Zach Wajtknecht (born 8 February 1998) is a British

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

rider.

Career

At 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. Wajtknecht was handed his big break in

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

by the newly reformed

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

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 Lea ...

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 Speedway Grand Prix are a series of stand-alone motorcycle speedway events over the course of a season used to determine the Speedway World Champion. The series started in 1995 replacing the previous format of a single event final. The first win ...

series. Morris described Wajtknecht as having "what it takes to enjoy a very successful speedway career" In 2017, he won the British Under-19 Championship at Plymouth. His 2017 season was cut short in July when a crash at Swindon resulted in a ruptured spleen and punctured lung. In 2019, he was the European Grasstrack champion. In 2022, he finished second for the World Longtrack title, finishing 28 points behind

Mathieu Trésarrieu Mathieu "Mat" Trésarrieu (born 2 March 1986) is a French motorcycle speedway rider who competes in Speedway, Longtrack and Grasstrack. He is a two times World Longtrack Champion and is a three-time speedway champion of France. Biography Trés ...

in the 2022 Individual Long Track World Championship.

Results

Speedway

British League Record

Grasstrack

European Championship

British Masters

Longtrack

World Championship Grand-Prix

* 2019 - 2 apps (14th) 25pts * 2020 - 2 apps (4th) 32pts * 2021 - 2 apps (15th) 8pts * 2022 - 6 apps (2nd) 88pts

World Team Championship

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

- Morizes 6/46pts (with

James Shanes James Shanes (born 17 March 1997) is a British speedway rider and also competes in Grasstrack and Longtrack speedway. He is a four times British Masters Grasstrack Champion, 2 times European Grasstrack Champion and world long track competitor. ...

Adam Ellis Adam Ellis (born 21 March 1996) is a British grasstrack and speedway rider and former British champion. Biography Born in Marmande, France, Ellis began grasstrack racing in 2009, going on to finish second in the 250cc French Grasstrack Champ ...

& Chris Harris) 2nd *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

- Vechta 16/41pts (with Chris Harris,

Edward Kennett Edward David Kennett (born 28 August 1986 in Hastings, England) is a motorcycle speedway rider. He was the British Under-21 Champion in 2005 and has appeared in two Speedway Grand Prix as a wild card. Kennett's father Dave, was a motorcycle s ...

) 4th *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

- Herxheim 29/47pts (with Chris Harris,

) 5th

References

External links

Zach on GrasstrackGB

Zach on British Speedway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wajtknecht, Zach 1998 births Living people English motorcycle racers British speedway riders Birmingham Brummies riders Somerset Rebels riders Lakeside Hammers riders Swindon Robins riders