Jack Hunt (speedway rider)

John Casement Hunt (6 April 1921 – 10 October 1991) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider.^[1][2]

Jack Hunt

Born	(1921-04-06)6 April 1921 Auckland, New Zealand
Died	10 October 1991(1991-10-10) (aged 70) Auckland, New Zealand
Career history
Great Britain
1947–1948	Newcastle Diamonds
Individual honours
1945, 1948	New Zealand champion

Life and career

John Casement Hunt was born in Auckland on 6 April 1921, the son of Percy and Nellie Hunt.^[3][4][5] In 1945, he became champion of New Zealand after winning the New Zealand Solo Championship.^[6] He was one of the early overseas riders who travelled to the United Kingdom from New Zealand after World War II and started racing in the British leagues during the 1947 Speedway National League Division Two, when riding for the Newcastle Diamonds.^[7]

Hunt then went on to win a second New Zealand Championship in 1948 before returning to ride for Newcastle the same season. During the 1948 Speedway National League Division Two season he topped the Newcastle team's averages,^[8] despite his season ending early after a serious accident in which he suffered a fractured shoulder and jaw.^[9]

Hunt died in Auckland on 10 October 1991, at the age of 70.^[3][10]

References

1. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022, Jack C. Hunt" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
2. "Taita Speedway". Historic Speedway. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
3. "Death search: registration number 1991/50106". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
4. "Birth search: registration number 1921/5454". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
5. "Births". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 58, no. 17751. 9 April 1921. p. 1. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
6. "HISTORYCZNE ZESTAWIENIE WYNIKÓW 1929-2023". Speedway History. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
7. "A_Z of Rider Averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
8. "Jack Hunt" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
9. "Jack Hunt in Speedway Crash". Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 12 September 1948. Retrieved 25 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Record for John Casement Hunt". Auckland Council. Retrieved 3 September 2023.