Milan Špinka

Milan Špinka

Born	(1951-05-05)5 May 1951 Pardubice, Czechoslovakia
Died	14 August 2024(2024-08-14) (aged 73) Czech Republic
Nationality	Czech
Career history
Czechoslovakia
1970–1983	Rudá Hvězda Praha
Great Britain
1979	Ipswich Witches
1979–1980, 1983	Swindon Robins
Individual honours
1974	Ice Speedway World Champion
1973	Golden Helmet of Pardubice

Milan Špinka (5 May 1951 – 14 August 2024) was a Czech speedway rider.^[1][2] He earned ten international caps for the Czechoslovakia national speedway team.^[3]

Speedway career

Špinka won the gold medal at the Individual Ice Speedway World Championship in the 1974 Individual Ice Speedway World Championship.^[4] He also won a silver and bronze medal at the Championships.^[5]

In 1970, he was selected for the Czechoslovakia junior team for their tour of Britain.^[6] In 1974, he represented his country in a test series against England.^[7]

He rode in two world longtrack finals in 1973 and 1974.^[8]

He rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1979 to 1983, riding for Ipswich Witches and Swindon Robins.^[9]

World final appearances

Individual Ice Speedway World Championship

• 1971 Inzell, 3rd – 21pts
• 1973 Inzell, 6th – 21pts
• 1974 Nässjö, champion – 15 pts
• 1975 Moscow, 12th – 8pts
• 1976 Assen, 2nd – 27pts
• 1978 Assen, 17th – 2pts
• 1980 Kalinin, 11th – 10pts
• 1981 Assen, 14th – 6pts

World Longtrack Championship

• 1973 – Oslo, 10th – 7pts
• 1974 - Scheeßel 14th - 4 pts

Personal life and death

His father, Miloslav Špinka, was also an international speedway rider.^[10]

Milan Špinka died on 14 August 2024, at the age of 73.^[11]

References

1. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
2. "Milan Spinka". GrasstrackGB. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
3. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
4. "Ice Speedway". Speedway.org. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
5. Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 530. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
6. "Czechs open speedway tour at Romford tonight". Reading Evening Post. 6 August 1970. Retrieved 19 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Browning for England". Walsall Observer. 19 April 1974. Retrieved 17 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Track talk". Sports Argus. 22 June 1974. Retrieved 27 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "History Archive". British Speedway. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
10. "Milan Spinka is 70: An expert on sand and ice". Speedweek. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
11. "V 73 letech zemřel Milan Špinka, legenda ploché dráhy". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mafra. Czech News Agency. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.