Golden Helmet of Pardubice

For the speedway team, see AMK Zlatá Přilba Pardubice.

The Golden Helmet of Pardubice (Czech: Zlatá přilba) is a motorcycle speedway competition hosted annually in Pardubice, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest motorcycle speedway race in Europe and is considered prestigious.^[1]

Golden Helmet of Pardubice

Golden Helmet of Pardubice in 1938
Sport	Motorcycle speedway
Founded	1929
Most recent champion(s)	Timo Lahti
Most titles	Ole Olsen (7 times)

History

The race was established by three motorsport enthusiasts František Hladěna, Adolf Trnka and Ladislav Polák in 1929. The first 15 events of the Golden Helmet race were held on the 2.4 km (1.5 mi) long turf racetrack of Velká pardubická Steeplechase in Pardubice, from 1929 to 1963. On several occasions the event attracted more than 100,000 fans,^{[citation needed]} but also five riders suffered mortal injuries^{[citation needed]} competing on this dangerous grass track.

Since 1964, the race has been held on the standard flat oval cinder track of the Svítkov Stadium in Pardubice.

Race format

In the first round, 24 riders are divided into four groups of six. Three riders advance from each group to the quarterfinal stage, where they join 12 seeded riders. In the quarterfinal, the same format sees three riders from each group progressing to the semi final. In the semi final two groups of six riders race three times with the top three riders from each group progressing to the final.^[2] The wide track of Pardubice enables up to six riders to compete in the event instead of the conventional four.

Past winners

Year	Date of Competition	Winner	Nation.	Runner-up	Nation.	3rd place	Nation.
1.	29.09.1929	Zdeněk Pohl		Robert Uvíra		Josef Hájek
2.	31.08.1930	Josef Antun Štrban		Hans Hieronymus		Míťa Vychodil
3.	06.09.1931	Rudi Klein		Josef Riha		Antun Uroić
4.	25.09.1932	Hans Mayer		Hans Winkler		Josef Antun Štrban
5.	01.10.1933	Hans Walter Buttler		Erich Bertram		Hans Winkler
6.	02.09.1934	Gerrit van Dijk		Hermann Gunzenhauser		Arend Hartman
7.	15.09.1935	Herman Gunzenhauser		Erich Bertram		Leopold Killmeyer
8.	27.09.1936	Herman Gunzenhauser		Hans Walter Buttler		Erich Bertram
9.	04.09.1938	František Juhan		Václav Stanislav		Jan Lucák
The race was not run in 1939 - 1946 due to German occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938 - 1945).
10.	07.09.1947	Hugo Rosák		Karl Killmeyer		Miloslav Špinka
11.	04.09.1949	Fritz Dirtl		Hugo Rosák		Gerrit van Dijk
12.	09.09.1951	Jan Lucák		Hans Zierk		Antonín Švarc
The race was not run in 1952 - 1960 due to lack of support to Speedway competitions from communist government in Czechoslovakia at that time.
13.	20.08.1961	Oldřich Klaudinger		Jiří Jasanský		Ervín Krajčovič
14.	16.09.1962	Josef Seidl		Jaroslav Machač		Antonín Šváb Sr.
15.	15.09.1963	Antonín Kasper Sr.		Martin Tatum		Ervín Krajčovič
16.	06.09.1964	Igor Plechanov		Antonín Kasper Sr.		Boris Samorodov
17.	12.09.1965	Farit Šajnurov		Stanislav Kubíček		Antonín Kasper Sr.
18.	18.09.1966	Igor Plechanov		Barry Briggs		Boris Samorodov
19.	10.09.1967	Ove Fundin		Barry Briggs		Antonín Kasper Sr.
20.	20.10.1968	Leif Enecrona		Ove Fundin		František Ledecký
21.	18.09.1969	Gennady Kurilenko		Valeri Klementiev		Miloslav Verner
22.	27.09.1970	Ole Olsen		Miloslav Verner		Vladimir Gordeev
23.	19.09.1971	Ole Olsen		Jim Airey		Hans Jürgen Fritz
24.	01.10.1972	Ole Olsen		Ivan Mauger		Genadij Ivanov
25.	22.09.1973	Milan Špinka		Ole Olsen		Ivan Mauger
26.	22.09.1974	Jiří Štancl		Ivan Mauger		Genadij Ivanov
27.	05.10.1975	Ole Olsen		Ivan Mauger		Jiří Štancl
28.	03.10.1976	Jiří Štancl		Ole Olsen		Ivan Mauger
29.	02.10.1977	Ole Olsen		Jiří Štancl		Aleš Dryml Sr.
30.	01.10.1978	Jiří Štancl[3]		Michael Lee		Ole Olsen
31.	30.09.1979	Ole Olsen		Michael Lee		Jiří Štancl
32.	28.09.1980	Ole Olsen		Aleš Dryml Sr.		Bobby Schwartz
33.	27.09.1981	Jiří Štancl		Aleš Dryml Sr.		Viktor Kuznetsov
34.	26.09.1982	Jiří Štancl		Roman Jankowski		Aleš Dryml Sr.
35.	25.09.1983	Dennis Sigalos		Jiří Štancl		Ole Olsen
36.	23.09.1984	John Davis		Lance King		Jiří Štancl
37.	22.09.1985	Erik Gundersen[4]		Antonín Kasper Jr.		Simon Wigg
38.	21.09.1986	Erik Gundersen		Kelvin Tatum		Sam Ermolenko
39.	27.09.1987	Hans Nielsen[5]		Kelvin Tatum		Per Jonsson
40.	02.10.1988	Per Jonsson		Roman Matoušek		Jeremy Doncaster
41.	24.09.1989	Jeremy Doncaster[6]		Roman Matoušek		Tony Olsson
42.	30.09.1990	Jeremy Doncaster[7]		Antonín Kasper Jr.		Zdeněk Tesař
43.	29.09.1991	Antonín Kasper Jr.[8]		Ronnie Correy		Jeremy Doncaster
44.	27.09.1992	Tony Rickardsson[9]		Antonín Kasper Jr.		Mitch Shirra
45.	03.10.1993	Tony Rickardsson		Leigh Adams		Armando Castagna
46.	11.09.1994	Simon Wigg		Chris Louis		Tony Rickardsson
47.	04.09.1995	Tony Rickardsson		Tomáš Topinka		Hans Nielsen
48.	29.09.1996	Tomáš Topinka[10]		Simon Wigg		Chris Louis
49.	05.10.1997	Ryan Sullivan		Tony Rickardsson		Mark Loram
50.	04.10.1998	Hans Nielsen		Tony Rickardsson		Brian Andersen
51.	03.10.1999	Leigh Adams		Tony Rickardsson		Ryan Sullivan
52.	15.10.2000	Leigh Adams		Greg Hancock		Todd Wiltshire
53.	07.10.2001	Leigh Adams		Marian Jirout		Mark Loram
54.	06.10.2002	Jason Crump		Matej Zagar		Lee Richardson
55.	27.09.2003	Ryan Sullivan		Jason Crump		Lee Richardson
56.	26.09.2004	Leigh Adams[11]		Aleš Dryml Jr.		Hans N. Andersen
57.	02.10.2005	Scott Nicholls		Nicki Pedersen		Aleš Dryml Jr.
58.	17.10.2006	Jason Crump		Hans N. Andersen		Nicki Pedersen
59.	10.10.2007	Andreas Jonsson		Rune Holta		Kenneth Bjerre
60.	05.10.2008	Hans N. Andersen[12]		Leigh Adams		Matej Ferjan
61.	04.10.2009	Rune Holta		Grzegorz Walasek		Davey Watt
62.	03.10.2010	Nicki Pedersen		Fredrik Lindgren		Andreas Jonsson
63.	02.10.2011	Rune Holta[13]		Antonio Lindbäck		Piotr Pawlicki
64.	14.10.2012	Grzegorz Walasek		Fredrik Lindgren		Hans N. Andersen
65.	29.9.2013	Darcy Ward[14]		Greg Hancock		Przemysław Pawlicki
66.	05.10.2014	Chris Holder		Fredrik Lindgren		Jurica Pavlic
67.	20.09.2015	Jurica Pavlic[15]		Troy Batchelor		Martin Smolinski
68.	19.09.2016	Emil Sayfutdinov[16]		Rune Holta		Martin Smolinski
69.	01.10.2017	Václav Milík Jr.[17]		Rune Holta		Max Fricke
70.	30.09.2018	Jason Doyle[18]		Martin Vaculík		Václav Milík Jr.
71.	06.10.2019	Jason Doyle[19]		Andžejs Ļebedevs		Patryk Dudek
72.	04.10.2020	Jason Doyle[20]		Jan Kvěch		Brady Kurtz
73.	03.10.2021	Patryk Dudek[21]		Jason Doyle		Timo Lahti
74.	25.09.2022	Dan Bewley[22]		Václav Milík		Rasmus Jensen
75.	24.09.2023	Timo Lahti		Jakub Jamróg		Dimitri Berge
76.	06.10.2024	Rasmus Jensen		Robert Chmiel		Mathias Pollestad

