Austria national speedway team

The Austria national speedway team are one of the teams that compete in international team motorcycle speedway.

Austria
AssociationÖsterreichischer Automobil-, Motorrad- und Touring Club
FIM codeÖAMTC
Nation colourRed, White and Red
SWC Wins0

History

edit

The Austrian speedway team competed in the inaugural Speedway World Team Cup in 1960, finishing third in the central European round.[1]

With the exception of a three year spell from 1967 to 1969, Austria were ever present in the World Team Cup from 1960 to 2000.[2] However, they were one of the weaker nations and struggled to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.[3][4]

The team fared better in the World Pairs Championship, reaching finals in 1971 and 1975.[5]

Since 2001, Austria have struggled further and have in the majority of cases failed to qualify for the World Cup or the Speedway of Nations (introduced in 2018). Their last significant appearance was in the final of the European Pairs Speedway Championship in 2016.

Major world finals

edit

World Pairs Championships

edit
Year Venue Standings (Pts) Riders Pts
1971  
Rybnik
Rybnik Municipal Stadium
1.   Poland (30)
2.   New Zealand (25)
3.   Sweden (22)
4.   Czechoslovakia (17)
5.   Scotland (16)
6.   Yugoslavia (10)
7.   Austria (6)
Josef Haider 4
Meinz Zimmerman 2
1975  
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1.   Sweden (24)
2.   Poland (23)
3.   Denmark (20)
4.   England (20)
5.   Australia (19)
6.   West Germany (10)
7.   Austria (10)
Adi Funk 6
Herbert Szerecs 4

International caps (as of 2022)

edit

Since the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix era, international caps earned by riders is largely restricted to international competitions, whereas previously test matches between two teams were a regular occurrence. This means that the number of caps earned by a rider has decreased in the modern era.[6]

Rider Caps
Bössner, Andreas 20
Bössner, Josef
Dirtl, Fritz
Fiala, Johannes
Funk, Adi 25
Gappmaier, Dany
Grubmuller, Walter 7
Haider, Josef
Hauzinger, Manuel 2
Kamper, Josef
Killmeyer, Leopold 3
Leitner, Franz 9
Novotny, Manuel
Ozelt, Mario
Pilotto, Toni 25
Schaaf, Alexander
Szerecs, Herbert
Simon, Lukas
Sitzwohl, Alfred 2
Wallner, Fritz
Zimmerman, Meinz
Zorn, Franz

References

edit
  1. ^ "1966 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  4. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  6. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

See also

edit