The Soviet Union national speedway team were one of the leading nations who competed in international team motorcycle speedway.
History The Soviet Union speedway team (which consisted predominantly of Russian riders but also Ukrainian, Latvian and Belarus riders) first competed in the 1961 edition of the Speedway World Team Cup, where they finished second in the East European round. Throughout the history of World Team Cup, the team were regular World Cup contenders from 1961 until their final World Cup in 1983. They reached the final on 12 occasions, winning the silver medal five times, in 1964, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1975 and the bronze medals three times, in 1967, 1969 and 1973.
The team also reached the final of the Speedway World Pairs Championship in 1973 and 1974.
Following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the riders then competed for their new speedway nations of the Russia, Ukraine and Latvia.
Major world finals World team Cup YearVenueStandings (Pts)RidersPts1964AbensbergAbensberg Speedwaystadion 1. Sweden (34)2. Soviet Union (25)3. Great Britain (21)4. Poland (16) Igor Plekhanov 8 Gennady Kurilenko 8 Yuri Chekranov 6 Boris Samorodov 31965KemptenKempten Speedway 1. Poland (38)2. Sweden (34)3. Great Britain (18)4. Soviet Union (7) Gennady Kurilenko 2 Yuri Chekranov 2 Vladimir Sokolov 2 Igor Plekhanov 1 Viktor Trofimov 01966WrocławStadion Olimpijski 1. Poland (40)2. Soviet Union (26)3. Sweden (22)4. Great Britain (8) Boris Samorodov 10 Igor Plekhanov 6 Viktor Trofimov 6 Farid Szajnurov 41967MalmöMalmö Stadion 1. Sweden (32)2. Poland (26) 3. Great Britain (19)4. Soviet Union (19) Igor Plekhanov 9 Viktor Trofimov 4 Boris Samorodov 3Gabdrakhman Kadyrov 2 Farid Szajnurov 11969RybnikRybnik Municipal Stadium 1. Poland (31)2. Great Britain (23) 3. Soviet Union (23)4. Sweden (12) Vladimir Smirnov 9 Gennady Kurilenko 8 Valeri Klementiev 5Yury Dubinin 1 Viktor Trofimov 01971WrocławStadion Olimpijski 1. Great Britain (37)2. Soviet Union (22) 3. Poland (19)4. Sweden (18) Grigory Khlinovsky 8 Vladimir Smirnov 7 Vladimir Gordeev 4 Anatoly Kuzmin 31972OlchingOlching Speedwaybahn 1. Great Britain (36)2. Soviet Union (21) 3. Poland (21)4. Sweden (18) Anatoly Kuzmin 6 Viktor Trofimov 5 Viktor Kalmykov5 Grigory Khlinovsky51973LondonWembley 1. Great Britain (37)2. Sweden (31)3. Soviet Union (20)4. Poland (8)Valery Gordeev7Vladimir Paznikov 5 Grigory Khlinovsky4Aleksandr Pavlov 2Viktor Trofimov 21974ChorzówSilesian Stadium 1. England (42)2. Sweden (31)3. Poland (13)4. Soviet Union (10) Mikhail Krasnov5 Valery Gordeev 4 Viktor Kalmykov 1 Anatoly Kuzmin01975NordenMotodrom Halbemond 1. England (41)2. Soviet Union (29)3. Sweden (16) 4. Poland (9) Valery Gordeev8 Grigory Khlinovsky8 Viktor Trofimov8Vladimir Gordeev51976LondonWhite City Stadium 1. Australia (31)2. Poland (28)3. Sweden (26)4. Soviet Union (11) Valery Gordeev5Grigory Khlinovsky2 Vladimir Gordeev2 Vladimir Paznikov2Viktor Trofimov01981OlchingOlching Speedwaybahn 1. Denmark (36)2. England (29)3. West Germany (28)4. Soviet Union (3) Viktor Kuznetsov 2 Nikolay Kornev1 Anatoly Maksimov 0 Mikhail Starostin 0 Valery Gordeev0
World Pairs finals 1973 (4th) 1974 (6th)
International caps 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.
RiderCapsAas, Rene (E) 5Chekranov, Yuri Drobyazko, Leonid Dubinin, Yury Dyuzhev, Sergey Gordeev, Valery Gordeev, Vladimir (G) Kadyrov, Gabdrakhman Kalmykov, Viktor Khlinovsky, Grigory (U) Klementiev, Valeri Kornev, Nikolay Krasnov, Mikhail Kurilenko, Gennady (U) Kuzmin, Anatoly Kuznetsov, Viktor Maksimov, Anatoly Nerytov, Vsevolod Pavlov, Aleksandr Paznikov, Vladimir Plekhanov, Igor Rozhanchuk, Vladimir Saitgareev, Rif Samorodov, Boris Shilo, Viktor Smirnov, Vladimir Sokolov, Vladimir (U)z Starostin, Mikhail Szajnurov, Farid Trofimov, Vladimir (U) Trofimov, Viktor
Key Russian unless stated (E) - Estonian (G) - Georgian (L) - Latvian (U) - Ukrainian
References