Billy Hamill

William Gordon Hamill (born 23 May 1970, in California, United States ) is an American international motorcycle speedway rider.

Hamill began junior speedway in California in 1983, eventually turning professional in 1986.

In 1990, he left California to race for Cradley Heathens in the British League, joining fellow Californian and friend Greg Hancock.

In his debut season of racing in Europe, Hamill won his first FIM Gold Medal as the USA won the World Team Cup.

In 1991, Hamill again rode for the Heathens and he also made his World Final debut at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg scoring six points.

The 1992 World Championship campaign was cut short for Hamill after breaking his wrist at the Overseas final at Coventry's Brandon stadium, however he was still a major part of the Heathens season, again averaging over eight points.

He was also part of the USA team which won the world team cup for a second time, in Kumla, Sweden, scoring 10 points.

1993 saw a belated return to Cradley for Hamill who went on to make his second world final appearance in Pocking, Germany which was won by fellow American Sam Ermolenko.

He once again won the World team Cup as the USA regained their title in Coventry.

In 1994, Hamill missed out on a place in the World Final in Vojens, Denmark, losing out in run off at the semi-final stage to Greg Hancock.

1995 saw a change in the Speedway World Championship with a Grand Prix system now in place.

As he had only been seeded as first reserve for the series, Hamill only managed two rides in the opening round in Wroclaw, Poland.

However, he won the second round in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, and eventually finished fifth in the series, won by Denmark's Hans Nielsen.

He also finished top of the British League averages in 1995.

He is a former Speedway World Champion, winning the title in 1996.

The 1996 season again saw Hamill riding for the Heathens (though now they were riding at Stoke's Loomer Road stadium as they had been evicted from their Dudley Wood home) and again he topped the British league averages.

In the Grand Prix, Hamill joined forces with Cradley teammate Hancock to create Team Exide.

Hamill had been the main challenger to defending champion Nielsen all season and went into the final round in Vojens needing to beat the Dane by at least ten points.

The odds were stacked in Nielsen's favour riding in his home country, but he could only make the B final, eventually finishing on fourteen points for the evening.

Hamill won the A final collecting twenty-five points and therefore becoming USA's fourth Speedway World Champion.

In 1997, Hamill had to leave Cradley Heathens as the team folded, and he joined the Belle Vue Aces in Britain's Elite League.

The defence of his World title started off promisingly with a second place in the opening round in Prague behind fellow American and Team Exide race partner Greg Hancock.

Unfortunately for Hamill this was to be an indication of how the season was to map out as he trailed his countryman all season to finish with the Silver Medal, as Hancock became the third American World Speedway Champion in five years.

Although happy with how he had performed in the defence of his title, Hamill was determined to regain his title in 1998.

The 1998 season saw another new British Elite League team (the Coventry Bees) and another promising start to his Grand Prix campaign finishing second and then third in the opening two rounds.

However the latter part of the season Hamill slipped down the Grand Prix placings going into the last round in Bydgoszcz with no chance of claiming the title.

Worse was to follow though as Hamill was injured in a controversial collision with Australia's Jason Crump, leaving Hamill nursing a broken back.

Ironically with Hamill unable to take part in the rest of the meeting, Crump and Hamill finished level on sixty-two points and Crump snatched the final seeded place for the 1999 Grand Prix series on a countback.

The silver lining to the season was a 4th World Team Cup win with team USA, in Vojens Denmark.

Hamill had recovered from his injuries in time for the 1999 campaign although he did not return for Coventry until a month into the season.

A change in format for the Grand Prix series from sixteen to twenty-four riders also meant he was granted a seeded place into the series.

Hamill struggled after returning injury and found points hard to come by for most of the season.

However, in the final round of the Grand Prix, signs of returning to his best were clear as he finished fifth in Vojens and during the Speedway Grand Prix Qualification he won the GP Challenge, which ensured that he claimed a permanent slot for the 2000 Grand Prix.

2000 saw Hamill fully recovered from his back injuries and again challenging the world's best.

He won the opening round of the Grand Prix series in Prague and the final round in Bydgoszcz, the very same place where he had suffered his injuries two years previous.

He finished the series in second place on ninety-five points, just seven behind eventual champion Mark Loram.

He did have a strong finish to the season winning again in Prague and finishing fourth in Bydgoszcz, yet after such a promising 2000 campaign Hamill was disappointed to finish sixth overall in 2001.

Hamill went into the 2001 season having joined Team Roberts and highly optimistic that he could regain the World Title.

But the opening two rounds of the season where both on "temporary" tracks within bigger soccer style stadiums.

These man-made tracks did not complement Hamill's style and he picked up only eight out of a possible fifty points.