Born Duntocher, Scotland
24 February 1907 – 4 February 1983
One of the pioneers of dirt-track speedway racing, Ron Johnson is acknowledged as having been one of the truly Australian riders.
He came to Western Australia as a child and grew up in Dwellingup where he developed his skills as a rider and mechanic.
He attended the opening meeting of the Claremont Speedway in 1927 as a spectator and made his debut as a rider a week later, winning his heat, semi-final and final. A few months later he won the Silver Sash, which in those days was the award for winning the State Championships.
In 1928 Johnson was among a group of Australians who went to England to introduce the fledging sport and his daredevil style made him one of the world’s top riders for the next 21 years.
He represented Australia in 57 Test matches and captained the team which won the speedway Ashes from England for the first time on English soil in 1934. His aggregate of 322 points in Tests placed him sixth on the all-time list for Australia.
Johnson won the 1932 British star Championships ( the forerunner of the world championship) and his other major successes included 1933 British Match Race Championship and the London Rider’s Championships in 1946 and 1947. He won the German and Czechoslovakian titles in 1946, scoring maximum points from his five rides.
He captained the New Cross team for 20 years and led them to the British National League title in 1948, the year in which he was runner up for the Speedway Rider’s Championship when it was held in lieu of the world championship.
Almost unbeatable on the 262-yard saucer-shaped New Cross track, the smallest in Britain, Johnson was never the same rider after receiving a fractured skull in a race fall in 1949, but was still good enough to win the WA Championship at Claremont in the 1955-56 season when he was aged 49.
Johnson amassed a fortune during his speedway career and the film “Once a Jolly Swagman,” starring Dirk Bogarde, was based on his life.