Simon Wigg, one of Oxford Cheetahs' most famous speedway riders, has died at the age of 40, writes John Gaisford.

The five-times former world longtrack and grasstrack champion had been seriously ill with a brain tumour for the last two years.

The ever-popular Wiggy staged a memorable farewell meeting at Oxford last year, which was attended by several thousand fans.

Bernard Crapper, joint-promoter of the Cheetahs in Wigg's heyday, said he was saddened when he heard the news.

"He was a good friend and a most important servant to the club during the glory years.

"He was a lovely man, and we had some great, happy times together.

"It is a tremendous loss to the sport. He was a great ambassador and was as well-known abroad as he was in England.

"He was a great bloke to have around. It was a morale booster to have him in the team, and he was a great team player."

One of the most flamboyant characters in speedway, he joined Oxford in 1984 after winning almost everything in sight with the great Cradley Heath team of 1983.

Alongside the likes of Hans Nielsen, Marvyn Cox and Jens Rasmussen, he was part of the finest side ever assembled at Sandy Lane. They went through the season unbeaten to land the league title, and were joint winners of the KO Cup and League Cup.

He made his speedway debut for Weymouth in 1980 at the late age of 20, and also made an appearance for Wimbledon in the same year.

He numbered ten clubs in his memorable career, spending six seasons at Oxford. His last club was King's Lynn, for whom he rode in 23 meetings in 1998.

Among his honours were 65 caps for England and four for the Rest of the World. He was a World Team Cup champion with England in 1989, making six appearances in all.

Wiggy was Division 1 champion four times between 1983-89 and collected six winners medals in the Speedway Star KO Cup, two with Oxford in '85-86. League Cup (twice), Inter-League Cup and Division 1 Gold Cup medals also came his way.

He never fulfilled his ultimate aim of becoming world speedway champion, his best effort coming in 1989 when he was runner-up to his old ally Hans Nielsen in Munich.

But he was No 1 in the high-speed world of longtrack racing, where he was world champion no fewer than five times.

He also landed the Commonwealth and British titles in 1989, having retained his British crown from the year before.

Wigg was just as adept on the grass as he was on the shale and the North Berks Motor Cycle Club have wonderful memories as he landed the British Masters Grasstrack title five times.

He leaves a wife, Charlie, and children Abigail and Ricky.