Gerd Riss (born 17 March 1965) is a German former speedway rider. He competed in

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

and longtrack racing. He is an eight-times World longtrack champion. He also earned 22 international caps for the West German national speedway team and 12 international caps for the German national speedway team.

Career

Riss reached his first world longtrack final in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, finishing a creditable sixth behind

Erik Gundersen Erik Gundersen (born 8 October 1959 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time, having won the Speedway World Champi ...

, at the Sandbahn Rennen Herxheim in Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz, Germany. He rode for MC Krumbach in 1983 and 1984 and started for the first time in the British leagues when he joined

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by l ...

for the 1984 British League season. Riss joined

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were champions of the United Kingdom five times and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023. History 1928–1930 Speedway (known ...

in 1985 but left mid-way through the season. Riss consistently reached the World longtrack final every year from 1984 until 1997 and in 1987 also appeared in the

1987 Individual Speedway World Championship The 1987 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 42nd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. It was contested for the one and only time over two days in the Netherlands. The scores from both me ...

final at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

in Amsterdam. Riss represented his country in four consecutive

Speedway World Pairs Championship The Speedway World Pairs Championship was an annual motorcycle speedway event held annually in different countries. The first competition was held in 1968, and the final competition was held in 1993. In 1994, it was merged with the World Team ...

finals from 1988 until 1991 and was a member of German national team at the 2001 Speedway World Cup. He cemented his place as being arguably the second best longtrack rider in the world behind Simon Wigg by winning the crown in 1991 and 1996. When the world championships of both the conventional oval and longtrack switched to a Grand Prix series, riders found it virtually impossible to compete in both. Riss decided to concentrate on longtrack and the decision paid dividends because he dominated longtrack speedway, winning six more world titles in 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009, to set a record of eight championship wins. Only Robert Barth prevented him from claiming more during the period. In 2014, He was named an

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

Results

World final appearances

Individual World Championship/Grand Prix

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

- 10th - 12pts *

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

- 9th - 5pts *

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

- 16th - 1pt *

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Pocking Pocking (; ) is a town in the Passau (district), district of Passau, in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is situated about 30 km south-west of Passau, close to the Austria, Austrian border. History A Roman settlement was founded in the area of Poc ...

Rottalstadion The Rottalstadion is a 10,000-capacity motorcycle speedway, association football and athletics stadium located in the southern area of Pocking, Germany. It hosts the speedway team MSC Pocking and the football team SV Pocking 1892. History The ...

- 11th - 6pts *

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

- series - 17th - 16pts *

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

- series - 19th - 12pts *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

- series - 25th - 6pts

World Pairs Championship

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

(with Tommy Dunker) - 8th - 21pts (17) *

Leszno Leszno (, , ) is a historic city in western Poland, seat of Leszno County within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Leszno is a former residential cit ...

Alfred Smoczyk Stadium Alfred Smoczyk Stadium () is a stadium in Leszno, Poland. It is currently used for speedway matches and is the home stadium of Unia Leszno. The stadium has a capacity of 16,700 people. The stadium is located on ''ulica Strzelecka 7''. Histor ...

(with Karl Maier) - 4th - 36pts (14) *

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

, Ellermühle Stadium (with Klaus Lausch) - 9th - 15pts (0) *

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

Olimpia Poznań Stadium Olimpia may refer to: Sports teams *Club Atlético Olimpia, a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay *Club Deportivo Olimpia, a football team based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras *Club Olimpia, a sports club based in the city of Asunción, Paraguay * ...

(with Klaus Lausch - 4th - 18pts (9)

World Under-21 Championship

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian Districts of Germany, district of Kelheim (district), Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situa ...

, Abensberg Motorstadion - 5th - 9pts *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Rivne Rivne ( ; , ) is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the Rivne Raion (district) within the oblast.

Rivne Speedway Stadium Rivne Speedway Stadium or Rivenenskyy Mototrek is a motorcycle speedway stadium in the south east of Rivne. It is located on the Volodymyr Stelmakh Street. The speedway club Rivne Speedway are based at the track. History The stadium opened ...

- 13th - 4pts

World Longtrack Championship

Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz (6th) 13pts *

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

(8th) 15pts *

Pfarrkirchen Pfarrkirchen () is a municipality in southern Lower Bavaria Germany, the capital of the district Rottal-Inn. It has about 12,500 inhabitants and is an important school centre with about 10,000 pupils from all over Lower Bavaria. The town spre ...

(4th) 17pts *

Mühldorf Mühldorf am Inn (, ; Central Bavarian: ''Muihdorf am Inn'') is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Mühldorf (district), district Mühldorf on the river Inn (river), Inn. It is located at , and had a population of ab ...

(9th) 9pts *

Scheeßel Scheeßel (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Scheeßl'') is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Wümme, approx. 10 km northeast of Rotenburg, 45 km east of Bremen, and 70 km sou ...

