Individual Speedway European Championship
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023 Speedway European Championship
Sportmotorcycle speedway
Founded2001
(previously
European Final 1955-75)
No. of teams16 riders
Most recent
champion(s)
Denmark Mikkel Michelsen (2023)

The Individual Speedway European Championship is an annual individual speedway event organized by the European Motorcycle Union (UEM) to determine the champion of Europe. The competition was founded in 2001 and was initially staged as a one-off meeting before the single event was replaced by the Speedway European Championship series in 2012.

History

From 1955 to 1975, the European Final was staged as the final qualifying round for the World Speedway Championship, although this did not include British riders who had a separate qualifying round.[1][2]

The European Championships were inaugurated in 2001, organised by European Motorcycle Union (UEM). In 2012 this was replaced by a series of four finals. Regardless of that, ISEC was struggling with prestige and promotion and the best European riders were mostly avoiding this contest.[3]

On 20 December 2012, at a press conference in Warsaw, Poland it was announced that the competition would be replaced by a new series similar in format to the Speedway Grand Prix. The Speedway European Championship series is promoted by One Sporta Ltd. from Poland for next three seasons (2013-2015).[4]

As of 2022, the competition is staged over four rounds in a Grand Prix format, with the winner being the rider who accumulates the most points over the four rounds. The minimum age of a rider to compete is 16 years of age (starting on the date of the rider's birthday).

Denmark is the most successful nation having had six champions, Jesper B. Jensen (2005), Nicki Pedersen (2016), Leon Madsen (2018 and 2022) and Mikkel Michelsen (2019 and 2021).

Winners

European Final (1955-1975)

Year Venue Winners 2nd place 3rd place
1955 Norway Oslo Norway Henry Andersen Sweden Olle Nygren Sweden Kjell Carlsson
1956 Norway Oslo Sweden Ove Fundin Sweden Per Olof Söderman Sweden Ole Andersson
1957 Sweden Växjö Sweden Rune Sörmander Sweden Per Olof Söderman West Germany Josef Hofmeister
1958 Poland Warsaw Sweden Ove Fundin West Germany Josef Hofmeister Sweden Rune Sörmander
1959 Sweden Göteborg Sweden Ove Fundin West Germany Josef Hofmeister Poland Mieczysław Połukard
1960 Poland Wrocław Poland Marian Kaiser Sweden Ove Fundin Poland Stefan Kwoczała
1961 Austria Wieden Sweden Ove Fundin Sweden Björn Knutson Soviet Union Igor Plekhanov
1962 Norway Oslo Sweden Björn Knutson Sweden Ove Fundin Sweden Göte Nordin
1963 Sweden Göteborg Sweden Björn Knutson Sweden Ove Fundin Sweden Per Olof Söderman
1964 Poland Wrocław Poland Zbigniew Podlecki Sweden Björn Knutson Soviet Union Boris Samorodov
1965 Czechoslovakia Slaný Sweden Ove Fundin Sweden Björn Knutson Poland Antoni Woryna
1966 England Wembley New Zealand Ivan Mauger New Zealand Barry Briggs Poland Antoni Woryna
1967 Poland Wrocław Poland Andrzej Wyglenda Poland Andrzej Pogorzelski Poland Antoni Woryna
1968 Poland Wrocław Poland Paweł Waloszek Poland Antoni Woryna Poland Jerzy Trzeszkowski
1969 West Germany Olching Soviet Union Valeri Klementiev Poland Edward Jancarz Sweden Torbjörn Harrysson
1970 Soviet Union Leningrad New Zealand Ivan Mauger Soviet Union Vladimir Gordeev Soviet Union Gennady Kurilenko
1971 England Wembley New Zealand Ivan Mauger England Ray Wilson Denmark Ole Olsen
1972 Poland Wrocław Poland Paweł Waloszek Denmark Ole Olsen Sweden Anders Michanek
1973 West Germany Abensberg Sweden Anders Michanek New Zealand Ivan Mauger Soviet Union Vladimir Paznikov
1974 England Wembley England Peter Collins Denmark Ole Olsen New Zealand Ivan Mauger
1975 Poland Bydgoszcz New Zealand Ivan Mauger Denmark Ole Olsen Australia Phil Crump

Individual European Championship (2001-2011)

