{{Short description|British motorcycle speedway rider}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox Speedway rider | name= Wal Phillips | image = | nationality = British (English) | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1908|10|17}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|1|5|1908|10|17|df=y}} | birth_place = Tottenham, England | death_place = Cambridgeshire, England | years1 = 1929–1932 | career1 = Stamford Bridge Pensioners | years2 = 1933–1936 | career2 = Wimbledon Dons | teamyear1 = 1929 | teamhonour1 = Southern League Champions | teamyear2 = 1932 | teamhonour2 = National Association Trophy }}
'''Walter Hartley Phillips''' (17 October 1908 – 5 January 1998)<ref name=spwy>Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway – The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7524-2749-0}}</ref> was an international motorcycle speedway rider who rode in the first ever World Championship final in 1936.<ref name=wsc>Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7524-2402-5}}</ref> He earned 27 international caps for the England national speedway team.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://britishspeedway.co.uk/docs/Ultimate_Index_1929-2022.pdf |title=ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022 |website=British Speedway |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref>
== Career == Phillips began his speedway career alongside Gus Kuhn at Stamford Bridge Pensioners in 1929, winning the Southern League Championship, and stayed there until they closed at the end of the 1932 season,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003213/19300526/262/0012 |title=Wal Phillips rides well |website=Daily News (London) |date=26 May 1930 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=4 October 2024 }}</ref> where he also appeared in the final of the Star Riders' Championship . Philips then joined the Wimbledon Dons, staying there until the end of the 1936 season.<ref name=sil>Jacobs, Norman (2001). ''Speedway in London''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing {{ISBN|0-7524-2221-9}}</ref>
Phillips represented England from 1930 until 1936.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003214/19320615/234/0013 |title=Wal Phillips gets place in England's team |website=Daily News (London) |date=15 June 1932 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=4 October 2024 }}</ref> His career was ended on the 1936/37 tour of Australia when he suffered a broken leg at the Sydney Showground.<ref name=ash>Foster, P. (2005) ''History of the Speedway Ashes'', The History Press Ltd. {{ISBN|0-7524-3468-3}}</ref>
== World Final appearances == * 1936 – {{Flagicon|ENG}} London, Wembley Stadium – 13th – 5pts + 7 semi-final points<ref name="wsc"/>
==Engineering== Phillips was a renowned engineer, his uncle was a development engineer and works rider at JA Prestwich Industries Ltd (JAP), and was instrumental in the development of the JAP engines used in speedway. Stan Greening was developing an engine specifically for speedway but the results were not impressive after testing by Australian riders Billy Lamont and Vic Huxley. Greening and Phillips stripped down Phillips' Rudge bike and used some of the ideas in that engine with the new one of their own. When Phillips rode the bike at a meeting at Stamford Bridge stadium he beat the track record time. The JAP engines remained in use until the mid-1960s.<ref name="gk">{{cite web|url=http://www.guskuhn.net/GKuhn/Contemp/WalPhillips.htm|title=Wal Phillips|date=2008-08-20|publisher=GusKuhn.net|accessdate=2008-10-13}}</ref>
Phillips was also known for what he termed as his fuel injector, a carburettor replacement mainly intended for motorcycles and scooters.
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.guskuhn.net/GKuhn/Contemp/WalPhillips.htm Wal Phillips] * [http://victorylibrary.com/brit/WP-c.htm Wal Phillips Fuel injector] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060502233559/http://www.500race.org/Marques/JAP.htm JAP origins] * [http://victorylibrary.com/graphics/WP9f_1_b.JPG Picture of Wal Phillips fuel injector]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Walter Hartley}} Category:1908 births Category:1998 deaths Category:British speedway riders Category:Stamford Bridge Pensioners riders Category:Wimbledon Dons riders Category:People from Tottenham Category:Sportspeople from the London Borough of Haringey