Matej Žagar (born 3 April 1983 in Ljubljana, Slovenia) is a Slovenian motorcycle speedway rider who was won two Individual Speedway European Champion titles in 2008 and 2009. He is 18-time Slovenian Speedway Champion.
Career
In 2002, Žagar won the 2002 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship and the following year made his debut in the Individual World Championship.
Žagar began his career in the United Kingdom with the Trelawny Tigers in 2003 before moving to the Reading Racers in 2004 when the Tigers closed. He became a permanent rider in the 2006 Speedway Grand Prix and 2007 Speedway Grand Prix seasons. In the UK he represented Reading, Swindon and Eastbourne before quitting the United Kingdom after an underwhelming 2010 campaign. He was touted as a potential GP wildcard for the 2012 SGP season following impressive and consistent performances in the Polish Extraliga with Gorzow, but turned down the opportunity to replace Darcy Ward due to the 1GP rider in the Extraliga and his contract with Gorzow, where 2010 world champion Tomasz Gollob was signed up. He returned to the UK after signing for the Belle Vue Aces in 2013 and rode for them until 2016.
In September 2014, during the Speedway Grand Prix Qualification, Žagar won the GP Challenge, which ensured that he claimed a permanent slot for the 2015 Grand Prix.
In August 2019, Žagar won the GP Challenge for the second time in his career, which ensured that he claimed a permanent slot for the 2020 Speedway Grand Prix. He then became the first rider in history to win a third GP Challenge when he won it for a third time in 2020.
In 2021, after nine consecutive Grand Prix seasons and finishing in 13th place, Žagar lost his permanent place in the Grand Prix World Championship but did ride in the 2022 season opener in his home country.
In 2022, Žagar once again returned to the British speedway with the Belle Vue Aces and was part of the team that won the league title during the SGB Premiership 2022. Also in 2022, he helped SES win the 2022 Danish Super League. He raced for Grinstead during 2023 and 2024.
Žagar signed for Birmingham Brummies for the SGB Premiership 2025.
Career highlights Individual World Championship 2003 - 30th place (5 points) 2004 - 27th place (8 points) 2005 - 16th place (23 points) 2006 - 7th place (97 points) 2007 - 14th place (54 points) 2008 - 20th place (7 points) 2009 - 19th place (7 points) 2011 - 19th place (14 points) 2013 - 7th place (110 points) 2014 - 5th place (114 points) - including Finnish Grand prix win 2015 - 6th place (107 points) - including Warsaw and Gorzow Grand Prix wins 2016 - 9th place (90 points) 2017 - 7th place (107 points) - including German and Scandinavian Grand Prix wins 2018 - 10th place (79 points) 2019 - 9th place (78 points) 2020 - 11th place (46 points) 2021 - 13th place (45 points) 2022 - 18th place (11 points) 2023 - =26th place (1 point) 2023 - =27th place (2 points)
Individual U-21 World Championship 2004 - 6th place (8 points) 2004 - track reserve (1 point) 2004 - 5th place (10 points) 2004 - 3rd place (8 points and 3rd in Final)
Team World Championship 2001 - 6 points in Preliminary Round 1 2002 - 10th-11th place (5 points in Event 3) 2003 - 9th place (13 points in Event 2) 2004 - 9th-10th place (18 points in Qualifying Round 2) 2005 - 9th-10th place (11 points in Qualifying Round 2) 2006 - 9th-10th place (17 points in Qualifying Round 2) 2007 - 13th-14th place (16 points in Qualifying Round 1) 2008 - 11th-12th place 2009 - 4th place in Semi-finals (10 points in semi-final) 2010 - 9th-10th place 2011 - 9th-10th place 2012 - 9th-10th place 2013 - 9th-10th place 2014 - 11th place 2015 - 11th place 2016 - 12th place
Individual European Championship 2002 - 15th place (4 points) 2003 - 4th place (10 points) 2004 - European Champion (14+3 points) 2006 - 17th place (0 points) 2008 - European Champion (14 points)
Individual U-19 European Championship 2000 - 11th place (8 points) 2001 - track reserve (2 points) 2002 - European Champion (15 points)
European Pairs Championship 2005 - 3rd place (14 points) 2006 - 2nd place (11 points)
Slovenian Championship He is a 17 times champion of Slovenia in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Speedway Grand Prix results Year Position Points Best Finish Notes 2003 30th 5 15th Wild card ride 2004 26th 8 9thWild card ride 2005 16th 23 3rd 2 Wild card rides 2006 7th 97 2nd First full season as a GP rider 2006 14th 54 7th second full season as a GP rider 2008 20th 7 9th 1 Wild card ride 2009 19th 7 10th 1 Wild card ride 2011 19th 14 8th 2 Wild card rides 2013 7th 110 2nd third full season as a GP rider 2014 5th 114 1st fourth full season as a GP rider 2015 6th 107 1st fifth full season as a GP rider20169th903rdsixth full season + wild card for the next year20177th1071st201810th792nd20199th782nd202011th468th202113th459th202218th116th2023=26th116th2024=27th115th
See also Slovenia national speedway team List of Speedway Grand Prix riders
References