Emiliano Diebo Sanchez also known as Poty Sanchez (born 9 December 1977 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

) is a former

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider from Aregtnina, with Italian ancestry. He is three times National Argentinian champion and twice National Italian champion. He has raced internationally for Italy.

Club career

Sanchez started his British racing career with Glasgow Tigers in 1999. He quickly impressed and spent a further two seasons with the Scottish club before moving to England where he rode for Cornish side,

Trelawny Tigers Trelawny Tigers operated as a British Premier League speedway team from 2001 to 2003 at the Clay Country Moto Parc. History The club was formed in 2001, as a replacement for the St Austell Gulls team that had raced at the venue since 1997. ...

. He was part of their side that won the

Premier Trophy The Major League Tournament (formerly known as the Premier Trophy) is the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1938 and has existed under a number of different names. Matches before the 1988–89 seas ...

in 2002. After moving to Hull Vikings he was part of the side that won the league and cup double in his first season in 2004. When Hull folded after the 2005 season, his contract was bought by

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. The Tigers traditionally hold their race ...

and he rode for the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

outfit in 2006. In 2007 he joined the newly reformed

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of British speedway, during the 1952 Speedway National Le ...

, who ride at the

Perry Barr Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Ma ...

Greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tr ...

track, on loan from

. However, he had to have his

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

removed after rupturing it in a track crash. It ended his season and for a time there was uncertainty over his ability to start the 2008 season. In the end he made a full recovery and signed for Stoke Potters. His confidence around their home track at the Loomer Road Stadium suffered and in early June he moved to Scunthorpe Scorpions. In 2009 Sanchez was signed by the

Kings Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" comes from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 1996 when K ...

after the Stars learned that John Oliver would not be returning to the UK from Australia for the 2009 season. Sanchez proved an inspired signing, helping the Stars secure the Premier League Championship and Premier Trophy.

Individual career

Sanchez was the Argentine National Championship in 2000, 2002 and 2012. He also won the Italian National title in 2004 & 2005.

International career

Sanchez has represented Italy at the

Speedway World Cup The Speedway World Cup is an annual speedway event held each year in different countries. The first edition of the competition in the current format was held in 2001 and replaced the old World Team Cup which ran from 1960 until 2000. The last ed ...

three times. In the

2003 Speedway World Cup The 2003 Speedway World Cup (SWC) was the 3rd FIM Speedway World Cup season. The Final took place on 9 August 2003 in Vojens, Denmark. The tournament was won by Sweden (62 pts) and they beat Australia (57 points), host team Denmark (53 pts) and ...

Italy finished 4th out of five teams in the first qualifying round in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. Sanchez scored twelve points. In the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

he led the Italians with 12 points in the first qualifying round held at

Lonigo Lonigo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16,400 inhabitants.Source: ISTAT - Bilancio demografico al 31/12/200 In its ''frazione'' of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani, a Renaissanc ...

in Italy, as they finished in first place and qualified for the semi-finals. Italy finished last in the second semi-final held at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

, England, with Sanchez again topping the Italians scoring with six points. Sanchez rode again for Italy in the

2005 Speedway World Cup The 2005 Speedway World Cup (SWC) was the 5th FIM Speedway World Cup season. The Final took place on August 6, 2005 in the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland. The tournament was won by host team Poland (62 pts) and they beat defending champion ...

when they finished last in the second qualifying round held at Terenzano in Italy. Sanchez again led the Italians with six points. He also rode for Italy in the

2005 European Pairs Speedway Championship The 2005 European Pairs Speedway Championship was the second edition of the European Pairs Speedway Championship. The final was held in Gdańsk, Poland on 12 June. Poland won their first title. Semifinal 1 * Slany * May 7 Semifinal 2 * Krško ...

final held in Gdańsk with the Italians finishing sixth out of seven teams and Sanchez scored six points.

Honours

Club *Trelawny Tigers **

winner: (1) 2002 *Hull Vikings **

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

champion: (1) 2004 **Premier Trophy winner: (1) 2004 **Premier League Fours winner: (1) 2004 **Young Shield winner: (1) 2004 **Rider of the Year: (1) 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Emiliano 1977 births Living people Italian speedway riders Argentine speedway riders Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Glasgow Tigers riders Birmingham Brummies riders Newcastle Diamonds riders Sheffield Tigers riders Stoke Potters riders Scunthorpe Scorpions riders Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England