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Graham Banks

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British speedway rider

Graham Banks
Born(1949-01-15)15 January 1949
Folkestone, England
Died4 June 1978(1978-06-04) (aged 29)
Hopes Farm, New Romney, Kent
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1969–1978Canterbury Crusaders
1975Wimbledon Dons
Team honours
1970, 1978League champion (tier 2)

Graham William Banks (15 January 1949 – 4 June 1978) was an English motorcycle speedway rider.

Biography

Banks, born in Folkestone, grew up in a speedway family, with his father Monty Banks being a well known grasstrack rider. He began his own grasstrack career in 1969, the same season that he made his conventional speedway British leagues debut, riding for Canterbury Crusaders during the 1969 British League Division Two season season.

The following season in 1970 Banks became a first team regular, recording 7.53 for the season and was instrumental in helping the Crusaders win the league title.

Banks was a heat leader for the 1971 season and averaged 8.03 but after two more full seasons he requested a transfer stating that he had become stale at the club. Banks finally decided to miss the 1974 season and concentrate on grasstrack instead.

Banks returned to speedway for the 1975 British League season after signing for Wimbledon Dons but struggled to make an impact and enjoyed a better season on the grasstrack.

In 1976 he returned to Canterbury and topped the team's averages during that season. He continued to ride well for the Crusaders in 1977 and the start of 1978, averaging over 8 for both seasons. On 4 June 1978 he was killed in a grasstrack racing accident at Scott's Marsh Farm, on New Romney grass track, marring the Crusaders' 1978 league winning season.

Family

His brother to Trevor Banks also rode speedway, primarily grasstrack and longtrack.

See also

References

  1. "Ultimate Rider Index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  2. "Graham Banks". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  3. "Big entry". Kentish Express. 11 April 1969. Retrieved 25 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "1969 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  5. "Crusaders include new signing". Kentish Express. 20 March 1970. Retrieved 25 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. Oakes, Peter (1978). 1978 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ISBN 978-0904584509.
  7. ^ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  8. "Crusaders pair want to leave". South Eastern Gazette. 18 December 1973. Retrieved 25 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Tapes up for a new season of speedway". Herne Bay Press. 29 March 1974. Retrieved 25 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Graham Banks". WWOS backup. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  11. "Graham Banks". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  12. "Graham Banks". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  13. "Crusaders star killed in accident". Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald. 9 June 1978. Retrieved 25 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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