Maciej Janowski

Maciej Janowski (born 6 August 1991 in Wrocław, Poland) is a Polish speedway rider who is a member of Poland national speedway team.
Career
Janowski passed speedway licence test (Licencja "Ż") on 7 August 2007 at 16 years old; 5 days later he rode in his first meeting in Polish Ekstraliga (Wrocław vs Rzeszów 48:42). In his first heat, he beat Rzeszów' rider Andreas Messing from Sweden. His fourth meeting was Tournament of Junior National Team Reservs (Turniej zaplecza kadry juniorów). In this meeting he was 4th. He has won qualification to U-19 Bronze Helmet Final; Janowski was 13th (he was only 16 years old). With Atlas Wrocław he started in European Club Champions' Cup Final - Janowski scored 5 points, but Atlas was last.
In the 2008 season, he started in the Team U-19 European Championship Final. He was the best rider in the Polish team scoring 15 points despite th eteam finishing last), but Poland was last. In August of the same year, he won the Individual U-21 Polish Championship in Rybnik and was second in the Individual U-19 European Championship Final. In September, he was the best rider in Poland team and he won Team U-21 World Champion title. He was second in the Polish Bronze Helmet Final and won the Polish Silver Helmet Final. At the 2008 Speedway Grand Prix of Germany in Bydgoszcz, Janowski was nominated as first track reserve at 2008 FIM Final Speedway Grand Prix. However, when Niels Kristian Iversen was injured, Janowski replaced him in GP event. He finished 15th and scored one point, after beating Martin Smolinski.
Weekly "Tygodnik Żużlowy" (Speedway Weekly) awarded him as Junior of the Year. Speedway Chapter of Main Commission of Speedway Sport (part of the Polish Motor Union) awarded him and Przemysław Pawlicki for one of the best debuts in Polish speedway history.
In 2009, he rode for Atlas Wrocław in Poland, Rospiggarna in Sweden and MSC Diedenberge in Germanny. In Sweden, he rode in nine matches and scored 4.52 point per match. Janowski was unsuccessful in defending his Under-21 Polish Champion title, scoring 8 points and finished eighth. However, he did win the Bronze Helmet Final, at his home track in Wrocław, scoring a maximum 15 points. On 25 September he was second in Silver Helmet Final, losing to Grzegorz Zengota by two points.
On 11 July, Janowski competed in the Individual U-19 European Championship Final and won the silver medal after winning a run off with Martin Vaculík and Artem Laguta. The gold medal was won by Przemysław Pawlicki. Janowski and Pawlicki were the highest scorer for the Polish team in the Team U-19 European Championship Final on 23 August and Poland won U-19 European Champion title. On 5 September in Gorzów Wielkopolski he scored 13 points for Poland, and the team successfully defended their U-21 World Champion title at Under-21 Speedway World Cup. On 3 October will be started in Individual U-21 World Championship Final.
Like his Rospiggarna Hallstravik team-mate, Greg Hancock, Janowski moved to Piraterna Motala before the 2010 season. On 18 August, it was announced that Janowski would join the Swindon Robins in the British Elite League for the remainder of the season. Maciej won the 2010 Polish Under-21 Championship, held in Toruń, scoring a 15-point maximum. Maciej is also riding in the U21-World Cup and was 2nd beating the main rival Maksim Bogdanows in Pardubice.
In 2011, he became the World Under 21 champion and the following season he raced for Kings Lynn Stars in the 2012 British speedway season, in the Elite League.
In 2013, He won the Speedway World Cup with Poland, scoring 12 points in the final. Also in 2013, he moved to Poole Pirates for the 2013 Elite League speedway season. He would stay for three seasons and helped Poole win three cosecutive Elite League titles.
A second World Cup winners medal came his way at the 2017 Speedway World Cup, he topped scored for Poland in the final, as the team finished eight points ahead of Sweden.
