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.
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.
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).
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 seven champions, Jesper B. Jensen (2005), Nicki Pedersen (2016), Leon Madsen (2018 and 2022) and Mikkel Michelsen (2019, 2021 and 2023).
Winners European Final (1955-1975) YearVenueWinners2nd place3rd place 1955 Oslo Henry Andersen Olle Nygren Kjell Carlsson 1956 Oslo Ove Fundin Per Olof Söderman Ole Andersson 1957 Växjö Rune Sörmander Per Olof Söderman Josef Hofmeister 1958 Warsaw Ove Fundin Josef Hofmeister Rune Sörmander 1959 Gothenburg Ove Fundin Josef Hofmeister Mieczysław Połukard 1960 Wrocław Marian Kaiser Ove Fundin Stefan Kwoczała 1961 Wieden Ove Fundin Björn Knutson Igor Plekhanov 1962 Oslo Björn Knutson Ove Fundin Göte Nordin 1963 Gothenburg Björn Knutson Ove Fundin Per Olof Söderman 1964 Wrocław Zbigniew Podlecki Björn Knutson Boris Samorodov 1965 Slaný Ove Fundin Björn Knutson Antoni Woryna 1966 Wembley Ivan Mauger Barry Briggs Antoni Woryna 1967 Wrocław Andrzej Wyglenda Andrzej Pogorzelski Antoni Woryna 1968 Wrocław Paweł Waloszek Antoni Woryna Jerzy Trzeszkowski 1969 Olching Valeri Klementiev Edward Jancarz Torbjörn Harrysson 1970 Leningrad Ivan Mauger Vladimir Gordeev Gennady Kurilenko 1971 Wembley Ivan Mauger Ray Wilson Ole Olsen 1972 Wrocław Paweł Waloszek Ole Olsen Anders Michanek 1973 Abensberg Anders Michanek Ivan Mauger Vladimir Paznikov 1974 Wembley Peter Collins Ole Olsen Ivan Mauger 1975 Bydgoszcz Ivan Mauger Ole Olsen Phil Crump
Individual European Championship (2001-2011) YearVenueWinners2nd place3rd place 2001 Heusden Zolder Bohumil Brhel (14 pts) Mariusz Staszewski (13 pts) Krzysztof Cegielski (12+3 pts) 2002 Rybnik Magnus Zetterström (12+3 pts) Krzysztof Kasprzak (12+2 pts) Rafał Szombierski (11+3 pts) 2003 Slaný Krzysztof Kasprzak (12+3 pts) Sławomir Drabik (12+2 pts) Magnus Zetterström (11 pts) 2004 Holsted Matej Žagar (14+3 pts) Matej Ferjan (14+2 pts) Hans N. Andersen (12 pts) 2005 Lonigo Jesper B. Jensen (14+3 pts) Aleš Dryml, Jr. (14+2 pts) Kai Laukkanen (12 pts) 2006 Miskolc Krzysztof Jabłoński (13+3 pts) Grzegorz Walasek (13+2 pts) Christian Hefenbrock (12 pts) 2007 Wiener Neustadt Jurica Pavlic (14 pts) Sebastian Ułamek (13 pts) Patrick Hougaard (11 pts) 2008 Lendava Matej Žagar (14 pts) Sebastian Ułamek (10+3+3 pts) Mads Korneliussen (10+2+2+2) 2009 Tolyatti Renat Gafurov (13+3 pts) Andriy Karpov (13+2 pts) Aleš Dryml, Jr. (13+1 pts) 2010 Tarnów Sebastian Ułamek (15 pts) Aleš Dryml, Jr. (12 pts) Andriy Karpov (11+3 pts) 2011 Rivne Grigory Laguta (14+3 pts) Tomasz Gapinski (14+2 pts) Aleš Dryml, Jr. (12 pts)
European Championship series (since 2012) YearVenueWinnersRunner-up3rd place 2012Four events Aleš Dryml, Jr. (48 pts) Robert Miśkowiak (44 pts) Andriy Karpov (43 pts) 2013Four events Martin Vaculik (47 pts) Nicki Pedersen (44 pts) Grigory Laguta (42 pts) 2014Four events Emil Sayfutdinov (54 pts) Peter Kildemand (48 pts) Nicki Pedersen (44 pts) 2015Four events Emil Sayfutdinov (58 pts) Nicki Pedersen (55 pts) Antonio Lindbäck (51 pts) 2016Four events Nicki Pedersen (40 pts) Václav Milík (38 pts) Krzysztof Kasprzak (38 pts) 2017Four events Andžejs Ļebedevs (52 pts) Artem Laguta (45 pts) Václav Milík (44 pts) 2018Four events Leon Madsen (56 pts) Jarosław Hampel (45 pts) Robert Lambert (41 pts) 2019Four events Mikkel Michelsen (45 pts) Grigory Laguta (45 pts) Leon Madsen (39 pts) 2020Five events Robert Lambert (67 pts) Leon Madsen (64 pts) Grigory Laguta (52 pts) 2021Four events Mikkel Michelsen (53 pts) Leon Madsen (51 pts) Patryk Dudek (46 pts) 2022Four events Leon Madsen (53 pts) Janusz Kołodziej (52 pts) Mikkel Michelsen (45 pts) 2023Four events Mikkel Michelsen (52 pts) Leon Madsen (44 pts) Janusz Kołodziej (42 pts) 2024Four events Andžejs Ļebedevs (50 pts) Leon Madsen (47 pts) Kacper Woryna (44 pts) 2025Four events Patryk Dudek (56 pts) Andžejs Ļebedevs (48 pts) Leon Madsen (40 pts) 2026Four events Leon Madsen (47 pts) Maciej Janowski (46 pts) Kacper Woryna (42 pts)
Medals classification Pos National Team Total 1. 22 8 7 72. 22 4 11 73. 8 4 2 24. 7 2 3 25. 3 2 1 3 2 17. 3 1 28. 2 1 19. 1 1 1 111. 3 1 212. 1 1 1 1
See also Motorcycle speedway Speedway Grand Prix
References