Speedway is in mourning today at the sad news of the passing of one of English Speedway’s greatest-ever riders and a true legend of motorcycle sport in the county of Kent, Malcolm Simmons.

Born in Tonbridge in 1946, Malcolm began his racing career on the grass tracks of his home county with a hugely successful youth career on the grass before beginning his Speedway career at the London tracks New Cross, Hackney (where he was briefly a Provincial League team-mate of current Kent Kings’ co-promoter Len Silver) and West Ham, where he was a member of the famous Hammers side which captured the first British League title for the East End club in 1965.

Moving onto King’s Lynn in the late ’60s, by the mid-’70s Simmo – as he was universally-known across the sport – truly earned the ‘Super’ adjective attached to the front of that nickname, as he became one of the top British riders annexing the Daily Express Spring Classic in 1974 at Wimbledon, proving he could beat a World Final class field.

An established British international by this point (winning the World Team Cup for Great Britain at Wembley in ’73), Simmo teamed up again with Len Silver – this time with Silver as his international team boss – as England won their first-ever World Team Cup title in 1974: with Malcolm joined by fellow former Kent Youth Motorcycle Club member David Jessup in a triumphant Lions quartet which was to go on and retain the world crown in 1975. That same year Super Simmo moved onto Poole in a high-profile transfer and reached his first individual World Final at Wembley finishing 7th.

1976 saw even greater heights attained, as Malcolm became British Champion and won the first of three consecutive World Pairs titles: partnering John Louis that year, Peter Collins in ’77 and fellow Kent-born rider Gordon Kennett in ’78.  1976 saw Simmo reach his second World Final – finishing runner up to fellow Englishman Peter Collins.  A third World Team Cup victory in ’77 meant Simmo had seven FIM World Championship gold medals – a record bettered only as an Englishman by Peter Collins.

In the 1980s Simmo was to move onto Wimbledon and then back to his original club Hackney, as well as a spell Team Managing the Crayford Kestrels before retiring from team Speedway.

Malcolm remained for many more years a force in grasstrack mainly back in his native Kent and was our guest of honour at Central Park last May at our opening meeting.

The Kent Kings club send their condolences to Malcolm’s family and friends.

Super Simmo 1946-2014: a legend of Kentish Speedway who shall always be remembered.