Jiří Stodůlka

Jiří Stodůlka (born 3 November 1948) is a Czech former motocross and enduro racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships between 1968 and 1973, most prominently as a member of the ČZ factory racing team. Along with Vlastimil Válek, Jaromír Čížek and Jaroslav Falta, he was one of the most accomplished Czech motocross racers of the early 1970s.

Life and career In 1968, Stodůlka won the 250cc Czech motocross national championship at the age of twenty. His success earned him the opportunity to compete in the 250cc Czech Grand Prix at Holice which was a round of the 1968 FIM Motocross World Championship. He scored the first World Championship points of his career with a fifth-place result, finishing as the highest scoring Czech rider. The following year, Stodůlka had the best season of his career, finishing fourth in the 1969 250cc World Championship, behind only Joël Robert, Sylvain Geboers, and Olle Pettersson.

Stodůlka won two Grand Prix heat races and one Grand Prix during his career in the Motocross World Championships. He was a two-time Czech motocross national champion (1968 – 250cc, 1972 – 500cc). He was also a member of four Czech teams at the Motocross des Nations (1969–1972) and three Trophée des Nations teams (1969, 1970, 1972).

By the early 1970s, motocross technology began to progress rapidly as Japanese motorcycle manufacturers began to spend vast resources developing new motorcycles. The ČZ factory lacked the financial resources to maintain pace and their motorcycles became less competitive. From 1974 onward, Stodůlka concentrated on enduro racing where ČZ motorcycles remained competitive. It was in this discipline that he achieved his greatest success, winning two European Enduro Championships (1974, 1976) and took part in three Czech team victories at the International Six Days Enduro (1974, 1977, 1978).

After his racing career, Stodůlka worked as a motocross riding coach and trainer for the Dukla Mošnov sports club. He became a regular participant in historic motorsport events appearing alongside other Czech riders of his era such as Jaroslav Falta and Miroslav Nováček. Stodůlka continued to participate in the European and World Championship for Veteran riders.

Motocross Grand Prix Results

Points system from 1952 to 1968: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 8 6 4 3 2 1 Points system from 1969 to 1980:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1968 250cc ČZ ESP- ESP- BEL13 BEL18 CZE4 CZE5 FRA31 FRA12 NED22 NED9 GER15 GER7 LUX13 LUX8 POL- POL- USR- USR- YUG6 YUG6 FIN- FIN- SWE- SWE- UK7 UK7 AUT10 AUT- 19th 4 1969 250cc ČZ ESP11 ESP6 CH11 CH- YUG4 YUG6 CZE5 CZE7 POL- POL9 GER11 GER2 NED28 NED22 FRA4 FRA6 UK2 UK6 SWE- SWE- FIN- FIN5 USR- USR- 4th 44 1970 250cc ČZ ESP7 ESP7 FRA13 FRA- BEL8 BEL9 YUG12 YUG8 ITA8 ITA10 USR17 USR4 POL6 POL6 UK- UK15 FIN- FIN- GDR5 GDR10 CH8 CH8 AUT10 AUT- 9th 28 1971 500cc Jawa ITA5 ITA4 AUT21 AUT11 SWE15 SWE12 FIN- FIN- CZE5 CZE- USR- USR- GDR- GDR- UK10 UK6 GER6 GER- BEL5 BEL7 LUX5 LUX6 NED14 NED10 10th 27 1972 500cc ČZ AUT4 AUT4 CH- CH- SWE14 SWE5 FRA- FRA- USR5 USR7 CZE3 CZE5 UK- UK9 GER8 GER6 GDR9 GDR7 BEL10 BEL15 LUX5 LUX4 6th 45 1973 500cc ČZ FRA- FRA- AUT1 AUT1 FIN3 FIN10 ITA7 ITA6 CZE- CZE- USA- USA- GER- GER5 BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- NED- NED- 7th 56Sources: