival Ove Fundin, Peter finally defeating Fundin, in the usual neutral decider, after both winning one leg each. He successfully defended it against  Barry Briggs, but lost it to Fundin in mid-season.

Again as top qualifier for the 1963 Wembley World Final, and as such British Champion.

Within a few days of an average World Final for him, Peter rode in the Gold Cup final at Wimbledon, scoring 10 points and finishing joint sixth with Ove Fundin; on the Wednesday he was at Norwich where only scored 7 points. On the Friday night, he was racing at Meadowbank , the Provincial League Champions. After three brilliant wins, he crashed heavily in his fourth outing, after trying to avoid another fallen rider. He subsequently succumbed to serious head injuries,a few days later.

With his death, Britain lost its most consistent post-war rider and its only really serious challenger, to the foreign and overseas domination of the sport.

He was survived by his wife and two children.


A typical Wright Wood  action shot of Peter in action at Belle Vue at the height of his career.



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