Russia national speedway team

The Russia national speedway team are one of the major international motorcycle speedway nations.

Russia
Nation colourBlue
SWC Wins3 as the Speedway of Nations
(2018, 2019, 2020)

History

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As the Soviet Union

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The Soviet Union speedway team (which was composed 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]

As Russia

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Following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the riders then competed for their new speedway nations of Russia, Ukraine and Russia.

The Russian national team first competed in the World Team Cup at the 1993 Speedway World Team Cup, finishing 1st in Group D (the fourth tier of the World Cup).[5] They quickly established themselves as a major contender and reached the World Cup final in 1996 and winning the silver medal. The team experienced a disappointing period from 1997 and although they regularly finished inside the top ten, it was not until 2009 that they reached a final, competing in the 2009 Speedway World Cup final. They then won bronze medala at the 2012 Speedway World Cup and the 2017 Speedway World Cup.

The Speedway of Nations was introduced in 2018 and Russia dominated the first three years of the event, becoming the world champions from 2018 to 2020. However, their run came to an end due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 6 March 2022, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme banned all Russian motorcycle riders, teams, officials, and competitions.[6]

Major world medals

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World Team Cup/World Cup/Speedway of Nations

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Year Venue Standings (Pts) Riders Pts
1996  
Diedenbergen
Rhein-Main Arena
1.   Poland (27)
2.   Russia (22)
3.   Denmark (21)
4.   Germany (20)
5.   Sweden (14)
6.   Great Britain (12)
4.   Hungary (9)
Rinat Mardanshin 13
Oleg Kurguskin 5
Sergei Darkin 4
2012  
Målilla
G&B Stadium
1.   Denmark (39)
2.   Australia (36)
3.   Russia (30)
4.   Sweden (24)
Emil Sayfutdinov 17
Grigory Laguta 8
Artem Laguta 5
Roman Povazhny 0
2017  
Leszno
Alfred Smoczyk Stadium
1.   Poland (50)
2.   Sweden (42)
3.   Russia (18)
4.   Great Britain (15)
Emil Sayfutdinov 11
Vadim Tarasenko 3
Gleb Chugunov 3
Andrey Kudriashov 1
2018  
Wrocław
Stadion Olimpijski
1.   Russia (45+3+3)
2.   Great Britain (46+3)
3.   Poland (36+3)
4.   Australia (35)
5.   Denmark (35)
6.  Sweden (32)
7.   Germany (23)
Artem Laguta 31+2+2
Emil Sayfutdinov 14+1+1
2019  
Tolyatti
Anatoly Stepanov Stadium
1.   Russia (45+3+5)
2.   Poland (47+1)
3.   Australia (41+3)
4.   Denmark (37)
5.   Sweden (35)
6.   Germany (30)
7.   Great Britain (16)
Emil Sayfutdinov 31+1+3
Artem Laguta 12+2+2
Gleb Chugunov 2
2020  
Lublin
Stadion MOSiR (Bystrzyca)
1.   Russia (23)
2.   Poland (23)
3.   Denmark (19)
4.   Sweden (19)
5.   Australia (17)
6.   Great Britain (12)
7.   Czech Republic (11)
Emil Sayfutdinov 15
Artem Laguta 8

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.[7]

Rider Caps
Belousov, Vitaly
Bondarenko, Ilja 3
Borodulin, Vladimir
Chalov, Ilya
Chugunov, Gleb
Darkin, Sergey 17
Eroshin, Sergey
Gafurov, Renat 16
Galeev, Talgat
Gizatullin, Denis 15
Golubovsky, Victor
Ivanov, Daniil
Ivanov, Roman
Jeroshin, Sergey
Kalimullin, Flyur
Kudriashov, Andrey
Kulakov, Viktor
Kurguskin, Oleg
Kuzin, Sergey
Laguta, Artem
Laguta, Grigory
Mardanshin, Rinat
Povazhny, Roman 21
Saidullin, Evgeny
Saifutdinov, Denis
Saifutdinov, Emil 9
Shaihullin, Eduard
Starostin, Mikhail
Tarasenko, Vadim
Vlasov, Simon
Volokho, Oleg
Yeroshin, Sergey

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. ^ "1993 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  6. ^ "FIM Suspends Russian and Belarusian Motorcycle Competitors And Competitions - Fullnoise.com.au Motorcycle News". www.fullnoise.com.au. 6 March 2022.
  7. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 13 October 2023.