Milan Špinka

Milan Špinka (5 May 1951 – 14 August 2024) was a Czech speedway rider. He earned ten international caps for the Czechoslovakia national speedway team.

Speedway career Špinka won the gold medal at the Individual Ice Speedway World Championship in the 1974 Individual Ice Speedway World Championship. He also won a silver and bronze medal at the Championships.

In 1970, he was selected for the Czechoslovakia junior team for their tour of Britain. In 1974, he represented his country in a test series against England.

He rode in two world longtrack finals in 1973 and 1974.

He rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1979 to 1983, riding for Ipswich Witches and Swindon Robins.

World final appearances Individual Ice Speedway World Championship 1971 Inzell, 3rd – 21pts 1973 Inzell, 6th – 21pts 1974 Nässjö, champion – 15 pts 1975 Moscow, 12th – 8pts 1976 Assen, 2nd – 27pts 1978 Assen, 17th – 2pts 1980 Kalinin, 11th – 10pts 1981 Assen, 14th – 6pts

World Longtrack Championship 1973 – Oslo, 10th – 7pts 1974 - Scheeßel 14th - 4 pts

Personal life and death His father, Miloslav Špinka, was also an international speedway rider.

Milan Špinka died on 14 August 2024, at the age of 73.