Jack Milne

Jack Milne (born 14 June 1907 in Buffalo, New York, USA - died 15 December 1995 in Pasadena, California, USA) was an international Speedway rider. He became the first American to win a motorcycling world championship when he won the Speedway World Championship in 1937 (beating brother Cordy Milne into third place). Milne finished as runner-up in in the world championship in 1938. [Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). "A History of the World Speedway Championship". Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5]

Early life

Milne's family moved to Pasadena, California, while he was still young. By the early 1930s, Cordy Milne had started to earn some decent money in racing. Jack decided that if he and his brother raced and shared expenses, they could earn a living from the sport. Jack sold his service station and purchased a pair of Comerford-JAP Speedway racing machines from England.cite web|url=http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=232|title=Cordy Milne|publisher=AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame|accessdate=2008-09-30]

Career

The Milne brothers were invited to England, where speedway was very popular. Codry signed up to ride for the Hackney Wick Wolves, [Fenn, C.(2003). "Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight". Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2737-7] Jack for the New Cross Lambs. [ Jacobs, N. "Out of the Frying Pan", ISBN 978-0752444765 ] They became celebrities, appearing on trading cards and being featured in advertisements for a variety of products. Milne won the London Riders' Championship in 1937 and 1939.

Milne reached the final of the Speedway World Championship three times, never finishing lower than tenth place and was in fifth place after the semi-finals in 1939 when World War II broke out and the final was never run. He returned to Pasadena with his brother and opened a bicycle shop with $4,000 from their racing earnings. The business grew to include a motorcycle dealership and later the Milnes expanded to a major car dealership in the Los Angeles area.cite web|url=http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=232|title=Cordy Milne|publisher=AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame|accessdate=2008-09-30]

After the war, the brothers helped revive Speedway racing in Southern California, and Milne one his last two American National titles.

In 1998, Milne was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

World Final Appearances

* 1936 - Flag|GBR Wembley - 10th - 15pts
* 1937 - Flag|GBR Wembley - Winner - 28pts
* 1938 - Flag|GBR Wembley - 2nd - 21pts

External links

* [http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=232 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame]

References