In 2022, Janowski won the bronze medal in the 2022 Speedway World Championship, after securing 106 points during the 2022 Speedway Grand Prix. Also in 2022, he was a member of the Polish team that won the inaugural European Team Speedway Championship.
In 2023, he was part of the Polish team that won the gold medal in the 2023 Speedway World Cup final, his last lap overtaking of Robert Lambert sealed the title for Poland and it was a third World Cup success for Janowski. However his individual season ended with a disappointing 14th place finish in the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix.
Family
His parents are Piotr and Beata. He has two brothers Wojciech and Krzysztof.
Major results
World individual Championship
2008 Speedway Grand Prix - 29th
2012 Speedway Grand Prix - 23rd
2014 Speedway Grand Prix - 24th
2015 Speedway Grand Prix - 7th (including Latvian grand prix win)
2016 Speedway Grand Prix - 9th (including Danish grand prix win)
2017 Speedway Grand Prix - 4th (including Danish & British grand prix wins)
2018 Speedway Grand Prix - 4th (including Swedish grand prix win)
2019 Speedway Grand Prix - 6th (including German grand prix win)
2020 Speedway Grand Prix - 4th (including Wrocław grand prix win)
2021 Speedway Grand Prix - 5th (including Czech Republic grand prix win)
2022 Speedway Grand Prix - 3rd
2023 Speedway Grand Prix - 14th
World team Championships
2013 Speedway World Cup - Winner
2015 Speedway World Cup - 3rd
2017 Speedway World Cup - Winner
2018 Speedway of Nations - 3rd
2021 Speedway of Nations - runner up
2022 Speedway of Nations - 5th
2023 Speedway World Cup - Winner
World U-21 Championships
2008 Team Speedway Junior World Championship - Winner
2009 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship - 5th
2009 Team Speedway Junior World Championship - Winner
2010 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship - 2nd
2011 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship - Winner
2012 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship - Winner
European Championships
Individual U-19 European Championship
2008 - Stralsund - Silver medal (12+3 pts)
2009 - Tarnów - Silver medal (13+3 pts)
Team U-19 European Championship
2008 - Rawicz - 4th place (15 pts)
2009 - Holsted - U-19 European Champion (15 pts)
2010 - Divišov - U-19 European Champion (15 pts)
European Club Champions' Cup
2007 - Miskolc - Silver medal (6 pts) with Atlas Wrocław
Domestic competitions
Individual Polish Championship
2013 - Tarnów - 3rd place (10 pts)
Team Polish Championship (League)
2007 - Bronze medal (CMA 1.71 - Atlas Wrocław)
2008 - 5th-6th place (with Atlas Wrocław)
Individual U-21 Polish Championship
2008 - Rybnik - Polish Champion (13+3 pts)
2010 - Toruń - Polish Champion (15 pts)
2012 - Bydgoszcz - Polish Champion (14 pts)
Polish Pairs Speedway Junior Championship
2009 - Rybnik - Bronze medal for Taczanów (18 pts)
Polish Pairs Speedway Championship
2011 - Zielona Góra - Polish Champion for WTS Wrocław
2013 - Gorzów Wielkopolski - Polish Champion for Unia Tarnów
Polish Golden Helmet
2013 - Rawicz - Winner (13 pts)
Polish Silver Helmet (U-21)
2008 - Rzeszów - Winner (12 pts)
2009 - Częstochowa - Runner-up (12+3 pts)
Polish Bronze Helmet (U-19)
2008 - Gdańsk - 2nd place (12 pts)
2009 - Wrocław - Winner (15 pts)
2010 - Leszno - 2nd place (14 pts)
See also
Poland national speedway team
List of Speedway Grand Prix riders
Speedway in Poland
References
Polish speedway riders
1991 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Wrocław
Team Speedway Junior World Champions
Team Speedway Junior European Champions
King's Lynn Stars riders
Poole Pirates riders
Speedway World Cup champions