Dakota North (speedway rider)

Motorcycle speedway rider

Dakota North

North riding for Oxford Lions in 2007

Born|  (1991-08-04) 4 August 1991 (age 33)
Shepparton, Victoria
Nationality| Australian
Career history
Great Britain
2007| Mildenhall
2010| Newcastle
2011, 2013| Peterborough
2011| Somerset
2012| Ipswich
2012| King's Lynn
2012| Birmingham
2014| Swindon
2015| Poole
Denmark
2015| Region Varde
Individual honours
2007| Australian Under-16 Champion
Team honours
2007| Australian Under-16 Pairs
2010| Premier League Trophy

Dakota Max North (born 4 August 1991) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider.[1][2]

## Career

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North, named by his father – former Stoke Potters rider Rod North – after the Douglas Dakota aircraft, was born in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia in 1991.[3][4][5] He took up speedway at the age of twelve and won the Australian Under-16 Championship and the Australian Junior Pairs title (with Justin Sedgmen) in 2007.[3]

After a few appearances in Britain in 2007, he signed with Mildenhall Fen Tigers in 2009, but his season was cut short after chipping two vertebrae in a crash while representing Australia at Under-21 level in July against Great Britain.[3][4] In December 2009 he was signed by Elite League Peterborough Panthers as a club asset and was loaned to Premier League team Newcastle Diamonds for the 2010 season.[3][6]

He signed for Somerset Rebels for the 2011 season, also doubling-up in the Elite League with the Panthers. In 2012, North joined the Ipswich Witches in a loan deal. In April 2012 he was added to the King's Lynn Stars team in the Elite League, replacing Filip Šitera, but was replaced at the end of the month by Mateusz Szczepaniak.[7][8] The following month, he signed for Birmingham Brummies, sharing a doubling-up position with Josh Auty.[9] In 2013, he signed to ride in the Elite League for Peterborough Panthers. In July 2013 North joined the Glasgow Tigers until the end of the 2013 season, whilst also continuing his duties with the Panthers

## World Final appearances

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### Individual Under-21 World Championship

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* 2012 – 15th – 21pts

### Under-21 World Cup

[edit]

* 2012 –  Gniezno, Stadion Startu Gniezno – 2nd – 44pts (8)

## References

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1. ^ "Dakota North". British Speedway. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
2. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
3. ^ a b c d "2011 Rider Index", speedwaygb.co, retrieved 2011-11-15
4. ^ a b "Diamonds sign Australian teen Dakota North", Chronicle Live, 18 December 2009, retrieved 2011-11-15
5. ^ Heppell, Lawrence (2009) "Dakota jets in to join Diamonds", Newcastle Journal, 18 December 2009, retrieved 2011-11-15
6. ^ "SPEEDWAY: Aussie aces reject a Fen Tigers return", Newmarket Journal, 24 December 2009, retrieved 2011-11-15
7. ^ "Stars to Get Stronger", speedway365.com, 7 April 2012, retrieved 2012-04-07
8. ^ "Stars Bolster Their Team", speedway365.com, 27 April 2012, retrieved 2012-04-27
9. ^ "Brummies Bring in North", speedway365.com, 9 May 2012, retrieved 2012-05-09