# Golden Helmet of Pardubice

The Golden Helmet of Pardubice (Czech: Zlatá přilba) is a motorcycle speedway competition hosted annually in Pardubice, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest motorcycle speedway race in Europe and is considered prestigious.

## History

The race was established by three motorsport enthusiasts František Hladěna, Adolf Trnka and Ladislav Polák in 1929. The first 15 events of the Golden Helmet race were held on the 2.4 km (1.5 mi) long turf racetrack of Velká pardubická Steeplechase in Pardubice, from 1929 to 1963. On several occasions the event attracted more than 100,000 fans, but also five riders suffered mortal injuries competing on this dangerous grass track.
Since 1964, the race has been held on the standard flat oval cinder track of the Svítkov Stadium in Pardubice.

## Race format

In the first round, 24 riders are divided into four groups of six. Three riders advance from each group to the quarterfinal stage, where they join 12 seeded riders. In the quarterfinal, the same format sees three riders from each group progressing to the semi final. In the semi final two groups of six riders race three times with the top three riders from each group progressing to the final. The wide track of Pardubice enables up to six riders to compete in the event instead of the conventional four.

## Past winners

| Year | Date of Competition | Winner | Runner-up | 3rd place |
| 1. | 29.09.1929 | Zdeněk Pohl | Robert Uvíra | Josef Hájek |
| 2. | 31.08.1930 | Josef Antun Štrban | Hans Hieronymus | Míťa Vychodil |
| 3. | 06.09.1931 | Rudi Klein | Josef Riha | Antun Uroić |
| 4. | 25.09.1932 | Hans Mayer | Hans Winkler | Josef Antun Štrban |
| 5. | 01.10.1933 | Hans Walter Buttler | Erich Bertram | Hans Winkler |
| 6. | 02.09.1934 | Gerrit van Dijk | Hermann Gunzenhauser | Arend Hartman |
| 7. | 15.09.1935 | Herman Gunzenhauser | Erich Bertram | Leopold Killmeyer |
| 8. | 27.09.1936 | Herman Gunzenhauser | Hans Walter Buttler | Erich Bertram |
| 9. | 04.09.1938 | František Juhan | Václav Stanislav | Jan Lucák |
| The race was not run in 1939 - 1946 due to German occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938 - 1945). |||||||
| 10. | 07.09.1947 | Hugo Rosák | Karl Killmeyer | Miloslav Špinka |
| 11. | 04.09.1949 | Fritz Dirtl | Hugo Rosák | Gerrit van Dijk |
| 12. | 09.09.1951 | Jan Lucák | Hans Zierk | Antonín Švarc |
| The race was not run in 1952 - 1960 due to lack of support to Speedway competitions from communist government in Czechoslovakia at that time. |||||||
| 13. | 20.08.1961 | Oldřich Klaudinger | Jiří Jasanský | Ervín Krajčovič |
| 14. | 16.09.1962 | Josef Seidl | Jaroslav Machač | Antonín Šváb Sr. |
| 15. | 15.09.1963 | Antonín Kasper Sr. | Martin Tatum | Ervín Krajčovič |
| 16. | 06.09.1964 | Igor Plechanov | Antonín Kasper Sr. | Boris Samorodov |
| 17. | 12.09.1965 | Farit Šajnurov | Stanislav Kubíček | Antonín Kasper Sr. |
| 18. | 18.09.1966 | Igor Plechanov | Barry Briggs | Boris Samorodov |
| 19. | 10.09.1967 | Ove Fundin | Barry Briggs | Antonín Kasper Sr. |
| 20. | 20.10.1968 | Leif Enecrona | Ove Fundin | František Ledecký |
| 21. | 18.09.1969 | Gennady Kurilenko | Valeri Klementiev | Miloslav Verner |
| 22. | 27.09.1970 | Ole Olsen | Miloslav Verner | Vladimir Gordeev |
| 23. | 19.09.1971 | Ole Olsen | Jim Airey | Hans Jürgen Fritz |
| 24. | 01.10.1972 | Ole Olsen | Ivan Mauger | Genadij Ivanov |
| 25. | 22.09.1973 | Milan Špinka | Ole Olsen | Ivan Mauger |
