Jan Holub I

Jan Holub I (12 August 1942 – 18 February 2018) was a Czech motorcycle speedway rider. He was capped 12 times by the Czechoslovak national speedway team.^[1]

Jan Holub I

Born	(1942-08-12)12 August 1942 České Budějovice, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Died	18 February 2018(2018-02-18) (aged 75) České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Nationality	Czech
Career history
Czechoslovakia
1968	Prague
1969	Slaný
Great Britain
1969-1970	Exeter Falcons
Individual honours
1968, 1969	Czechoslovak champion

Speedway career

Holub was a two times champion of the Czechoslovakia, winning the 1968 and 1969 Czechoslovak Individual Speedway Championship.^[2][3][4]

In 1967, he was part of the Prague team that toured the United Kingdom^[5] and 1968, where he starred alongside Antonín Kasper Sr. and Antonín Šváb Sr.^[6]

He rode in the top tier of British Speedway riding for Exeter Falcons from 1969 until 1970.^[7]

Holub reached three Speedway World Pairs Championship finals, the third was in 1974 when partnered Jan Hadek to the final at the 1974 Speedway World Pairs Championship,^[8] which was won by Sweden.

In 1977, the Bristol Bulldogs team manager Pat Tapson unsuccessfully asked the Czech authorities to allow Holub and Jan Hadek to compete in the British leagues.^[9]

World Final appearances

World Pairs Championship

• 1969 - Stockholm (with Zdeněk Majstr) - 5th - 12pts (8)
• 1972 - Borås (with Jiří Štancl) - 6th - 12pts (5)
• 1974 – Manchester, Hyde Road (with Jan Hadek) – 7th – 6pts (3)

World Team Cup

• 1968 - London, Wembley Stadium (with Antonín Kasper Sr. / Luboš Tomíček Sr. / Jaroslav Volf) - 4th - 7pts
• 1970 - London, Wembley Stadium (with Zdeněk Majstr / Jiří Štancl / Miloslav Verner / Václav Verner) - 4th - 3pts