Pavel Mareš (speedway rider)
{{Short description|Czech speedway rider}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox Speedway rider
| name = Pavel Mareš
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = Czech
| birth_date = {{birth date text|20 January 1943}}
| birth_place = Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|6|4|1943|1|20|df=y}}
| death_place =
| career1 = Czechoslovakia
| career2 = Rudá Hvězda Praha
| years2 = 1964
| indivyear1 = 1965
| indivhonour1 = Czechoslovakian final silver medal
| indivyear2 =
| indivhonour2 =
| indivyear3 =
| indivhonour3 =
| teamyear1 =1971
| teamhonour1 = World Pairs finalist
| teamyear2 =
| teamhonour2 =
}}
Pavel Mareš (20 January 1943 – 4 June 2023) was an international speedway rider from the Czech Republic.{{cite web |url=http://www.speedwayplus.com/WorldPairs1971.shtml|title=The World Pairs Final 1971|website=Speedway Plus|access-date=14 August 2021}}
Speedway career
Mareš won the silver medal in the 1965 Czechoslovakian Individual Speedway Championship.{{cite web |url=https://speedwaystats.wordpress.com/nationals/australia/czech-republic/|title=Czech champions|website=Speedway Stats|date=31 January 2011 |access-date=2 July 2021}} He also partnered Václav Verner to the World Pairs final at the 1971 Speedway World Pairs Championship{{cite web|url=http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-pairs-championship.html|title=World Pairs Championship 1968-1993|website=Edinburgh Speedway|access-date=14 August 2021}} where they finished just outside the medals in fourth place behind winners Poland.{{cite book|last=Bott|first=Richard|title=The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4|year=1980|page=99|publisher=Stanley Paul & Co Ltd|isbn=0-09-141751-1}}
Mareš also raced in ice speedway and participated in the 1967 Individual Ice Speedway World Championship.{{cite web|url=http://www.speedway.org/history/ice/ice1967.html|title=Ice Speedway|website=Speedway.org|access-date=26 March 2024}}
Like many Czech riders of the time, the Czechsolovak authorities rarely allowed riders to compete for British league teams but they did allow club sides such as Prague to tour the United Kingdom, which allowed Mareš to race in Britain in 1967{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002507/19670630/380/0015 |title=Czechoslovakian Team for Long Eaton |website=Long Eaton Advertiser |date=23 March 1967 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2024}} and again in 1971.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003535/19710806/352/0020 |title=Speedway Stars set to face the Young Czechs |website=Kentish Express |date=6 August 1971 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2024}} By 1974 he was a recognised name in speedway circles in the United Kingdom despite not being able to ride in the British leagues.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003535/19710806/352/0020 |title=Czech riders, dark horses |website=Kentish Express |date=12 April 1974 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2024}}
World Final appearances
= World Pairs Championship =
- 1971 - {{flagicon|POL}} Rybnik, Rybnik Municipal Stadium (with Václav Verner) - 4th - 17pts (8)
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mares, Pavel}}
Category:Czech speedway riders
Category:Czechoslovak speedway riders
Category:Sportspeople from Ústí nad Labem
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