Jakub 'Kuba' Smrž (born 7 April 1983 in

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

, Czechoslovakia) is a professional

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

road racer Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

. He currently competes in the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

, aboard a

Yamaha YZF-R1 The Yamaha YZF-R1, or simply R1, is a sports motorcycle made by Yamaha. It was first released in 1998, undergoing significant updates in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2018

. For 2017 and 2018 he rode a

BMW S1000RR BMW S1000RR is a race orientated sport bike initially made by BMW Motorrad to compete in the 2009 Superbike World Championship, that is now in commercial production. It was introduced in Munich in April 2008, and is powered by a Inline-four engi ...

in the

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is a road racing championship for superbike class machines in the United Kingdom and acknowledged as the premier domestic s ...

, but in June 2018 he suffered a serious shoulder injury when guest-riding for Czech BMW team Mercury Racing in the

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

eight-hour event in Germany. Luke Hedger rode Smrž' machine in his absence. For 2015 Smrž was contracted to ride a Ducati Panigale in the

for

Moto Rapido Racing __FORCETOC__ Moto Rapido Racing is a motorbike racing team, competing in the British Superbike Championship and British Supersport Championship, winning the 2023 British Supersport Championship, 2023 Championship. History The Moto Rapido Duca ...

, but after a crash and injury in the fourth round at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

, was replaced mid-season by John Hopkins. For the last three races of 2015, Smrž was drafted-in by Shaun Muir Racing to compete aboard a

Yamaha YZF-R1 The Yamaha YZF-R1, or simply R1, is a sports motorcycle made by Yamaha. It was first released in 1998, undergoing significant updates in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2018

Career

He first entered the 125cc World Championship in . He was 17th overall in , then divided his time between 125cc and the 250cc championships in . He remained in the 250cc World Championship until , finishing 12th overall with a best of 7th that year. For he was the surprise choice to replace

Roberto Rolfo Roberto 'Roby' Rolfo (born 23 March 1980) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer. He had his best season in 2003, when he finished in second place in the 250cc World Championship. Rolfo competed in the MotoGP class for one year b ...

at the formerly race-winning SC Caracchi

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

team in the

. On a customer Ducati 999 F05 he frequently troubled the top sixteen in qualifying. He finished the season 14th with a best race result of 8th. For he rode a customer Ducati 1098 RS 08 for the Guandalini Racing by Grifo's team. He finished the 2008 season in 13th place in the championship. For Smrž continued with the Guandalini Racing Team, gaining his first podium finish (3rd) in the fourth round of the season at

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

and first pole position in the eighth round at

Misano Adriatico Misano Adriatico () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southeast of Rimini. Misano Adriatico borders the following municipalities: Cattolic ...

. This time he finished 10th overall. Smrž remained with the team in 2010, running under the B&G moniker after a partnership deal with the former Sterilgarda Ducati team. After a string of mechanical failures midseason, the team switched to an Aprilia bike, marking the first time Smrž had ridden anything other than a Ducati in the class. He was the fastest Aprilia in qualifying at Silverstone. Smrž lives in

Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 75,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice River. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the modern city ...

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

British Superbike Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

fansofsmrz.cz
Official website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smrz, Jakub Superbike World Championship riders British Superbike Championship riders FIM Superstock 1000 Cup riders 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 1983 births Living people Czech motorcycle racers Sportspeople from České Budějovice