Gerd Riss

Gerd Riss
Born (1965-03-17) 17 March 1965 (age 59)
Bad Wurzach, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Career history
Germany
1983–1984Krumbach
1987Pocking
1988–1992Landshut
1995–2004Diedenbergen
Great Britain
1984Poole Pirates
1985Wolverhampton Wolves
1988Ipswich Witches
Poland
1999Bydgoszcz
Individual honours
1991, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009Long Track World champion
1987, 1990Continental champion
1986West German champion
1992, 1994, 1996German champion
1988West German Longtrack champion
1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009German Longtrack champion
Team honours
2007, 2008, 2009Team Long Track World Championship
1998, 2001German Championship

Gerd Riss (born 17 March 1965) is a German former speedway rider. He competed in motorcycle speedway and longtrack racing.[1] He is an eight-times World longtrack champion.[2] He also earned 22 international caps for the West German national speedway team and 12 international caps for the German national speedway team.[3]

Career

Riss reached his first world longtrack final in 1984, finishing a creditable sixth behind Erik Gundersen, at the Sandbahn Rennen Herxheim in Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz, Germany.[4] He rode for MC Krumbach in 1983 and 1984 and started for the first time in the British leagues when he joined Poole Pirates for the 1984 British League season.[5] Riss joined Wolverhampton Wolves in 1985 but left mid-way through the season.[6]

Riss consistently reached the World longtrack final every year from 1984 until 1997 and in 1987 also appeared in the 1987 Individual Speedway World Championship final at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.[2]

Riss represented his country in four consecutive Speedway World Pairs Championship finals from 1988 until 1991[7] and was a member of German national team at the 2001 Speedway World Cup.

He cemented his place as being arguably the second best longtrack rider in the world behind Simon Wigg by winning the crown in 1991 and 1996. When the world championships of both the conventional oval and longtrack switched to a Grand Prix series, riders found it virtually impossible to compete in both. Riss decided to concentrate on longtrack and the decision paid dividends because he dominated longtrack speedway, winning six more world titles in 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009, to set a record of eight championship wins. Only Robert Barth prevented him from claiming more during the period.

In 2014, He was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.[8]

Results

World final appearances

Individual World Championship/Grand Prix

World Pairs Championship

World Under-21 Championship

World Longtrack Championship

Best Grand-Prix results

Other results

West Germany Longtrack Championship

German Championship

Grasstrack European Championship

Family

Both of his sons Erik Riss and Mark Riss ride at the highest level.[9]

References

  1. ^ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 528. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  2. ^ a b "Gerd Riss". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Ultimate Rider Index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Speedway and Longtrack". Speedway.org. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  5. ^ "1984 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  6. ^ "battle of the Pairs". Sports Argus. 29 June 1985. Retrieved 24 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Best Pairs International Championship FIM". Historis Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  8. ^ "FIM Legends". fim-live.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Rider index". Speedway GB. Retrieved 20 June 2021.