Tomasz Robert Gollob ([ˈtɔmaʂ ˈɡɔlːɔp] ⓘ; born 11 April 1971 in Bydgoszcz, Poland)[1] is a former Polish motorcycle speedway rider.[2] He appeared in every Speedway Grand Prix series between its inaugural season in 1995 and 2013. His brother Jacek is also a speedway rider.
Career summary edit
Tomasz Gollob spent almost all of his career with hometown club Bydgoszcz until he moved to Unia Tarnów in 2004. He has won the Polish Individual Championship eight times (between 1992 and 2009) and the Polish Pairs Championship ten times. He has also won the Polish Grand Prix eight times in thirteen years. He clinched the Speedway World Championship in 2010 after securing the championship in Terenzano, Italy. He is only the second Pole to ever win the World Championship, following in the footsteps of Jerzy Szczakiel who won in 1973.
Gollob also spent some time in Australia in the early-mid 1990s based at the North Arm Speedway in Adelaide. While In Australia, Gollob would race against many of his future World Championship rivals including Jason Crump, Leigh Adams, and Ryan Sullivan. Gollob is the only World Champion to win the Jack Young Solo Cup held in Adelaide each year in memory of Australia's 1951 and 1952 World Champion, Jack Young. He won the cup in 1995 at North Arm.
On 28 July 1996 he won the Continental Final, which formed part of the 1997 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification.[3]
Gollob was also a member of the Poland speedway team that won the World Team Cup in 1996 and the World Cup in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011.
In 2007 Gollob survived a plane crash with fellow rider Rune Holta. The plane, flown by his father Władysław, crashed on the way to a speedway meeting at Tarnów. Gollob escaped with cuts and bruises after pulling his father from the wreckage.[4]
In 2017 Gollob suffered serious injuries to head and spine in a motocross accident during a MX event in Northern Poland.[5]
For his sport achievements, he received the Order of Polonia Restituta:
Knight's Cross (5th Class) in 2000
Officer's Cross (4th Class) in 2007
Commander's Cross (2010)
World final appearances edit
Individual World Championship edit
- 1993 -
Pocking, Rottalstadion - 7th - 8pts - 1994 -
Vojens, Speedway Center - 16th - 0pts[6]
World Pairs Championship edit
- 1993 - Vojens, Speedway Center (with Piotr Świst / Piotr Baron) - 5th - 15pts (15)
World Team Cup edit
- 1994 - Brokstedt, Holsteinring Brokstedt - 2nd - 20pts (16)
- 1995 -
Bydgoszcz, Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium - 6th - 13pts (12) - 1996 - Diedenbergen, Hofheim-Diedenbergen - Winner - 27pts (15)
- 1997 - Piła, Stadion Żużlowy Centrum - 2nd - 25pts (13)
- 1998 - Vojens, Speedway Center - 4th - 17pts (15)
World Cup edit
- 2001 - Wrocław, Olympic Stadium - 2nd - 65pts (27)
- 2002 -
Peterborough, East of England Showground - 4th - 48pts (17) - 2003 - Vojens, Speedway Center - 4th - 49pts (20)
- 2004 - Poole, Poole Stadium - 4th - 22pts (1)
- 2005 - Wrocław, Olympic Stadium - Winner - 62pts
- 2007 - Leszno, Alfred Smoczyk Stadium - Winner - 55pts
- 2008 - Vojens, Speedway Center - 2nd - 46pts
- 2009 - Leszno, Alfred Smoczyk Stadium - Winner - 44pts
- 2010 - Vojens, Speedway Center - Winner - 46pts
Individual Under-21 World Championship edit
- 1992 - Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Speedway Stadion Pfaffenhofen - 5th - 10pts
Speedway Grand Prix results edit
| Year | Position | Points | Best Finish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3rd | 97 | Winner | Won Polish Grand Prix |
| 1999 | 2nd | 98 | Winner | Won in Czech Republic and Polish Grand Prix |
| 2000 | 7th | 64 | 5th | |
| 2001 | 3rd | 89 | Winner | Won the German Grand Prix |
| 2002 | 7th | 117 | Winner | Won Polish Grand Prix |
| 2003 | 6th | 111 | Winner | Won Polish Grand Prix |
| 2004 | 6th | 113 | Winner | Won Polish Grand Prix |
| 2005 | 7th | 83 | Winner | Won Polish Grand Prix |
| 2006 | 8th | 94 | 3rd | Third in Slovenian, Swedish and Polish Grand Prix |
| 2007 | 4th | 108 | Winner | Won Polish Grand Prix |
| 2008 | 3rd | 148 | Winner | Won Slovenian, Danish and German Grand Prix |
| 2009 | 2nd | 144 | Winner | Won Scandinavian and Italian Grand Prix |
| 2010 | 1st | 166 | Winner | Won Czech Republic, Polish, Nordic and Italian Grand Prix |
| 2011 | 5th | 106 | Winner | Won Danish Grand Prix |
| 2012 | 4th | 142 | Winner | Won Scandinavian Grand Prix |
| 2013 | 9th | 89 | 2nd | Second in New Zealand Grand Prix |
Family edit
Tomasz Gollob has two brothers and one sister[7]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0
- ^ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 519. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
- ^ "Individual Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ "Gollob survives plane crash drama". Evening Star. 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
- ^ "Doctors 'very cautious' about Tomasz Gollob, former world champion in induced coma after crash". 24 April 2017.
- ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
- ^ "GollobRacing.com - Oficjalny serwis Tomasza Golloba".
External links edit
Media related to Tomasz Gollob at Wikimedia Commons
| 2011 Speedway Grand Prix riders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gollob
|
2 | Hampel
|
3 |  Crump
|
4 | Holta
|
5 |  Hancock
|
| 6 |  Harris
|
7 |  Bjerre
|
8 | Holder
|
9 |  Jonsson
|
10 | Pedersen
|
| 11 | Lindgren
|
12 |  Sayfutdinov
|
13 | Laguta
|
14 | Lindbäck
|
15 | Kołodziej
|