Mark Fiora

Mark Fiora
Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Date of birth	16 May 1962 (1962-05-16) (age 49)
Place of birth	Mount Barker, South Australia
Nickname	Felix
Current club information
Career status	Retired
Career history
Scunthorpe Stags Sheffield Tigers Edinburgh Monarchs Leicester Lions Birmingham Brummies Newcastle Diamonds Wolverhampton Wolves Middlesbrough Bears Reading Racers Long Eaton Invaders Bradford Dukes Cradley Heath Heathens Ipswich Witches	1981 1981, 1982 1982, 1983, 1984 1983 1983 1984 1984 1985, 1987, 1988 1985 1986 1987, 1988 1988 1988
Individual honours
South Australian Champion	1983, 1984, 1985, 1987
Team honours
Australian Pairs Champion	1988

Mark Fiora (born May 16, 1962 in Mount Barker, South Australia) is a former Australian international Motorcycle speedway rider. He is a four time South Australian Champion and rode for 13 different teams in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1988.

Career

Australia

"Felix" Fiora, as he was known, was one of the earliest graduates of Adelaide's Under-16 Sidewinders Speedway and started his senior racing career on South Australia's speedway's Rowley Park (Adelaide) and Riverview (Murray Bridge) and was seen by many as a possible successor to John Boulger as South Australia's best rider.

Mark Fiora impressed in his early years and his experience in the UK during 1981 and 1982 finally saw his potential tapped when he won the 1983 South Australian Championship at Speedway Park. He made it two in a row in 1984 at the North Arm Speedway in Adelaide and made it a hat trick of state title wins when he won again in 1985 at the Riverview Speedway. After finishing second to former World (European) Under-21 Champion Steve Baker in 1986, Fiora made it four wins in five years when he won his last SA title in 1987 at the Westline Speedway in Whyalla. Fiora would finish second to Craig Hodgson in 1988 and he finished second again the Hodgson in 1989 at North Arm.

As South Australian Champion or runner-up, Fiora gained automatic qualification to the Australian Championship but he failed to place in any Australian final. Mark Fiora's best result at the Australian titles was winning the Best Pairs Championship in 1988 at Murray Bridge with Craig Hodgson.

Following the 1989/90 season, Mark Fiora at the age of 28, retired from competitive riding.

United Kingdom

Mark Fiora first raced in the British leagues in 1981 and he rode for 13 different sides until retiring from riding in Britain after 1988. During his time in the UK, Mark Fiora rode for the Scunthorpe Stags^[1], Sheffield Tigers, Edinburgh Monarchs, Leicester Lions, Birmingham Brummies, Newcastle Diamonds, Wolverhampton Wolves, Middlesbrough Bears, Reading Racers, Long Eaton Invaders, Bradford Dukes, Cradley Heath Heathens and finally, the Ipswich Witches.

Fiora's best seasons in the UK were with Long Eaton in 1986 when he averaged 9.18 over his 38 matches and in 1988 for Middlesbrough when he averaged 9.45 over his 32 matches for the Bears.^[2]

International

Mark Fiora represented Australia in test matches both in Australia and overseas against various nations and composite teams.^[3]

References

1. ^ History of Scunthorpe Speedway
2. ^ Speedway Riders - Mark Fiora
3. ^ Australian Speedway test results 1928-2011

External links

• Mark Fiora racing @ Melbourne Showground on YouTube

Persondata
Name	Fiora, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 May 1962
Place of birth	Mount Barker, South Australia
Date of death
Place of death