Poland national speedway team

Poland
National speedway team with the President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński
Nickname(s)	Biało-czerwoni ("The white and reds") Białe Orły ("The White Eagles")
Association	Polish Motor Union Polski Związek Motorowy
FIM code	PZM
Nation colour	White and Red
SWC Wins	14 (1961, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1996, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2023)

The Poland national speedway team is the national motorcycle speedway team of Poland and is controlled by the Polish Motor Union (PZM). They are one of the most successful speedway nations of all time.

The Polish speedway team participated in the inaugural Speedway World Team Cup, being seeded through to the final of the 1960 Speedway World Team Cup.^[1] The team were a major force in the opening decade of the tournament, winning the World Team Cup in 1961, 1965, 1966 and 1969, with only the Swedish team winning more World Cups.^[2]

In the 1970s, the team continued to be one of the major forces in Eastern Europe and qualified for the World Team Cup final every year from 1970 to 1979. Andrzej Wyglenda and Jerzy Szczakiel also won the 1971 Speedway World Pairs Championship.^[3] However, during the 1980s the team began to struggle against the best nations and only managed two finals in 1980 and 1984.

It was not until the mid-1990s and the arrival of Tomasz Gollob that Poland began to challenge the best nations. The team won the silver medal at the 1994 Speedway World Team Cup (their first final for 10 years). They then won the World Team Cup for the sixth time in 1996 (27 years after their last win).

In 2001, the Speedway World Team Cup was rebranded the Speedway World Cup and Poland began to experience a boom in terms of spectator numbers, which led to an influx of new riders. The team reached the World Cup final every year from 2001 to 2017 (except for 2006 and 2012) and dominated world speedway by winning the title eight times, in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2017.^[4]

Poland's speedway team was awarded the Team of the Year in Poland by Przegląd Sportowy in 2009 and 2010.^[5]

Although the team failed to win the Speedway of Nations from 2018 to 2022, they did win the World Cup when it returned in 2023. The World Cup win was their 14th World Team Championship (one behind Denmark in the all time standings).^[6]

Year	Venue	Standings (Pts)	Riders	Pts
1961	Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski	1. Poland (32) 2. Sweden (31) 3. England (21) 4. Czechoslovakia (12)	Marian Kaiser	10
			Henryk Żyto	7
			Florian Kapała	6
			Mieczysław Połukard	5
			Stanisław Tkocz	4
1965	Kempten Kempten Speedway	1. Poland (38) 2. Sweden (34) 3. Great Britain (18) 4. Soviet Union (7)	Andrzej Pogorzelski	11
			Andrzej Wyglenda	11
			Antoni Woryna	9
			Zbigniew Podlecki	7
1966	Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski	1. Poland (40) 2. Soviet Union (26) 3. Sweden (22) 4. Great Britain (8)	Andrzej Wyglenda	11
			Antoni Woryna	10
			Marian Rose	10
			Andrzej Pogorzelski	8
1969	Rybnik Rybnik Municipal Stadium	1. Poland (31) 2. Great Britain (23) 3. Soviet Union (23) 4. Sweden (12)	Andrzej Wyglenda	11
			Edward Jancarz	11
			Stanisław Tkoc	4
			Henryk Glücklich	3
			Andrzej Pogorzelski	2
1996	Diedenbergen Speedway Diedenbergen	1. Poland (27) 2. Russia (22) 3. Denmark (21) 4. Germany (20) 5. Sweden (14) 6. Great Britain (12) 7. Hungary (9)	Tomasz Gollob	15
			Sławomir Drabik	12
			Piotr Protasiewicz	0
2005	Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski	1. Poland (62) 2. Sweden (34) 3. Denmark (31) 4. Great Britain (27)	Tomasz Gollob	14
			Jarosław Hampel	13
			Piotr Protasiewicz	13
			Rune Holta	12
			Grzegorz Walasek	10
2007	Leszno Alfred Smoczyk Stadium	1. Poland (55) 2. Denmark (52) 3. Australia (29) 4. Great Britain (15)	Krzysztof Kasprzak	14
			Jarosław Hampel	13
			Tomasz Gollob	12
			Rune Holta	12
			Damian Baliński	4
2009	Leszno Alfred Smoczyk Stadium	1. Poland (44) 2. Australia (43) 3. Sweden (36) 4. Russia (35)	Jarosław Hampel	18
			Krzysztof Kasprzak	10
			Adrian Miedziński	7
			Tomasz Gollob	6
			Piotr Protasiewicz	3
2010	Vojens Vojens Speedway Center	1. Poland (44) 2. Denmark (39) 3. Sweden (35) 4. Great Britain (33)	Tomasz Gollob	12
			Jarosław Hampel	11
			Rune Holta	10
			Janusz Kołodziej	6
			Adrian Miedziński	5
2011	Gorzów Wielkopolski Edward Jancarz Stadium	1. Poland (51) 2. Australia (45) 3. Sweden (30) 4. Denmark (29)	Tomasz Gollob	17
			Jarosław Hampel	11
			Krzysztof Kasprzak	8
			Piotr Protasiewicz	8
			Janusz Kołodziej	7
2013	Prague Markéta Stadium	1. Poland (31) 2. Denmark (40) 3. Australia (33) 4. Czech Republic (12)	Jarosław Hampel	15
			Maciej Janowski	12
			Krzysztof Kasprzak	7
			Patryk Dudek	7
2016	Manchester National Speedway Stadium	1. Poland (39) 2. Great Britain (32) 3. Sweden (27) 4. Australia (22)	Bartosz Zmarzlik	11
			Patryk Dudek	10
			Piotr Pawlicki Jr.	10
			Krzysztof Kasprzak	8
2017	Leszno Alfred Smoczyk Stadium	1. Poland (50) 2. Sweden (27) 3. Russia (18) 4. Great Britain (15)	Maciej Janowski	14
			Bartosz Zmarzlik	13
			Piotr Pawlicki Jr.	13
			Patryk Dudek	10
2023	Wrocław Stadion Olimpijski	1. Poland (33) 2. Great Britain (31) 3. Denmark (29) 4. Australia (27)	Bartosz Zmarzlik	11
			Dominik Kubera	9
			Maciej Janowski	7
			Patryk Dudek	6
			Janusz Kołodziej	0

Year	Venue	Standings (Pts)	Riders	Pts
1971	Rybnik Rybnik Municipal Stadium	1. Poland (30) 2. New Zealand (25) 3. Sweden (22) 4. Czechoslovakia (17) 5. Scotland (16) 6. Yugoslavia (10) 7. Austria (6)	Andrzej Wyglenda	15
			Jerzy Szczakiel	15

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.^[7]

• Speedway in Poland