Tiger’s tal T


HIS racing image became the personification of speedway and can still be found adorning various publicity material today; he took inspiration from one of the


sport’s earliest stars, his influence was far-reaching, both on and off the track, and he was imparted with the name of one of nature’s most beautiful, yet deadly


predators – ‘Tiger’ Harold Stevenson. A lot of decades have passed since Stevenson graced the tracks and, like most pioneer


racers, his absence from more modern records makes extracting his efforts from the old days like feeling for a light switch in the dark. Unlike many early riders, Stevenson wasn’t a motorcycle racer from


another discipline; he hadn’t raced around the famous Brooklands, stared down danger at the daunting TT, dared to test his courage on the wooden board tracks in America or carved out the sport Down Under. In fact, it’s not clear how he obtained his desire to become a dirt track racer. Some have wondered if he was


present at what is considered to be the first proper speedway meeting in England at High Beech in February, 1928. Others have speculated that


he first saw speedway at West Ham’s Custom House stadium later that year for that was even closer to home. Perhaps he was present


when American Lloyd ‘Sprouts’ Elder, arguably speedway’s first superstar, appeared at West Ham on July 28. Want to know more? Get


your copy of Speedway Star this week.


The iconic image of Tiger Stevenson, taken at High Beech in 1930


Picture: the John Somerville Collection


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