Year Venue Winners 2nd place 3rd place
2001 Belgium Heusden Zolder Czech Republic Bohumil Brhel (14 pts) Poland Mariusz Staszewski (13 pts) Poland Krzysztof Cegielski (12+3 pts)
2002 Poland Rybnik Sweden Magnus Zetterström (12+3 pts) Poland Krzysztof Kasprzak (12+2 pts) Poland Rafał Szombierski (11+3 pts)
2003 Czech Republic Slaný Poland Krzysztof Kasprzak (12+3 pts) Poland Sławomir Drabik (12+2 pts) Sweden Magnus Zetterström (11 pts)
2004 Denmark Holsted Slovenia Matej Žagar (14+3 pts) Slovenia Matej Ferjan (14+2 pts) Denmark Hans N. Andersen (12 pts)
2005 Italy Lonigo Denmark Jesper B. Jensen (14+3 pts) Czech Republic Aleš Dryml, Jr. (14+2 pts) Finland Kai Laukkanen (12 pts)
2006 Hungary Miskolc Poland Krzysztof Jabłoński (13+3 pts) Poland Grzegorz Walasek (13+2 pts) Germany Christian Hefenbrock (12 pts)
2007 Austria Wiener Neustadt Croatia Jurica Pavlic (14 pts) Poland Sebastian Ułamek (13 pts) Denmark Patrick Hougaard (11 pts)
2008 Slovenia Lendava Slovenia Matej Žagar (14 pts) Poland Sebastian Ułamek (10+3+3 pts) Denmark Mads Korneliussen (10+2+2+2)
2009 Russia Tolyatti Russia Renat Gafurov (13+3 pts) Ukraine Andriy Karpov (13+2 pts) Czech Republic Aleš Dryml, Jr. (13+1 pts)
2010 Poland Tarnów Poland Sebastian Ułamek (15 pts) Czech Republic Aleš Dryml, Jr. (12 pts) Ukraine Andriy Karpov (11+3 pts)
2011 Ukraine Rivne Russia Grigory Laguta (14+3 pts) Poland Tomasz Gapinski (14+2 pts) Czech Republic Aleš Dryml, Jr. (12 pts)

European Championship series (since 2012)

Year Venue Winners Runner-up 3rd place
2012 Four events Czech Republic Aleš Dryml, Jr. (48 pts) Poland Robert Miśkowiak (44 pts) Ukraine Andriy Karpov (43 pts)
2013 Four events Slovakia Martin Vaculik (47 pts) Denmark Nicki Pedersen (44 pts) Russia Grigory Laguta (42 pts)
2014 Four events Russia Emil Sayfutdinov (54 pts) Denmark Peter Kildemand (48 pts) Denmark Nicki Pedersen (44 pts)
2015 Four events Russia Emil Sayfutdinov (58 pts) Denmark Nicki Pedersen (55 pts) Sweden Antonio Lindbäck (51 pts)
2016 Four events Denmark Nicki Pedersen (40 pts) Czech Republic Václav Milík (38 pts) Poland Krzysztof Kasprzak (38 pts)
2017 Four events Latvia Andžejs Ļebedevs (52 pts) Russia Artem Laguta (45 pts) Czech Republic Václav Milík (44 pts)
2018 Four events Denmark Leon Madsen (56 pts) Poland Jarosław Hampel (45 pts) United Kingdom Robert Lambert (41 pts)
2019 Four events Denmark Mikkel Michelsen (45 pts) Russia Grigory Laguta (45 pts) Denmark Leon Madsen (39 pts)
2020 Five events United Kingdom Robert Lambert (67 pts) Denmark Leon Madsen (64 pts) Russia Grigory Laguta (52 pts)
2021 Four events Denmark Mikkel Michelsen (53 pts) Denmark Leon Madsen (51 pts) Poland Patryk Dudek (46 pts)
2022 Four events Denmark Leon Madsen (53 pts) Poland Janusz Kołodziej (52 pts) Denmark Mikkel Michelsen (45 pts)
2023 Four events Denmark Mikkel Michelsen (52 pts) Denmark Leon Madsen (44 pts) Poland Janusz Kołodziej (42 pts)

Medals classification

PosNational TeamTotalGoldSilverBronze
1. Denmark19 7 6 6
2. Russia8 4 2 2
3. Poland18 3 10 5
4. Czech Republic7 2 3 2
5. Slovenia3 2 1
6. Sweden3 1 2
7. Great Britain2 1 1
8. Croatia1 1
 Slovakia1 1
 Latvia1 1
11. Ukraine3 1 2
12. Finland1 1
 Germany1 1

See also

References

  1. Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 23. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. "About SEC". www.speedwayeuro.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 23 Feb 2013.
  4. "Żużlowe mistrzostwa Europy wkraczają w nową erę" (in Polish). sportowefakty.pl. 20 Dec 2012. Retrieved 23 Feb 2013.
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