| 26. | 22.09.1974 | Jiří Štancl | Ivan Mauger | Genadij Ivanov |
| 27. | 05.10.1975 | Ole Olsen | Ivan Mauger | Jiří Štancl |
| 28. | 03.10.1976 | Jiří Štancl | Ole Olsen | Ivan Mauger |
| 29. | 02.10.1977 | Ole Olsen | Jiří Štancl | Aleš Dryml Sr. |
| 30. | 01.10.1978 | Jiří Štancl | Michael Lee | Ole Olsen |
| 31. | 30.09.1979 | Ole Olsen | Michael Lee | Jiří Štancl |
| 32. | 28.09.1980 | Ole Olsen | Aleš Dryml Sr. | Bobby Schwartz |
| 33. | 27.09.1981 | Jiří Štancl | Aleš Dryml Sr. | Viktor Kuznetsov |
| 34. | 26.09.1982 | Jiří Štancl | Roman Jankowski | Aleš Dryml Sr. |
| 35. | 25.09.1983 | Dennis Sigalos | Jiří Štancl | Ole Olsen |
| 36. | 23.09.1984 | John Davis | Lance King | Jiří Štancl |
| 37. | 22.09.1985 | Erik Gundersen | Antonín Kasper Jr. | Simon Wigg |
| 38. | 21.09.1986 | Erik Gundersen | Kelvin Tatum | Sam Ermolenko |
| 39. | 27.09.1987 | Hans Nielsen | Kelvin Tatum | Per Jonsson |
| 40. | 02.10.1988 | Per Jonsson | Roman Matoušek | Jeremy Doncaster |
| 41. | 24.09.1989 | Jeremy Doncaster | Roman Matoušek | Tony Olsson |
| 42. | 30.09.1990 | Jeremy Doncaster | Antonín Kasper Jr. | Zdeněk Tesař |
| 43. | 29.09.1991 | Antonín Kasper Jr. | Ronnie Correy | Jeremy Doncaster |
| 44. | 27.09.1992 | Tony Rickardsson | Antonín Kasper Jr. | Mitch Shirra |
| 45. | 03.10.1993 | Tony Rickardsson | Leigh Adams | Armando Castagna |
| 46. | 11.09.1994 | Simon Wigg | Chris Louis | Tony Rickardsson |
| 47. | 04.09.1995 | Tony Rickardsson | Tomáš Topinka | Hans Nielsen |
| 48. | 29.09.1996 | Tomáš Topinka | Simon Wigg | Chris Louis |
| 49. | 05.10.1997 | Ryan Sullivan | Tony Rickardsson | Mark Loram |
| 50. | 04.10.1998 | Hans Nielsen | Tony Rickardsson | Brian Andersen |
| 51. | 03.10.1999 | Leigh Adams | Tony Rickardsson | Ryan Sullivan |
| 52. | 15.10.2000 | Leigh Adams | Greg Hancock | Todd Wiltshire |
| 53. | 07.10.2001 | Leigh Adams | Marian Jirout | Mark Loram |
| 54. | 06.10.2002 | Jason Crump | Matej Zagar | Lee Richardson |
| 55. | 27.09.2003 | Ryan Sullivan | Jason Crump | Lee Richardson |
| 56. | 26.09.2004 | Leigh Adams | Aleš Dryml Jr. | Hans N. Andersen |
| 57. | 02.10.2005 | Scott Nicholls | Nicki Pedersen | Aleš Dryml Jr. |
| 58. | 17.10.2006 | Jason Crump | Hans N. Andersen | Nicki Pedersen |
| 59. | 10.10.2007 | Andreas Jonsson | Rune Holta | Kenneth Bjerre |
| 60. | 05.10.2008 | Hans N. Andersen | Leigh Adams | Matej Ferjan |
| 61. | 04.10.2009 | Rune Holta | Grzegorz Walasek | Davey Watt |
| 62. | 03.10.2010 | Nicki Pedersen | Fredrik Lindgren | Andreas Jonsson |
| 63. | 02.10.2011 | Rune Holta | Antonio Lindbäck | Piotr Pawlicki |
| 64. | 14.10.2012 | Grzegorz Walasek | Fredrik Lindgren | Hans N. Andersen |
| 65. | 29.9.2013 | Darcy Ward | Greg Hancock | Przemysław Pawlicki |
| 66. | 05.10.2014 | Chris Holder | Fredrik Lindgren | Jurica Pavlic |
| 67. | 20.09.2015 | Jurica Pavlic | Troy Batchelor | Martin Smolinski |
| 68. | 19.09.2016 | Emil Sayfutdinov | Rune Holta | Martin Smolinski |
| 69. | 01.10.2017 | Václav Milík Jr. | Rune Holta | Max Fricke |
| 70. | 30.09.2018 | Jason Doyle | Martin Vaculík | Václav Milík Jr. |
| 71. | 06.10.2019 | Jason Doyle | Andžejs Ļebedevs | Patryk Dudek |
| 72. | 04.10.2020 | Jason Doyle | Jan Kvěch | Brady Kurtz |
| 73. | 03.10.2021 | Patryk Dudek | Jason Doyle | Timo Lahti |
| 74. | 25.09.2022 | Dan Bewley | Václav Milík | Rasmus Jensen |
| 75. | 24.09.2023 | Timo Lahti | Jakub Jamróg | Dimitri Berge |
| 76. | 06.10.2024 | Rasmus Jensen | Robert Chmiel | Mathias Pollestad |

