Barney Kennett
Born15 March 1955
Orpington, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1971–1984Canterbury Crusaders
1973–1975Hackney Hawks
1975Oxford Rebels
1975–76Newport
1978Sheffield Tigers
1979Belle Vue Aces
1979Poole Pirates
1980–1983Eastbourne Eagles
1980Reading Racers
Team honours
1973London Cup
1978National League Champion

Brian 'Barney' Kennett (born 1955) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England, who raced in the British National League. Born in Orpington, he is part of a speedway family which includes brothers Gordon Kennett and Dave Kennett, and nephew Edward Kennett.[1][2]

Career

Kennett was the longest serving rider for the Canterbury Crusaders (speedway), riding from 1971 to 1984.

In 1973, Kennett was runner-up to Peter Collins (speedway rider) in the British Under 21 Speedway Championship.[3] The same year he became the most expensive Division Two rider in a transfer deal. Hackney Hawks boss Len Silver paid a record £1500.01 to Canterbury Crusaders, adding the 1p to beat the record paid previously by Oxford Rebels for Gordon Kennett, his brother, to transfer from Eastbourne Eagles. Despite this deal, Johnny Hoskins, boss of the Crusaders, wrote-in a loan-back clause, meaning that Canterbury Crusaders could still call on Kennett to ride for them.[4]

Post Career

From 2022, Barney became an ambassador for the World Speedway Riders Association (WSRA)and is known to members as "Mr Selfie", always ready with his phone camera to record events.

References

  1. ↑ "Back Tracking". Speedway Star pages 14-15. 31 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-202" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "British Under 21 Championship" Archived 15 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Speedway Universe. Retrieved 27 June 2014
  4. ↑ "Speedway Headlines 1973 - Week Ending May 5, 1973" Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Speedwayfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2014



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.