Rafał Kurmański

Rafał Kurmański
Born22 August 1982
Poland
Died30 May 2004(2004-05-30) (aged 21)
Zielona Góra, Poland
NationalityPolish
Career history
Poland
1999–2004Zielona Góra
Great Britain
2004Swindon Robins
Individual honours
2001 - 2nd placeU-19 European Championship
Team honours
2001Polish Pairs U-21 Champion

Rafał Kurmański ['rafaw kurˈmaɲskʲi] ⓘ (22 August 1982 – 30 May 2004) was a Polish speedway rider. He earned one international caps for the Poland national speedway team.[1]

Career

Kurmański started his speedway career with Zielona Góra during the 1999 Polish speedway season. He would remain with the club for all six seasons of his short career.[2]

In 2001, he was second in the 2001 Individual Under-19 European Championship.[3]

Kurmański rode for Swindon Robins in the British speedway leagues,[1] participating in the 2004 Elite League speedway season.[4]

In 2004, he took his own life.[5][6]

World Championship results

Speedway Grand Prix results

2003 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 23)
Race no. Grand Prix Pos. Pts. Heats Draw No
1 /9 Europe European SGP 20 3 (1,3,0) 23
  permanent speedway rider
  wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
  rider not classified (track reserve who did not start)

Individual World Championship

  • 2003 - 36th place (3 points)

Individual World U-21 Championship

  • 2002 - 6th place (10 points)
  • 2003 - 7th place (8 points)

Other results

Individual U-19 European Championship

  • 2001 - Runner-up (13 points)

Individual Polish Championship

  • 2001 - 15th place in Semi-Final
  • 2002 - 6th place (7 points)

Polish U-21 Pairs Championship

  • 2001 - Polish Champion
  • 2002 - 2nd place

Team U-21 Polish Championship

Silver Helmet (U-21)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Ultimate Rider Index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Rider Statistics". Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ^ Fedorowicz, Albert. "Żużel. Ból ciągle taki sam a życie płynie dalej. Rafał Kurmański kończyłby dzisiaj 41 lat". Pobandzie. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Rafal Kurmanski". WWOS backup. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Speedway star 'found hanged". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Speedway: Kurmanski death rocks Swindon". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2024.