Australian Solo Championship

The Australian Individual Speedway Championship historically known as the Australian Solo Championship is a motorcycle speedway championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion. It is organised by Motorcycling Australia (MA) and is the oldest continuously running national speedway championship in the world, having been run since 1926 with the exception of 1942-1945 when racing was suspended during World War II and 1955-1961 when the championship was not held.

History

The first Championship in 1926 was held at the Newcastle Showground in Newcastle, which was won by American rider Cecil Brown. In the early years of the championship, multiple Australian titles were often held in the same year with some riders winning more than one title per year. Championships were run over anywhere from 2 to 6 laps and/or over 2 miles, often depending on the length of the track used.

Legendary Danish rider Ole Olsen and Australia's own Jason Crump are the only riders who have won the championship while being the reigning Speedway World Champion. Olsen's controversial win at the Liverpool Speedway in Sydney in 1976 was the last win by a non-Australian rider. His win was controversial as many of the riders at the meeting protested his eligibility because of his nationality. However, with Olsen available to ride the promoters of the speedway insisted on his inclusion knowing that he would draw a larger crowd.

From 1979 to 1994, the Championship served as a qualifying round for the Speedway World Championship.

Past winners

Multiple championship era

Key

• cofc (Champion of champions)

Single championship

Medals classification (2 or more titles)

See also

• Motorsport in Australia
• New South Wales Individual Speedway Championship
• Western Australian Individual Speedway Championship
• Victorian Individual Speedway Championship
• South Australian Individual Speedway Championship
• Queensland Solo Championship

Statistics

• Jack Milne of the USA won the 1937 Australian Championship and later that year won the 1937 World Championship. Bluey Wilkinson won the 3 & 4 Lap Australian Championships in 1938 before also going on to win the World Championship later that year, Chris Holder also won both the 2012 Australian and World Championships.
• Leigh Adams was the reigning Under-21 World Champion when he won his second straight Australian title in 1993. Jason Crump would win his first Australian title in 1995 and later that year won the 1995 U/21 World Championship.
• Adams also became the first reigning Australian Under-21 Champion to win the senior title when he won his first championship in 1992. Chris Holder became just the second rider to hold both titles at the same time in 2008
• Phil and Jason Crump are the only father/son combination to win the Australian Solo Championship.
• Billy Sanders holds the record for most title wins in a row, winning four in a row from 1980 to 1983. Sanders also won in 1978 and 1985 giving him 6 titles in 8 years, but lost his title in both 1979 and 1984 to Phil Crump. Vic Duggan (1941, 1947, 1948 [x3]) and Chris Holder (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014) have both won 5 Australian Championships.
• Leigh Adams holds the record for most title wins overall with 10. Aub Lawson holds the record for most podiums with 19 between 1947 and 1954. Lawson's total includes his record of 4 wins in the Champion of Champions (1950, 1952, 1953 and 1954) and his second place in the 1951 Champion of Champions.
• Mildura rider Jason Lyons holds the dubious record of having finished second the most number of times (5 - 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999 & 2005) without ever having won the Australian Championship.
• The winner of the Championship receives the Billy Sanders Memorial Trophy, named after the speedway rider Billy Sanders.