Australia Airey started racing Speedway in the early-1960s, quickly establishing himself as a star rider and won his first
NSW Solo Championship at the
Sydney Showground in 1966, before going on to win the Australian Championship in 1968, also held at the Showground which was his home track. Airey became known as the "King of the Royale" as he was near unbeatable on the Sydney Showground track (the Showground was known as the "Royale"). At one stage during the late 1960s Airey won a record 33 consecutive scratch races at the Showground. He wasn't totally invincible at the Showground though and regularly faced stiff competition from the likes of
Bob Sharp,
Gordon Guasco (who lost his life at Sydney's other speedway,
Liverpool in 1970), interstate visitors such as Adelaide's
John Boulger, and visiting English brothers
Nigel Boocock and
Eric Boocock. He followed up his 1968 Australian Championship by winning both the 1969 and 1970 championships, all held at the Sydney Showground. He won his fourth and last title in 1972 at the
Rowley Park Speedway in
Adelaide where he defeated the reigning world champion
Ole Olsen and defending Australian champion John Boulger. Three of his five NSW titles were won at the Showground, while his 1970 and 1971 wins were at Liverpool in the days when the bikes still used the main track. He would never place second or third in the Australian Championship, only ever stepping onto the podium as the winner. Airey would also win the
Queensland Championship in 1970, winning at both the
Brisbane Exhibition Ground (Ekka) and the 3-lap title in
Ipswich. He also won the
Victorian title in 1971. Airey was one of the few speedway riders who didn't have a major crash in his career. His secret was known to be that he never rode faster than he needed to, giving himself margin for error. He chose to retire after winning his last NSW Championship in 1974 aged just thirty-three. and 1968. He then signed with the
Sheffield Tigers for 1969 and remained with the team until 1971 before retiring from the British Leagues and returning full-time to Australia.
International Airey rode in numerous Test Matches for Australia during his career, often captaining the team in matches held in Australia against visiting national teams. Yet his greatest international success came as a member of the Great Britain team at the
Olympic Stadium in
Wrocław, Poland. Great Britain, containing Airey from Australia, Ivan Mauger,
Barry Briggs,
Ronnie Moore and captain
Ray Wilson, the only
English rider on the team, easily won the
1971 Speedway World Team Cup scoring 37 points to defeat the
Soviet Union on 22, host nation
Poland on 19 and last placed
Sweden on 18. Airey also qualified for his only
World Championship Final in
1971 held at the
Ullevi Stadium in
Gothenburg, Sweden where he finished 8th on 8 points after a win, two 2nd places and a 3rd place. To get to the World Final he had finished 11th in the
British Championship Final in
Coventry (the top 12 riders went through to the British-Nordic Final in Glasgow, Scotland). He then finished in an impressive 5th in the British-Nordic Final to qualify for the European Championship Final at London's
Wembley Stadium where he finished 6th to qualify for what would be his only World Final appearance. Airey also represented Australia in the
Speedway World Pairs Championship in
1969 (5th in the Western Zone Semi-final with Adelaide's
Charlie Monk),
1970 (4th in Semi-final #1 with Monk), and lastly in
1971 where he finished 5th in the Second Semi-final with John Boulger. ==World Final Appearances==