(5th) 26pts *

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně (; ) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th century, when many c ...

(11th) 12pts *

Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz (14th) 9pts *

(Champion) 24pts *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

(4th) 18pts *

(16th) 5pts *

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

(Third) 17pts *

(Did not ride) *

Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz (Champion) 25pts * 1998 4 app (4th) 59pts * 1999 5 app (Champion) 115pts * 2000 1 app (18th) 17pts * 2001 4 app (Champion) 95pts * 2002 5 app (Third) 89pts * 2003 6 app (Third) 98pts * 2004 5 app (Champion) 103pts * 2005 4 app (Second) 75pts * 2006 3 app (Third) 50pts * 2007 3 app (Champion) 53pts * 2008 4 app (Champion) 79pts * 2009 5 app (Champion) 126pts * 2010 3 app (13th) 53pts

Best Grand-Prix results

* Berghaupten First 1999 *

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

First 2004, Second 2002, Third 2003 *

Collier Street Collier Street is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The village is in a rural location but is close to the larger villages of Yalding, Marden and Horsmonden. The village includes St Margaret's Chur ...

First 2001, Third 2003 *

Eenrum Eenrum (; ) is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland, 17 km northwest of the city of Groningen. Eenrum was a separate municipality until 1990, then it was merged with Ulrum, Klooste ...

Second 1999 *

Harsewinkel Harsewinkel () is a town in Gütersloh District in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Ems, some 15 km north-west of Gütersloh. It is the home and domicile of Europe's leading combine harvester manufacturer ...

Third 2000 * Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz First 2001, 2009 *

Jübek Jübek () is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the ...

First 1999 *

First 2009, Second 2008 *

Marmande Marmande (; in Occitan language, Occitan, ''Marmanda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Lot-et-Garonne ''Departments of France, département'' in south-western France. Geography Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the ...

First 2009, Second 1999, 2007, Third 2006 *

Morizès Morizès (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population Speedway The motorcycle speedway track dominates the northern area of the commune. It is known as a Long Track and hosts import ...

First 2008, Second 2001, 2004 *

First 1998, 1999, 2005, Third 2003 *

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

First 2004, Second 2003 *

Parchim Parchim (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch: ''Parchen'') is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is the capital of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. It was the birthplace of Helmuth von Moltke the Elde ...

First 2001, 2002, 2005 *

Second 2004, 2007 *

Second 1998 * Saint-Macaire Second 2010, Third 2008 *

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta (district), Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every ...

First 2009

Other results

West Germany Longtrack Championship * 1985

(6th) * 1986

(4th) * 1987 Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz (5th) * 1988

(Champion) * 1989

(4th) German Championship * 1991

(Champion) * 1992

(Third) * 1993

(Second) * 1994

Vilshofen Vilshofen an der Donau is the largest city in the southeast of Bavaria, Germany in the district of Passau. Until 1972, the town was the district seat of the district of Vilshofen. History Middle Ages The year 776 was the beginning of the doc ...

(Second) * 1995

(Champion) * 1996

(Champion) * 1997

Lüdinghausen Lüdinghausen (Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Lünkhusen'' or ''Lünksel'') is a town in Coesfeld (district), district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, approx. 25 km s ...

(Champion) * 1998

(Champion) * 1999 Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz (Second) * 2001 Berghaupten (Second) * 2002

(Champion) * 2003

(Second) * 2004

(Champion) * 2006 Berghaupten (4th) * 2007 Mulmshorn (Champion) * 2008

(Second) * 2009

(Champion) Grasstrack European Championship * 2003

La Réole La Réole (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Geography La Réole is located on the right bank of the Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux by rail. La Réole station has rail connections to Age ...

(Champion) 21pts * 2004

(Second) 16ps * 2005

Schwarme Schwarme is a municipality in the district of Diepholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The municipality Schwarme is located in the Mittelweserregion around 30 km south of Bremen. The towns Achim Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonl ...

(15th) 5pts

Family

Both of his sons

Erik Riss Erik Riss (born 13 September 1995) is a German speedway, longtrack and grasstrack rider, who won the World Longtrack Championship in 2014 and 2016, and was German speedway champion in 2016.Mark Riss Mark Riss (born 13 September 1994) is a speedway rider from Germany. Speedway career He rode in the top tier of British Speedway, riding for the Belle Vue Aces and Wolverhampton Wolves in the SGB Premiership 2018. He began his British career r ...

ride at the highest level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riss, Gerd 1965 births Living people German speedway riders West German speedway riders Polonia Bydgoszcz riders Expatriate speedway riders in Poland German expatriate sportspeople in Poland Place of birth missing (living people) Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship riders German expatriate sportspeople in England People from Leutkirch im Allgäu Sportspeople from Tübingen (region)