## Statistics

Speedway World Champions winning Golden Helmet
Below is a list of Speedway World Champions who have won also Golden Helmet of Pardubice.
| Rider | Golden Helmets | World Championships |
| Ole Olsen | 7 | 3 |
| Tony Rickardsson | 3 | 6 |
| Jason Doyle | 3 | 1 |
| Hans Nielsen | 2 | 4 |
| Erik Gundersen | 2 | 3 |
| Jason Crump | 2 | 3 |
| Ove Fundin | 1 | 5 |
| Nicki Pedersen | 1 | 3 |
| Per Jonsson | 1 | 1 |
| Chris Holder | 1 | 1 |
Speedway World Champions starting at Golden Helmet but never winning the race
Below is a list of Speedway World Champions that have started at Golden Helmet of Pardubice race but never won the trophy.
| Rider | Golden Helmets | World Championships |
| Ivan Mauger | 0 | 6 |
| Barry Briggs | 0 | 4 |
| Greg Hancock | 0 | 4 |
| Tai Woffinden | 0 | 3 |
| Jerzy Szczakiel | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Lee | 0 | 1 |
| Sam Ermolenko | 0 | 1 |
| Mark Loram | 0 | 1 |
| Tomasz Gollob | 0 | 1 |
Multiple Golden Helmet winners
Below is a list of multiple Golden Helmet winners.
| Rider | Golden Helmets |
| Ole Olsen | 7 |
| Jiří Štancl | 5 |
| Leigh Adams | 4 |
| Tony Rickardsson | 3 |
| Jason Doyle | 3 |
| Herman Gunzenhauser | 2 |
| Igor Plechanov | 2 |
| Erik Gundersen | 2 |
| Hans Nielsen | 2 |
| Jeremy Doncaster | 2 |
| Ryan Sullivan | 2 |
| Jason Crump | 2 |
| Rune Holta | 2 |
Golden Helmet by Countries
| | Country | Riders | Total |
| 1 | Denmark | 6 | 14 |
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | 8 | 13 |
| 2 | Australia | 6 | 13 |
| 4 | Sweden | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Soviet Union | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Poland | 3 | 4 |
| 8 | Nazi Germany | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Austria | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Germany | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Czech Republic | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Netherlands | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | United States | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Croatia | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Russia | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Finland | 1 | 1 |