Piotr Protasiewicz

{{Infobox Speedway rider

| name = Piotr Protasiewicz

| image = 2007 Piotr Protasiewicz Oxford.jpg

| caption = Protasiewicz in 2007

| nationality = Polish

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1975|1|25}}

| birth_place = Zielona Góra, Poland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| career1 = Poland

| career2 = Zielona Góra

| years2 = 1991–1994, 2007–2022

| career3 = Wrocław

| years3 = 1995–1996

| career4 = Bydgoszcz

| years4 = 1997–2002, 2005–2006

| career5 =Toruń

| years5 = 2003–2004

| career8 = Great Britain

| career9 = King's Lynn

| years9 = 1998

| career10 = Peterborough

| years10 = 2002–2003

| career11 = Ipswich

| years11 = 2005–2006

| career12 = Oxford

| years12 = 2007

| career13 = Sweden

| career14 = Filbyterna

| years14 = 1999

| career15 = Indianerna

| years15 = 2000–2019

| career16 = Denmark

| years17 = 2008

| career17 = Outrup

| years18 = 2009–2011, 2016–2017

| career18 = Esbjerg

| years19 = 2021

| career19 = Region Varde

| indivyear1 = 1997, 2003

| indivhonour1 = GP Challenge winner

| indivyear2 = 1999

| indivhonour2 = Polish champion

| teamyear1 = 1996, 2005, 2009, 2011

| teamhonour1 = World Cup winner

}}

Piotr Protasiewicz {{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-Piotr Protasiewicz.ogg|'p|i|o|t|r|-|p|r|o|t|a|'|s|i|e|w|i|c|z}} (born 25 January 1975 in Zielona Góra, Poland) is a Polish international speedway rider. He is a four times World team champion and earned 24 international caps for the Poland national speedway team.{{cite web |url=https://britishspeedway.co.uk/docs/Ultimate_Index_1929-2022.pdf |title=Ultimate Rider Index, 1929-2022 |website=British Speedway |access-date=7 March 2024}}

Career

File:Piotr Protasiewicz.JPG

Protasiewicz began his career riding for Falubaz Zielona Góra in 1991 where he would spend four seasons.{{cite web |url=https://speedway.com.pl/riders/piotr-protasiewicz/ |title=Piotr Protasiewicz |website=Polish Speedway Database |access-date=9 February 2023}} He began to record some notable performances including reaching the finals of three Speedway Under-21 World Championship in 1993, 1995 and 1996. In the 1996 final he scored a perfect 15 point maximum to be crowned the World U21 champion.{{cite web|url=http://www.speedway.org/history/96.htm|title=1996|website=Speedway.org|access-date=15 July 2021}}{{cite news |title=Speedway Week |work=Birmingham Daily Post |date=5 August 1996 |access-date=10 March 2024|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002135/19960805/021/0021 | via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}

He rode for the Polish national team in the 1996 Speedway World Cup{{cite book|last=Montague|first=Trevor|title=The A-Z of Sport|year=2004|page=527|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=0-316-72645-1}} and in October 1997, during the Speedway Grand Prix Qualification he won the GP Challenge, which ensured that he claimed a permanent slot for the 1998 Grand Prix. He would repeat this feat three years later in October 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.historyspeedway.nstrefa.pl/grandprixquali.php |title=HISTORICAL LIST OF RESULTS 1995-2013 Speedway Grand Prix - Qualifications |website=Speedway History |access-date=8 January 2023}}

File:2007 Protasiewicz Oxford motorcycle speedway.jpg

Protasiewicz made his British league debut in 1998 for the King's Lynn Stars and would spend two seasons with the Peterborough Panthers and two seasons with the Ipswich Witches before a final season with Oxford Cheetahs in 2007.{{cite web |url=https://britishspeedway.co.uk/docs/Rider_Index_2008.pdf |title=2008 Rider index |website=British Speedway |access-date=1 April 2023}} He won a second World Cup gold medal for Poland in the 2005.

In total he rode in 12 Speedway Grand Prix series, the laste bing the 2010 Speedway Grand Prix. Protasiewicz won his third and fourth Speedway World Cup gold medals at the 2009 Speedway World Cup, 2011 Speedway World Cup.

He spent several seasons with Polonia Bydgoszcz before returning to his first club Zielona Góra. In 2022, he started his 16th consecutive season with the club.