Start Gniezno
{{Short description|Polish motorcycle speedway team}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox motorcycle speedway team
|clubname = Start Gniezno
|image = Start Gniezno Stadion.tif
|track = Stadion Startu Gniezno
ul. Wrzesińska 25
Gniezno
|country = Poland
|founded = 1952
2004 (refounded)
2016 (refounded)
|closed =
|manager = Blazej Skrzeszewski
|captain =
|league = 1. Liga
|website = [https://startgniezno.com/ Official website]
|colours = Red and Black
|tracksize = {{convert|348|m|yd}}
|track record time = 61.98
|track record date = 2011-10-09
|track record holder = Darcy Ward
|honour1 = Team championship bronze medal
|year1 = 1980
|honour2 = Second tier
|year2 = 1958, 1979, 1986, 1995, 2012
|honour3 = Third tier
}}
Start Gniezno is a Polish motorcycle speedway team based in Gniezno who currently race in 1. Liga.{{cite magazine |author= |title=Speedway from Around the Globe - Poland PGE Ekstraliga |url=|magazine=Speedway Star |page=42 |location= |publisher= |date=10 September 2022 |access-date=}}
History
=1958 to 1999=
Speedway in Gniezno appeared during the inaugural 1948 Polish speedway season, a team called Unia Gniezno competed in the regional Third League. However, it only lasted the one season and it was not until 1956 that Start Gniezno started riding.
The team won their first honours in 1958, after winning the second division.{{cite web |url=http://www.speedwayw.pl/pl_1958.htm |title=Historia Speedway Polsce 1958 |website=Historia Speedway |access-date=8 March 2023}}
In 1980, the team won the bronze medal in the Team Speedway Polish Championship. Riders included Eugeniusz Błaszak, Leon Kujawski and Jan Puk.{{cite web |url=https://speedway.com.pl/riders/justin-sedgmen/ |title=Gniezno 1980 team stats |website=Polish Speedway Database |access-date=9 March 2023}}
Krzysztof Cegielski earned a silver medal in the Polish Individual Speedway Championship during the 2002 Polish speedway season.{{cite web |url=http://www.speedwayw.pl/pl_2002.htm |title=Historia Speedway Polsce 2002 |website=Historia Speedway |access-date=8 March 2023}}
=2000 to present =
When the Ekstraliga was introduced in 2000, Gniezno were in the 1. Liga.{{cite web |url=https://www.zuzelend.com/i,89,Historia-Druzynowych-Mistrzostw-Polski |title=Historia Drużynowych Mistrzostw Polski |website=Zuzeland.com |access-date=8 March 2023}}
The club was initially part the multi-sports club with the prefix SKS, before disbanding and being reformed as TŻ (Towarzystwo Żużlowe; {{langx|pl|Speedway Association}}) in 2004 as an independent club and after another bankruptcy reformed once again under the prefix GTM (Gnieźnieńskie Towarzystwo Motorowe; {{langx|pl|Gniezno Speedway Association}}).
The team have generally competed in the two lower divisions in recent years, winning the 2. Liga in 2005 and 2008 and 1. Liga in 2012.
Notable riders
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
- {{player||POL|Eugeniusz Błaszak}}
- {{player||POL|Krzysztof Cegielski}}
}}
Teams
=2023 team=
- To be announced
=Previous teams=
{{collapse top}}
2022 squad
- {{flagicon|DEN}} Michael Jepsen Jensen
- {{flagicon|POL}} Ernest Koza
- {{flagicon|POL}} Szymon Szlauderbach
- {{flagicon|POL}} Oskar Fajfer
- {{flagicon|SWE}} Antonio Lindbäck
- {{flagicon|POL}} Marcel Studzinski
- {{flagicon|POL}} Mikolaj Czapla
- {{flagicon|POL}} Jedrzej Chmura
- {{flagicon|POL}} Zbigniew Suchecki
{{collapse bottom}}
Honours
{{Polish speedway club honours
| DMP 1 = |DMP 1y =
| DMP 2 = |DMP 2y =
| DMP 3 =1 |DMP 3y =1980
|MDMP 1 = |MDMP 1y =
|MDMP 2 = |MDMP 2y =
|MDMP 3 =1 |MDMP 3y =1980
| MPPK 1 = |MPPK 1y =
| MPPK 2 =1 |MPPK 2y =1996
| MPPK 3 =3 |MPPK 3y =1979, 1980, 1998
|MMPPK 1 = |MMPPK 1y =
|MMPPK 2 =2 |MMPPK 2y =1990, 1998
|MMPPK 3 =2 |MMPPK 3y =1987, 1999
| IMP 1 = |IMP 1y =
| IMP 2 =1 |IMP 2y =2002
| IMP 3 = |IMP 3y =
|MIMP 1 = |MIMP 1y =
|MIMP 2 =2 |MIMP 2y =1982, 1988
|MIMP 3 =1 |MIMP 3y =1975
| KPE 1 = |KPE 1y =
| KPE 2 = |KPE 2y =
| KPE 3 = |KPE 3y =
|DPP 1 = |DPP 1y =
|DPP 2 = |DPP 2y =
|DPP 3 = |DPP 3y =
| IPP 1 = |IPP 1y =
| IPP 2 = |IPP 2y =
| IPP 3 = |IPP 3y =
|ZK 1 = |ZK 1y =
|ZK 2 =2 |ZK 2y =1980, 1999
|ZK 3 =1 |ZK 3y =1990
| SK 1 = |SK 1y =
| SK 2 = |SK 2y =
| SK 3 =4 |SK 3y =1975, 1998, 2006, 2007
|BK 1 = |BK 1y =
|BK 2 =2 |BK 2y =1981, 1997
|BK 3 =1 |BK 3y =1998
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Polish speedway teams}}