Jarosław "Jarek" Hampel (; born 17 April 1982 in Łódź, Poland) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. He is a six times World Cup winner and earned 24 caps for the Poland national speedway team.
Career
Hampel received his speedway license in 1998 with the Polish team Polonia Piła, although he first started racing on a mini-track in Pawłowice, close to the city of Leszno.
In 1999, Hampel won a bronze medal at the Individual U-19 European Championship as well as a bronze medal at the Individual U-21 World Championship in 2000 and a gold medal in 2003.
Hampel started in the Speedway Grand Prix in 2000, and became a regular starter from 2004. In 2005, he won the Speedway World Cup with Poland, together with Tomasz Gollob, Piotr Protasiewicz, Grzegorz Walasek and Rune Holta; beating Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain in the final held at the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland. He has since won the world cup a further three times in 2007, 2009 and 2010 taking his number of world cup gold medals to four. In 2000, he began his British leagues career when he joined Ipswich Witches and rode for them until mid-way through the 2009 season.
Hampel won two silver medals at the Individual Polish Championships in 2000 and 2004, as well as three medals at the Junior Individual Polish Championships (Gold in 2001, Silver in 2002, Bronze in 2000).
In 2010 and 2013, Hampel became the World Championship runner-up, winning silver medals in the Speedway World Championships (Grand Prix Series), and in 2011, he won the bronze medal. He became the Polish Champion in 2011, after winning the Polish Individual Speedway Championship. He later won six Speedway World Cups with Poland during an eight-year period. The wins came in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.
In 2022, Hampel helped Lublin win the 2022 Ekstraliga.
In 2023, Hampel was a member of the Polish team that won the European Team Speedway Championship. In 2024, he helped Lejonen win the Elitserien during the 2024 Swedish speedway season.
Hampel announced his retirement form speedway during September 2025.
Awards For his sport achievements, he received: Bronze Cross of Merit in 2005; Golden Cross of Merit in 2007.
Speedway Grand Prix results Year Position Points Best Finish Notes 200027th7 12th Wild Card Entry - European Grand Prix - Debut 200125th7 11th Wild Card Entry - Polish Grand Prix 200230th6 17th Wild Card Entries - Polish and European Grand Prix 200325th13 6th Wild Card Entry - Polish Grand Prix 20048th81 2nd First full Speedway Grand Prix season and placed second in Czech Republic Grand Prix 200511th67 2nd Second in British Grand Prix 20069th91 3rd Third in British Grand Prix 200713th67 2nd Second in Czech Republic Grand Prix 200816th16 4th Wild Card Entry - European Grand Prix 200918th9 5th Wild Card Entry - European Grand Prix 2010 2nd137 Winner Won Denmark Grand Prix - First Grand Prix win 2011 3rd123 Winner Won Scandinavian Grand Prix 201214th58 2nd Broke right fibula Denmark GP - Missed next four Grand Prix 2013 2nd142 Winner Won New Zealand, Poland and Slovenian Grand Prix 20148th98 Winner Won Scandinavian Grand Prix 201516th31 2nd Injured while 3rd in standings after three Grand Prix - Missed remainder of season speedwaygp.com
References