Danny Clark (cyclist)

Danny Clark (cyclist)
Daniel "Danny" Clark OAM (born 30 August 1951 in George Town, Tasmania, Australia) is a retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer from Australia, who was a professional rider from 1974 to 1997. He won five world championships and at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, came second in the 1,000m time trial.
Clark was often fastest finishing rider in six-day races, especially as Patrick Sercu slowed after the mid-1970s. Clark and the British rider, Tony Doyle, won many six-day races. Clark enjoyed the party atmosphere of the races, and continued to work in them as a Derny pacer after retiring.
Biography
Clark began cycling on a bike borrowed from a local enthusiast, which he used for three months before acquiring his eldest brother's semi-racer. He became one of the most successful riders in six-day racing in the 1970s and 1980s, winning 74 races, second to Patrick Sercu's 88. Most of these wins came after a crash in the 1983 Frankfurt six-day which broke his hip. Clark still carries a plate inserted to help the fracture heal and said that when sprinting or climbing, only his right leg delivered full power.
Clark won the Australian one-mile penny-farthing championship in Evandale, Tasmania, in 1989, beating the Briton Doug Pinkerton and Matthew Driver.
He lives in Surfers Paradise, near Brisbane.
Major results
Olympic Games
Munich 1972:
Silver kilomètre
World championships
Besançon 1980:
Keirin
Brno 1981:
Keirin
Silver, points
Leicester 1982:
Silver, keirin
Zurich 1983:
Silver, keirin
Bassano del Grappa 1985:
Silver, Motor-paced
Vienna 1987:
Silver, motor-paced
Ghent 1988:
Motor-paced
Maebashi 1990:
Bronze, motor-paced
Bronze, points
Stuttgart 1991:
Motor-paced
Six-days
Nouméa: 1972 with Malcom Hill
Sydney: 1974 with Frank Atkins
Ghent: 1976, 1979, 1982 with Don Allan, 1986 with Tony Doyle, 1987, 1994 with Etienne De Wilde, 1990 with Roland Günther
Münster: 1977, 1980 with Don Allan, 1988 with Tony Doyle
Rotterdam: 1977, 1978, 1985 with René Pijnen, 1981 with Don Allan, 1986 with Francesco Moser, 1987 with Pierangelo Bincoletto, 1988 with Tony Doyle
Antwerp: 1978 with Freddy Maertens, 1987 with Etienne De Wilde
London: 1978, 1980 with Don Allan
Copenhagen: 1978 with Don Allan, 1986, 1987 with Tony Doyle, 1989, 1992 with Urs Freuler, 1990, 1991 with Jens Veggerby, 1995 with Jimmi Madsen
Herning: 1978, 1982 with Don Allan
Bremen: 1979 with René Pijnen, 1987 with Dietrich Thurau, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1990 with Roland Günther, 1994 with Andreas Kappes
Maastricht: 1979 with Don Allan, 1984 with René Pijnen, 1985, 1987 with Tony Doyle
Hannover: 1980 with Don Allan
Cologne: 1980 with René Pijnen, 1985 with Dietrich Thurau, 1989 with Tony Doyle
Munich: 1980, 1981 with Don Allan, 1986 with Dietrich Thurau, 1988, 1990 with Tony Doyle
Grenoble: 1980 with Bernard Thévenet, 1989 with Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
Dortmund: 1982 with Henry Rinklin, 1983, 1986, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1987 with Roman Hermann, 1991, 1995 with Rolf Aldag
Berlin: 1983, 1986, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1984 with Horst Schütz, 1985 with Hans-Henrik Ørsted
Bassano del Grappa: 1986 with Roberto Amadio and Francesco Moser, 1988 with Francesco Moser, 1989 with Adriano Baffi
Launceston: 1986 with Tony Doyle
Paris: 1986 with Bernard Vallet, 1988 with Tony Doyle
Stuttgart: 1989 with Uwe Bolten, 1992 with Pierangelo Bincoletto, 1995 with Etienne De Wilde
Buenos Aires: 1993 with Marcelo Alexandre
Nouméa: 2000 with Graeme Brown
European championships
Omnium 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988
Derny 1985, 1986, 1990
Motor-paced 1988
Madison 1979 with Don Allan, 1988 with Tony Doyle
Honours
Clark received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1986 and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1987. He received an Australian Sports Medal and a Centenary Medal in 2001.
References
External links
1951 births
Living people
Australian male cyclists
Australian track cyclists
Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia
Cyclists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games
Cyclists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Cyclists from Tasmania
Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists for Australia
Olympic medalists in cycling
Olympic silver medalists for Australia
People from George Town, Tasmania
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men)
Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games
Sportsmen from Tasmania