Statistics

Speedway World Champions winning Golden Helmet

Below is a list of Speedway World Champions who have also won Golden Helmet of Pardubice.

Rider	Nation	Golden Helmets	World Championships
Ole Olsen		7	3
Tony Rickardsson		3	6
Jason Doyle		3	1
Hans Nielsen		2	4
Erik Gundersen		2	3
Jason Crump		2	3
Ove Fundin		1	5
Nicki Pedersen		1	3
Per Jonsson		1	1
Chris Holder		1	1

Speedway World Champions starting at Golden Helmet but never winning the race

Below is a list of Speedway World Champions that have started at Golden Helmet of Pardubice race but never won the trophy.

Rider	Nation	Golden Helmets	World Championships
Ivan Mauger		0	6
Barry Briggs		0	4
Greg Hancock		0	4
Tai Woffinden		0	3
Jerzy Szczakiel		0	1
Michael Lee		0	1
Sam Ermolenko		0	1
Mark Loram		0	1
Tomasz Gollob		0	1

Multiple Golden Helmet winners

Below is a list of multiple Golden Helmet winners.

Rider	Nation	Golden Helmets
Ole Olsen		7
Jiří Štancl		5
Leigh Adams		4
Tony Rickardsson		3
Jason Doyle		3
Herman Gunzenhauser		2
Igor Plechanov		2
Erik Gundersen		2
Hans Nielsen		2
Jeremy Doncaster		2
Ryan Sullivan		2
Jason Crump		2
Rune Holta		2

Golden Helmet by Countries

	Country	Riders	Total
1	Denmark	6	14
2	Czechoslovakia	8	13
	Australia	6	13
4	Sweden	5	7
5	United Kingdom	5	6
6	Soviet Union	3	4
	Poland	3	4
8	Nazi Germany	2	3
9	Austria	2	2
	Germany	2	2
	Czech Republic	2	2
12	Yugoslavia	1	1
	Netherlands	1	1
	United States	1	1
	Croatia	1	1
	Russia	1	1
	Finland	1	1