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Leopold Killmeyer

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Leopold Killmeyer
Born6 April 1909 (1909-04-06)
Vienna, Austria
Died2001(2001-00-00) (aged 91–92)
NationalityAustrian
Career history
Great Britain
1934Plymouth Tigers
Individual honours
1930, 1933?, 1952Austrian Champion

Leopold Killmeyer (6 April 1909 – 2001) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from Austria. He was known as Poldl in speedway racing and earned three international caps for the Austria national speedway team.[1][2]

Career

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Killmeyer born in Vienna, Austria bought his first racing bike aged 15 and was one of the early pioneers of speedway on the European continent.[3]

He finished runner-up in the Dirt Track Championnat du Monde (An early version of the Speedway World Championship and rival of the Star Riders' Championship) in 1933, 1934 and 1935.[3] Records for Austrian Individual Speedway Championship before World War II are incomplete, it is believed that Killmeyer was the first winner in 1930 and a 1934 article states he was champion of Austria at the time.[4]

He first rode in Britain in 1933, at a meeting at West Ham Stadium.[5] The following season in 1934, he signed for the Plymouth Tigers for the 1934 Speedway National League season.[6] He averaged 4.75 in a season which happened to be his only one in Britain.[7]

He won another Austrian Individual Speedway Championship in 1952.[8][9]

Family

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His younger brother Karl Killmeyer was also an international speedway rider.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Birmingham in Great Form". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 7 August 1934. Retrieved 29 February 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ a b "Austria's best motorcycle racers on sand, grass and cinder tracks until 1960". Reisemosaik. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Killmeyers arrival". Western Morning News. 24 July 1934. Retrieved 29 February 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Abyssinian Speed Rider". Daily Mirror. 10 October 1933. Retrieved 29 February 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "1934 season". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Indvidual [sic] Austrian Championship". Historia Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Indywidualne Mistrzostwa Austrii". Speedway Fansite. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Singing Speedway Riders – A Rich Tradition". Methanol Press. Retrieved 29 February 2024.