Zach Wajtknecht

Zach Wajtknecht (born 8 February 1998) is a motorcycle speedway rider from Great Britain.[1]

Zach Wajtknecht
Born (1998-02-08) 8 February 1998
Saltford, Bristol, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
2015–2016Birmingham Brummies
2016Somerset Rebels
2017Lakeside Hammers
2017Swindon Robins
2018Lakeside Hammers
2019Birmingham Brummies
Individual honours
2022World longtrack silver medal
2012, 2013FIM 125cc Youth Gold Trophy Champion
2013British 250cc Youth Champion
2014FIM 250cc Longtrack Youth World Cup
2017British Under-19 Champion
2019European Grasstrack Champion
2018British Grasstrack Champion
2016British Sand Ace Championship
Team honours
2018World Longtrack Team silver
2023World Longtrack Team bronze
2015National League
2015National League Fours
2017SGB Premiership

Career

At an early age Wajtknecht became a double World Champion, twice triumphing in the FIM 125cc Grasstrack Youth Gold Trophy. He followed up these successes by being crowned British 250cc Youth Champion in 2013 and winner of the FIM 250cc Longtrack Youth World Cup in 2014. These successes led to Zach being awarded the prestigious Pinhard trophy, a trophy he described himself as being "over the moon" to win.[2]

Wajtknecht was handed his big break in speedway by the newly reformed National League Birmingham Brummies ahead of the 2015 season, the team's first season in the third tier of British Speedway. The team was put together by former manager Phil Morris, the newly appointed FIM Race Director for the Speedway Grand Prix series. Morris described Wajtknecht as having "what it takes to enjoy a very successful speedway career"[3] He was part of the Birmingham team that won the league title during the 2015 National League speedway season and the National League Fours, held on 14 June 2015 at Brandon Stadium.[4]

In 2017, he won the British Under-19 Championship at Plymouth.[5] His 2017 season was cut short in July when a crash at Swindon resulted in a ruptured spleen and punctured lung.[6]

In 2019, he was the European Grasstrack champion.[7]

In 2022, he finished second for the World Longtrack title, finishing 28 points behind Mathieu Trésarrieu in the 2022 Individual Long Track World Championship.[8] In 2023, he was part of the British longtrack team, along with Chris Harris and Andrew Appleton, that won the bronze medal at the 2023 Team Long Track World Championship.[9]

Results

Speedway

British League Record

Year Team Matches Rides Points Bonus Total Average Full
Maximum		 Paid
Maximum
2015Sheffield Tigers394152.22
2016Somerset Rebels1548317383.17
2017Swindon Robins1981652594.44
2018Swindon Robins22106114221365.13
2018Lakeside Hammers24104126181445.54
2019Birmingham Brummies835505556.29
2019Swindon Robins940170171.70

European Championship
Year Venue Points Pos
2015Semi-finalist
2016Semi-finalist
2017Did not compete
2018France Tayac163rd
2019Germany Bad Hersfeld18Champion
2020Did not compete

British Masters
Year Venue Points Pos
2015United Kingdom Wimborne1614th
2018United Kingdom Gawsworth37Champion

World Championship Grand-Prix
  • 2019 - 2 apps (14th) 25pts
  • 2020 - 2 apps (4th) 32pts
  • 2021 - 2 apps (15th) 8pts
  • 2022 - 6 apps (2nd) 88pts

World Team Championship

References
  1. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  2. "Speedway: Zach Wajtknecht scoops prestigious award for young riders". Sky Sports. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  3. "DOUBLE WORLD CHAMP JOINS BRUMMIES". Birmingham Brummies. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  4. "2015 National League Fours" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  5. "Results: Thursday July 6", speedwaygb.co, 6 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017
  6. "Zach Ruled Out", speedwaygb.co, 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017
  7. "Zach Wajtknecht". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  8. "King Mat, champ Zach". Speedway Star page 20. 17 September 2022.
  9. "24 September 2023 in Roden". Bahn Sport (In Dutch). Retrieved 25 September 2023.
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