Piotr Protasiewicz

Piotr Protasiewicz (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.

Career

Protasiewicz began his career riding for Falubaz Zielona Góra in 1991, where he would spend four seasons. 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.

Protasiewicz rode for the Polish national team in the 1996 Speedway World Cup 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.

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. He won a second World Cup gold medal for Poland in the 2005.

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

Protasiewicz 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.

Awards For his sport achievements, Protasiewicz received the Silver Cross of Merit in 2000.

Personal life Protasiewicz married his girlfriend Katarzyna on 25 October 2002. They have two children. His father, Paweł was a speedway rider too.

Speedway Grand Prix results

Honours Speedway Grand Prix 1996 - 21st place (as wild card) 1997 - 13th place 1998 - 21st place 1999 - 30th place (as wild card) 2000 - 30th place (as wild card) 2001 - 20th place 2002 - 24th place (as wild card) 2003 - 11th place 2004 - 15th place 2005 - 18th place (as wild card) 2006 - 16th place 2010 - 18th place

World Under-21 Championship 1993 - 5th place 1995 - 7th place 1996 - World Champion

Speedway World Cup 1996 World Champion 2001 - Silver medal 2002 - 4th place 2003 - 4th place 2005 - World Champion 2006 - 5th place 2009 - World Champion 2011 - World Champion 2006 - 5th place 2014 - Silver medal

Individual Speedway Polish Championship 1995 - 10th in Semi-Final 1996 - 13th in Semi-Final 1997 - 6th place 1998 - 7th place 1999 - Polish Champion 2000 - 14th place 2001 - 13th place 2002 - 5th place 2003 - 11th place 2004 - 10th place 2005 - 4th place 2006 - 7th place

Other events Individual Speedway Junior Polish Championship (U-21)

1995 - Silver medal

Polish Pairs Speedway Championship

1993 - Silver medal 1995 - Silver medal 1997 - Polish Champion 1998 - Silver medal 1999 - Polish Champion 2000 - Polish Champion 2001 - Silver medal 2002 - Polish Champion 2003 - Bronze medal 2004 - Polish Champion 2005 - Silver medal 2006 - Silver medal

Polish Pairs Speedway Junior Championship (U-21)

1993 - Bronze medal

Team Speedway Polish Championship 1995 - Polish Champion 1997 - Polish Champion 1998 - Polish Champion 1999 - 4th place 2000 - Polish Champion 2001 - Bronze medal 2002 - Polish Champion 2003 - Silver medal 2004 - 4th place 2005 - Silver medal 2006 - Bronze medal