The Austria national speedway team are one of the teams that compete in international team motorcycle speedway.
History The Austrian speedway team competed in the inaugural Speedway World Team Cup in 1960, finishing third in the central European round.
With the exception of a three year spell from 1967 to 1969, Austria were ever present in the World Team Cup from 1960 to 2000. However, they were one of the weaker nations and struggled to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.
The team fared better in the World Pairs Championship, reaching finals in 1971 and 1975.
Since 2001, Austria have struggled further and have in the majority of cases failed to qualify for the World Cup or the Speedway of Nations (introduced in 2018). Their last significant appearance was in the final of the European Pairs Speedway Championship in 2016.
Major world finals World Pairs Championships YearVenueStandings (Pts)RidersPts1971RybnikRybnik Municipal Stadium1. Poland (30)2. New Zealand (25) 3. Sweden (22)4. Czechoslovakia (17)5. Scotland (16)6. Yugoslavia (10)7. Austria (6) Josef Haider 4 Meinz Zimmerman 21975WrocławStadion Olimpijski1. Sweden (24)2. Poland (23) 3. Denmark (20)4. England (20) 5. Australia (19)6. West Germany (10)7. Austria (10) Adi Funk 6 Herbert Szerecs 4
International caps (as of 2022) 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. This means that the number of caps earned by a rider has decreased in the modern era.
RiderCapsBössner, Andreas 20Bössner, Josef Dirtl, Fritz Fiala, Johannes Funk, Adi 25Gappmaier, Dany Grubmuller, Walter 7 Haider, Josef Hauzinger, Manuel 2Kamper, Josef Killmeyer, Leopold 3Leitner, Franz 9Novotny, Manuel Ozelt, Mario Pilotto, Toni 25Schaaf, Alexander Szerecs, Herbert Simon, Lukas Sitzwohl, Alfred 2Wallner, Fritz Zimmerman, Meinz Zorn, Franz
References
See also Speedway Grand Prix of Austria Austrian Individual Speedway Championship