Zach Wajtknecht (born 8 February 1998) is a motorcycle speedway rider from Great Britain.[1]
 | |
| Born | 8 February 1998 Saltford, Bristol, England |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British (English) |
| Career history | |
| 2015–2016 | Birmingham Brummies |
| 2016 | Somerset Rebels |
| 2017 | Lakeside Hammers |
| 2017 | Swindon Robins |
| 2018 | Lakeside Hammers |
| 2019 | Birmingham Brummies |
| Individual honours | |
| 2022 | World longtrack silver medal |
| 2024 | World longtrack bronze medal |
| 2012, 2013 | FIM 125cc Youth Gold Trophy Champion |
| 2013 | British 250cc Youth Champion |
| 2014 | FIM Long Track Youth World Cup 250cc winner |
| 2017 | British Under-19 Champion |
| 2019 | European Grasstrack Champion |
| 2018 | British Grasstrack Champion |
| Team honours | |
| 2018 | World Longtrack Team silver |
| 2023, 2024 | World Longtrack Team bronze |
| 2015 | National League |
| 2015 | National League Fours |
| 2017 | SGB Premiership |
Career
editAt an early age Wajtknecht became a double World Champion, twice triumphing in the FIM 125cc Grasstrack Youth Gold Trophy. He followed up these successes by being crowned British 250cc Youth Champion in 2013 and winner of the FIM 250cc Longtrack Youth World Cup in 2014. These successes led to Zach being awarded the prestigious Pinhard trophy, a trophy he described himself as being "over the moon" to win.[2]
Wajtknecht was handed his big break in speedway by the newly reformed National League Birmingham Brummies ahead of the 2015 season, the team's first season in the third tier of British Speedway. The team was put together by former manager Phil Morris, the newly appointed FIM Race Director for the Speedway Grand Prix series. Morris described Wajtknecht as having "what it takes to enjoy a very successful speedway career"[3] He was part of the Birmingham team that won the league title during the 2015 National League speedway season and the National League Fours, held on 14 June 2015 at Brandon Stadium.[4]
In 2017, he won the British Under-19 Championship at Plymouth and rode for Swindon.[5][6] His 2017 season was cut short in July when a crash at Swindon resulted in a ruptured spleen and punctured lung.[7]
In 2019, he was the European Grasstrack champion.[8] This was the same season that he decided to concentrate longtrack and grasstrack and stop riding conventional speedway.[9]
In 2022, he finished second for the World Longtrack title, finishing 28 points behind Mathieu Trésarrieu in the 2022 Individual Long Track World Championship.[10] In 2023, he was part of the British longtrack team, along with Chris Harris and Andrew Appleton, that won the bronze medal at the 2023 Team Long Track World Championship.[11] At the 2024 FIM Long Track World Championship Wajtknecht secured the bronze medal after the five rounds.[12][13]
Major results
editWorld Longtrack Championship Grand-Prix
edit- 2019 - 2 apps (14th) 25pts
- 2020 - 2 apps (4th) 32pts
- 2021 - 2 apps (15th) 8pts
- 2022 - 6 apps (2nd) 88pts
- 2023 - 6 apps (4th) 77pts
- 2024 - 5 apps (3rd) 86pts
World Longtrack Team Championship
edit- 2018 -
Morizes 6/46pts (with James Shanes, Adam Ellis & Chris Harris) 2nd - 2019 -
Vechta 16/41pts (with Chris Harris, Edward Kennett & Adam Ellis) 4th - 2022 - Herxheim 29/47pts (with Chris Harris, James Shanes) 5th
- 2023 -
Roden 12/49pts (with Chris Harris, Andrew Appleton) 3rd - 2024 - Morizès 14/46pts (with Chris Harris, Andrew Appleton, Edward Kennett) 3rd
European Grasstrack Championship
edit| Year | Venue | Points | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Semi-finalist | ||
| 2016 | Semi-finalist | ||
| 2017 | Did not compete | ||
| 2018 |  Tayac |
16 | 3rd |
| 2019 |  Bad Hersfeld |
18 | Champion |
| 2020 | Did not compete |
References
edit- ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "Speedway: Zach Wajtknecht scoops prestigious award for young riders". Sky Sports. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- ^ "DOUBLE WORLD CHAMP JOINS BRUMMIES". Birmingham Brummies. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ "2015 National League Fours" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ "SPEEDWAY: Zach Wajtknecht on fire as he inspires the Sprockets". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- ^ "Results: Thursday July 6", speedwaygb.co, 6 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017
- ^ "Zach Ruled Out", speedwaygb.co, 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017
- ^ "Zach Wajtknecht". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Zach Wajknecht explains the reasons behind his exit from speedway - and fails to rule out a return in the future". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- ^ "King Mat, champ Zach". Speedway Star. 17 September 2022. p. 20.
- ^ "24 September 2023 in Roden". Bahn Sport (In Dutch). Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ "Storming Smolinski retains FIM Long Track World Championship". FIM Long Track. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
- ^ "Lukas Fienhage fährt auf dritten Rang". NWZ online. Retrieved 29 September 2024.