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Sam Masters

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Sam Masters
Born (1991-05-23) 23 May 1991 (age 33)
Newcastle, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Career history
Great Britain
2010–2012Somerset
2011King's Lynn
2012Poole
2014–2017, 2019–2022Edinburgh
2015, 2024Leicester
2016–2023Wolverhampton
2023–2024Oxford
Poland
2022Rawicz
2023–2024Gniezno
Sweden
2018Rospiggarna
2020Västervik
2023Dackarna
Denmark
2015–2016Region Varde
2018Holsted
2021Esbjerg
Individual honours
2011, 2022Div 2 rider's title
2012New South Wales State Champion
2014, 2022Scottish Open Champion
2015Victorian State Champion
2017Australian Champion
Team honours
2014, 2015Premier League
2014Knockout Cup
2014Premier League Pairs
2015Premier League Fours

Samuel Peter Masters (born 23 May 1991) is an Australian motorcycle speedway rider who won the Premier League Riders' Championship in 2011. Masters is an Australian Champion having won the Championship in January 2017.[1]

Career

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Masters was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.[2] He began racing at the age of six, initially in dirt-track races, but at the age of eleven followed his uncle and cousins into speedway.[2] After winning the New South Wales Under-16 championship in four consecutive years, and also the Australian under-16 title, he moved into senior competition in 2007. He also represented Australia in the FIM Youth Gold Cup in 2006 and 2007.[3] He signed a contract with Polish team Gorzow, but did not ride competitively for them.[3]

In 2009, he was signed by Premier League team the Somerset Rebels for the 2010 season and in 2010 won the New South Wales under-21 title.[2] In December 2010, he was signed by Elite League team King's Lynn Stars in a doubling-up role for the 2011 season.[2][4]

In September 2011, Masters won the Premier League Riders Championship at Sheffield's Owlerton Stadium.[2][5] He finished the season as Somerset's number one, but missed the end of the season after being banned for 28 days by the Speedway Control Bureau due to comments made on Facebook about a referee.[6] In November an SCB court of enquiry gave Masters a suspended 12-month ban and a £2,000 fine.[7]

Masters was a member of the Australian Under-21 team that finished second in the 2012 Under-21 World Cup Final in Gniezno, Poland.

In December 2012, he won the New South Wales Championship at the Loxford Park Speedway in Kurri Kurri. He was later signed for the 2013 Premier League season by Edinburgh Monarchs, but failed to get a work permit to ride in the UK.[8][9]

In March 2014, Sam eventually joined the Edinburgh Monarchs. Together with Max Fricke, they won the Premier League. Knockout Cup, League Cup and Pairs titles.[10]

On 29 November 2014, Masters won the 2014/15 Victorian State Championship at the Undera Park Speedway defeating fellow Edinburgh riders Justin Sedgmen and Max Fricke. He then went on to finish second behind a runaway Jason Doyle in the four round 2015 Australian Championship, winning the Rd.3 "A Final" at Undera Park, while finishing second to Doyle in the "A Final" in the fourth and final round at Loxford Park.

Masters got his first start in the Speedway Grand Prix World Championship series in 2015 when he was given the Wildcard spot for the 12th and final round of the season to be held at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne (where he finished 12th with 5 points). He was involved in a heated clash with triple World Champion Nicki Pedersen at the end of Heat 8. Unhappy that Pedersen had squeezed him close to the wall on the back straight, the two exchanged words at the pit gate. Then as Masters was walking back to his pit he was confronted by Pedersen's mechanic Marek Hu. More words were exchanged and Masters punched Hu before being led away. For his actions Masters was fined by the FIM.[11]

He was part of the Edinburgh team that won the League titla again in 2014 and the Premier League Four-Team Championship final, which was held on 1 October 2015, at the Media Prime Arena.[12]

On 14 January 2017, Sam Masters won his first Australian Championship when he took out the 4-round series. Masters scored 58 points over the 4 rounds, including winning Round 2 at Olympic Park in Mildura, to defeat Justin Sedgmen (55) and Davey Watt (50). Masters was crowned the champion at his home track, the Loxford Park Speedway in Kurri Kurri located south of Newcastle.[13]

In 2022, he rode for the Wolverhampton Wolves (he joined Wolverhampton in 2016) in the SGB Premiership 2022 and for the Edinburgh Monarchs in the SGB Championship 2022.[14] Also in 2022, he won the Championship rider's title for the second time and recorded the highest Championship average riding for Edinburgh but suffered a broken collarbone on Wolves duty.[15]

In 2023, he signed for Wolves for the 7th consecutive season, competing in the SGB Premiership 2023, taking the captaincy role and earning a testimonial meeting.[16][17][18] He also joined Oxford Cheetahs in the SGB Championship 2023.[19]

He re-signed for Oxford for 2024[20] and moved from Wolves (following their closure) to Leicester in the Premiership.[21]

World Final Appearances

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Speedway World Cup

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Individual Under-21 World Championship

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Under-21 World Cup

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Speedway Grand Prix results

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Year Position Points Best finish Notes
2015 22nd 5 Wildcard rider in Australia
2016 26th 2 Wildcard rider in Australia

References

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  1. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e "2011 Rider Index", speedwaygb.co, retrieved 2011-11-14
  3. ^ a b Oakes, Peter (2011) "Masters' Class...", Speedway Star, 8 October 2011, p. 30-31
  4. ^ "Sam Masters and Morten Risager join King's Lynn Stars", BBC, 17 December 2010, retrieved 2011-11-14
  5. ^ "Australian Sam Masters is new title-holder", chroniclelive.co.uk, 26 September 2011, retrieved 2011-11-14
  6. ^ Belcher, Ian (2011) "Masters banned", Speedway Star, 15 October 2011, p. 16
  7. ^ "SCB Statement", speedwaygb.co, 22 November 2011, retrieved 2011-11-27
  8. ^ Hunter, Mike (2012) "Sign Me - Why Not?", Speedway Star, 8 December 2012, p. 16
  9. ^ "Sam Proves the Master", Speedway Star, 8 December 2012, p. 38
  10. ^ "IT'S SAM AND MAX FOR THE PAIRS". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Sam Regrets Melbourne Melee". speedwaygp.com. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  12. ^ "FOURS CHAMPIONS". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  13. ^ Sam Storms to Aussie Gold
  14. ^ "British Speedway rider profile". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Waiting on Masters". Speedway Star. 6 August 2022. p. 27.
  16. ^ "DATE SET FOR MASTERS". British Speedway. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Masters stays as skipper". British Speedway. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  18. ^ "MASTERS MAKES MONMORE RETURN". British Speedway. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Oxford Cheetahs 2023 squad revealed in full". Oxford Speedway.
  20. ^ "Cheetahs name their side". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  21. ^ "Lions move for Masters". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
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