Erik Riss (born 13 September 1995) is a German speedway and grasstrack rider, who won the World Longtrack Championship in 2014 and 2016, and was German speedway champion in 2016.[1][2]

Erik Riss
Born (1995-09-13) 13 September 1995 (age 29)
Memmingen, Germany
NationalityGerman
Websiteofficial website
Career history
Germany
2012Herxheim
Poland
2022, 2024Landshut
Great Britain
2015–2018Edinburgh Monarchs
2017Leicester Lions
2018–2021King's Lynn Stars
2019-2020, 2022-2023Redcar Bears
2021Birmingham Brummies
2022-2023Ipswich Witches
2024Oxford Spires
Denmark
2016Slangerup
2021Nordjysk
Individual honours
2014, 2016World Longtrack Champion
2014German Longtrack Champion
2016German Speedway Champion
2019Championship Riders title
Team honours
2014, 2022, 2024World Longtrack Team Champion
2022Premiership Pairs
2023Premiership KO Cup winner
2015Premier League
2019Championship KO Cup winner
2015Premier League Fours
2015Premier League Cup

Career

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Born in Memmingen, Germany, the son of former rider Gerd Riss and younger brother of Mark Riss,[1] Erik Riss began his speedway career in 2012 and rode in his home country for Automobilclub Landshut from 2013, also riding in Germany for MSV Herxheim and AMC Memmingen.

He first had success in long track, winning the German championship in 2014. Later that year, at 19, he became the youngest rider ever to win the world championship.[3][4][5] In the same year, he was part of the German teams that won the World Longtrack Team Championship and finished fourth in the European Junior Team Championship.[6][7]

In 2015, he began his British speedway career in the Premier League with Edinburgh Monarchs,[4] with whom he won the League Cup, Premier League Four-Team Championship,[8] and the Premier League title.[1] In 2016, he won the German Championship and won the World Longtrack Championship for a second time, scoring a 7-ride maximum in the final round in Vechta,[9] and finished in 8th place in the Under-21 World Speedway Championship.[10] While continuing to ride for the Monarchs in the Premier League and then in the newly formed SGB Championship, in 2017 he also signed to ride for Leicester Lions in the SGB Premiership,[11] and was selected to ride for Germany in the 2017 Best Pairs Championship.[12] In 2019, he signed for Redcar Bears.[13]

On 1 September 2019, Riss won his first Riders' Championship at Sheffield after qualifying for the semi-final on 12 points. He won the semi-final and then went on to win the final.[14][15][16] He rounded off 2019 by finishing third in the Jason Crump Classic at Kurri Kurri in Australia.[17]

In 2022, he was part of the German team, along with Lukas Fienhage and Max Dilger, that won the 2022 Team Long Track World Championship.[18] He signed for the Ipswich Witches in the SGB Premiership 2022 and for the Redcar Bears in the SGB Championship 2022.[19] He helped Ipswich win the Premiership Pairs[20] but broke his leg riding for AC Landshut in the Polish League.[21]

In 2023, he re-signed for Ipswich for the SGB Premiership 2023, where he won the Knockout Cup[22] and also re-signed for Redcar for the SGB Championship 2023.[23] Also in 2023, he was part of the German team that competed at the 2023 Speedway World Cup in Poland[24] and was part of the German longtrack team, along with Martin Smolinski, Jörg Tebbe and Stephan Katt, that won the silver medal at the 2023 Team Long Track World Championship.[25]

Riss joined the Oxford Spires in 2024, as a replacement for Nicolai Klindt.[26] Also in 2024, he won a third world team longtrack gold medal at the 2024 FIM Long Track of Nations.[27][28]

World Longtrack Championship

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Grand Prix

  • 2013 - 1 apps (25th) 4pts
  • 2014 - 4 apps (First) 77pts
  • 2015 - 4 apps (Second) 68pts
  • 2016 - 5 apps (First) 122pts

Best results

Team Championship

References

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  1. ^ a b c "2017 Rider Index", speedwaygb.co. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  2. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  3. ^ Cholewiński, Jacek (2014) "Erik Riss najmłodszym w historii mistrzem świata na długim torze!", sportowefakty.wp.pl, 28 September 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  4. ^ a b Kinvig, David (2014) "Bliss for Erik Riss after signing for Monarchs", Edinburgh Evening News, 23 December 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  5. ^ "Erik Riss Takes the Title", fim-live.com, 30 September 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  6. ^ Cholewiński, Jacek (2014) "Long track: Niemcy po raz siódmy z tytułem drużynowych mistrzów świata", sportowefakty.wp.pl, 24 August 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  7. ^ Gałęzewski, Michael (2014) "Bezapelacyjne zwycięstwo biało-czerwonych - finał DMEJ w Herxheim (relacja)", sportowefakty.wp.pl, 28 June 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  8. ^ "FOURS CHAMPIONS". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Erik Riss Archived 5 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine", fim-gala.com. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  10. ^ "Erik Riss", speedwayu21.com. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  11. ^ "New boy Erik Riss is happy to sign for Leicester Lions[permanent dead link]", Leicester Mercury, 16 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  12. ^ "MŁODZI NIEMCY SPRÓBUJĄ POWALCZYĆ Z NAJLEPSZYMI", przegladsportowy.pl, 13 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017
  13. ^ "Bears make three changes".
  14. ^ "Speedway: Erik Riss crowned 2019 Championship Riders' Individual champion in Sheffield". The Star. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Erik Riss wins Championship Riders title!".
  16. ^ "RISS MAKES REDCAR HISTORY - Speedway Star : Weekly Speedway Magazine and Xtra".
  17. ^ "Jack Holder wins Jason Crump Cup thriller". 27 December 2019.
  18. ^ "2022 RESULTS Herxheim – Long Track of Nations". FIM. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  19. ^ "British Speedway rider profile". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Witches win Premiership Pairs". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  21. ^ "Redcar Nightmare". Speedway Star. 30 July 2022. p. 4.
  22. ^ "Riss returns for Witches". British Speedway. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Bears name full side". British Speedway. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  24. ^ "WELCOME TO SWC". FIM. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  25. ^ "24 September 2023 in Roden". Bahn Sport (In Dutch). Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  26. ^ "Spires move for Riss". British Speedway. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  27. ^ "Erik Riss holt Gold für Deutschland". Schwabische. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Langbahn-Team-WM: Deutschland zum zehnten Mal Weltmeister". DMV. Retrieved 9 September 2024.