SPEEDWAY: Ex-Oxford Cheetah bids farewell (From The Oxford Times)

SPEEDWAY: Ex-Oxford Cheetah bids farewell

11:00am Thursday 23rd June 2011 in Sport

Former Oxford Cheetahs skipper Steve Johnston will wave goodbye to British speedway with a farewell meeting at Swindon’s Abbey Stadium on Thursday, June 23 (7.30pm.

Ex-world champions Jason Crump and Greg Hancock lead an all-star line-up boasting six Grand Prix riders.

Other big attractions are British champion Scott Nicholls, top Australians Chris Holder and Darcy Ward, and Englishman Chris Harris.

Johnston, 39, spent five consecutive years riding for Oxford from 1998 to 2002, and also rode for the Cheetahs in their final year of operation in 2007.

The effervescent Australian was captain of the Cheetahs when they won the Sky Sports Elite League title in 2001.

Crump and Hancock are no longer regulars in British Speedway, but are in the country for the British Grand Prix, which takes place at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on June 25 (5pm).

The evergreen 41-year-old Hancock, a Cheetah between 2003-5, is just one point behind championship leader Tomasz Gollob.