Soviet Union national speedway team

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Soviet Union
SWC Wins0
Best result
World Cup silver medal (1964, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1975)

The Soviet Union national speedway team were one of the leading nations who competed in international team motorcycle speedway.

History

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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.[1] Throughout the history of World Team Cup, the team were regular World Cup contenders from 1961 until their final World Cup in 1983.[2] 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.[3][4]

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

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World team Cup

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Year Venue Standings (Pts) Riders Pts
1964 West Germany
Abensberg
Abensberg Speedwaystadion
1. Sweden Sweden (34)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (25)
3. United Kingdom Great Britain (21)
4. Poland Poland (16)
Igor Plekhanov 8
Gennady Kurilenko 8
Yuri Chekranov 6
Boris Samorodov 3
1965 West Germany
Kempten
Kempten Speedway
1. Poland Poland (38)
2. Sweden Sweden (34)
3. United Kingdom Great Britain (18)
4. Soviet Union Soviet Union (7)
Gennady Kurilenko 2
Yuri Chekranov 2
Vladimir Sokolov 2
Igor Plekhanov 1
Viktor Trofimov 0
1966 Poland
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1. Poland Poland (40)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (26)
3. Sweden Sweden (22)
4. United Kingdom Great Britain (8)
Boris Samorodov 10
Igor Plekhanov 6
Viktor Trofimov 6
Farid Szajnurov 4
1967 Sweden
Malmö
Malmö Stadion
1. Sweden Sweden (32)
2. Poland Poland (26)
3. United Kingdom Great Britain (19)
4. Soviet Union Soviet Union (19)
Igor Plekhanov 9
Viktor Trofimov 4
Boris Samorodov 3
Gabdrakhman Kadyrov 2
Farid Szajnurov 1
1969 Poland
Rybnik
Rybnik Municipal Stadium
1. Poland Poland (31)
2. United Kingdom Great Britain (23)
3. Soviet Union Soviet Union (23)
4. Sweden Sweden (12)
Vladimir Smirnov 9
Gennady Kurilenko 8
Valeri Klementiev 5
Yury Dubinin 1
Viktor Trofimov 0
1971 Poland
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (37)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (22)
3. Poland Poland (19)
4. Sweden Sweden (18)
Grigory Khlinovsky 8
Vladimir Smirnov 7
Vladimir Gordeev 4
Anatoly Kuzmin 3
1972 West Germany
Olching
Olching Speedwaybahn
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (36)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (21)
3. Poland Poland (21)
4. Sweden Sweden (18)
Anatoly Kuzmin 6
Viktor Trofimov 5
Viktor Kalmykov 5
Grigory Khlinovsky 5
1973 England
London
Wembley
1. United Kingdom Great Britain (37)
2. Sweden Sweden (31)
3. Soviet Union Soviet Union (20)
4. Poland Poland (8)
Valery Gordeev 7
Vladimir Paznikov 5
Grigory Khlinovsky 4
Aleksandr Pavlov 2
Viktor Trofimov 2
1974 Poland
Chorzów
Silesian Stadium
1. England England (42)
2. Sweden Sweden (31)
3. Poland Poland (13)
4. Soviet Union Soviet Union (10)
Mikhail Krasnov 5
Valery Gordeev 4
Viktor Kalmykov 1
Anatoly Kuzmin 0
1975 West Germany
Norden
Motodrom Halbemond
1. England England (41)
2. Soviet Union Soviet Union (29)
3. Sweden Sweden (16)
4. Poland Poland (9)
Valery Gordeev 8
Grigory Khlinovsky 8
Viktor Trofimov 8
Vladimir Gordeev 5
1976 England
London
White City Stadium
1. Australia Australia (31)
2. Poland Poland (28)
3. Sweden Sweden (26)
4. Soviet Union Soviet Union (11)
Valery Gordeev 5
Grigory Khlinovsky 2
Vladimir Gordeev 2
Vladimir Paznikov 2
Viktor Trofimov 0
1981 West Germany
Olching
Olching Speedwaybahn
1. Denmark Denmark (36)
2. England England (29)
3. West Germany West Germany (28)
4. Soviet Union Soviet Union (3)
Viktor Kuznetsov 2
Nikolay Kornev 1
Anatoly Maksimov 0
Mikhail Starostin 0
Valery Gordeev 0

World Pairs finals

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International caps

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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.[5]

Rider Caps
Aas, Rene (E) 5
Chekranov, 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

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  1. ^ "1961 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  4. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 13 October 2023.