Erik Riss (born 13 September 1995) is a German speedway, longtrack and grasstrack rider, who won the World Longtrack Championship in 2014 and 2016, and was German speedway champion in 2016."2017 Rider Index", speedwaygb.co. Retrieved 4 March 2017
Career Born in Memmingen, Germany, the son of former rider Gerd Riss and younger brother of Mark Riss, Erik Riss began his speedway career in 2012 and rode in his home country for Automobilclub Landshut from 2013, also riding in Germany for MSV Herxheim and AMC Memmingen.
Riss first had success in long track, winning the German championship in 2014. Later that year, at 19, he became the youngest rider ever to win the world championship.Cholewiński, Jacek (2014) "Erik Riss najmłodszym w historii mistrzem świata na długim torze!", sportowefakty.wp.pl, 28 September 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017Kinvig, David (2014) "Bliss for Erik Riss after signing for Monarchs ", Edinburgh Evening News, 23 December 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017"Erik Riss Takes the Title", fim-live.com, 30 September 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017 In the same year, he was part of the German teams that won the World Longtrack Team Championship and finished fourth in the European Junior Team Championship.Cholewiński, Jacek (2014) "Long track: Niemcy po raz siódmy z tytułem drużynowych mistrzów świata", sportowefakty.wp.pl, 24 August 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017Gałęzewski, Michael (2014) "Bezapelacyjne zwycięstwo biało-czerwonych - finał DMEJ w Herxheim (relacja)", sportowefakty.wp.pl, 28 June 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017
In 2015, Riss began his British speedway career in the Premier League with Edinburgh Monarchs, with whom he won the League Cup, Premier League Four-Team Championship, and the Premier League title. In 2016, he won the German Championship and won the World Longtrack Championship for a second time, scoring a 7-ride maximum in the final round in Vechta,"Erik Riss ", fim-gala.com. Retrieved 4 March 2017 and finished in eighth place in the Under-21 World Speedway Championship."Erik Riss", speedwayu21.com. Retrieved 4 March 2017 While continuing to ride for the Monarchs in the Premier League and then in the newly formed SGB Championship, in 2017 he also signed to ride for Leicester Lions in the SGB Premiership,"New boy Erik Riss is happy to sign for Leicester Lions", Leicester Mercury, 16 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017 and was selected to ride for Germany in the 2017 Best Pairs Championship."MŁODZI NIEMCY SPRÓBUJĄ POWALCZYĆ Z NAJLEPSZYMI", przegladsportowy.pl, 13 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017 In 2019, he signed for Redcar Bears.
On 1 September 2019, Riss won his first Riders' Championship at Sheffield after qualifying for the semi-final on 12 points. He won the semi-final and then went on to win the final. He rounded off 2019 by finishing third in the Jason Crump Classic at Kurri Kurri in Australia.
In 2022, Riss was part of the German team, along with Lukas Fienhage and Max Dilger, that won the 2022 Team Long Track World Championship. He signed for the Ipswich Witches in the SGB Premiership 2022 and for the Redcar Bears in the SGB Championship 2022. He helped Ipswich win the Premiership Pairs but broke his leg riding for AC Landshut in the Polish League.
In 2023, Riss re-signed for Ipswich for the SGB Premiership 2023, where he won the Knockout Cup and also re-signed for Redcar for the SGB Championship 2023. Also in 2023, he was part of the German team that competed at the 2023 Speedway World Cup in Poland and was part of the German longtrack team, along with Martin Smolinski, Jörg Tebbe and Stephan Katt, that won the silver medal at the 2023 Team Long Track World Championship.
Riss joined the Oxford Spires in 2024, as a replacement for Nicolai Klindt. Also in 2024, he won a third world team longtrack gold medal at the 2024 FIM Long Track of Nations and became the German champion for the second time.
In 2025, partnering Charles Wright, the pair won the pairs championship for Redcar Bears.
Major results World Longtrack Championship
Grand Prix 2013 - 1 apps (25th) 4pts 2014 - 4 apps (First) 77pts 2015 - 4 apps (Second) 68pts 2016 - 5 apps (First) 122pts
Best results Eenrum Second 2015, Third 2016 Forssa Second 2016 Herxheim Third 2014 Marmande 2014 Mühldorf First 2016, Second 2014 Vechta First 2016, Third 2015
World Longtrack team championship 2014 Forssa (First) 45pts (Rode with Enrico Janoschka, Jorg Tebbe, Stephan Katt) 2015 Mühldorf (2nd) 41pts (Rode with Jorg Tebbe, Michael Hartel, Stephan Katt) 2022 Herxheim (First) 54pts (Rode with Lukas Fienhage, Max Dilger) 2023 Roden (2nd) 57pts (Rode with Martin Smolinski, Jörg Tebbe, Stephan Katt) 2024 Morizès (First) 68pts (Rode with Lukas Fienhage, Max Dilger)
World individual Championship 2025 Speedway Grand Prix - 23rd
References