Karl Maier (born 24 August 1957) 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 reached seventeen world longtrack championship finals and was world champion four times. He also earned 38 international caps for the West German national speedway team.

Career

Maier began his career in 1975 and soon established himself as one of the world's leading longtrack riders. He was crowned world longtrack champion for the first time after winning the 1980 Individual Long Track World Championship in Scheeßel, defeating

Egon Müller Egon Müller (born 26 November 1948) is a German former motorcycle speedway rider. He won the Speedway World Championship in 1983, winning the title in his homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. He earned 44 international caps for the W ...

into second place and taking Müller's place as Germany's longtrack hero. Maier would go on to become long track world champion four times, earning further wins in 1982, 1987 and 1988. In addition, he won eight German national longtrack championship titles. He also forged a career in conventional speedway, earning 38 international caps and participating in four consecutive Speedway World Championship finals from 1983 until 1986 and a fifth final in 1989. He rode three seasons in Britain, riding for Belle Vue Aces in 1979 and Birmingham Brummies from 1982 to 1983.

Personal life

Maier is a master mechanic and owner of a BMW motorcycle dealership, as well as was the owner of a Toyota car dealership in Erding. He lives in Neufinsing, is married and has a daughter.

Results

World Longtrack Championship

Finals

* 1978 Mühldorf (7th) 17pts * 1979 Mariánské Lázně (6th) 13pts * 1980 Scheeßel (Champion) 23pts * 1981 Radgona (13th) 5pts * 1982

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 ...

(Champion) 24pts * 1983 Mariánské Lázně (Third) 18pts * 1984 Herxheim (Third) 17pts * 1986 Herxheim (6th) 11pts * 1987 Mühldorf (Champion) 22pts * 1988 Scheeßel (Champion) 42pts * 1989 Mariánské Lázně (Third) 33pts * 1990 Herxheim (Second) 30pts * 1991 Mariánské Lázně (7th) 10pts * 1992 Pfarrkirchen (Third) 20pts * 1993 Mühldorf (Second) 20pts * 1995 Scheeßel (6th) 14pts * 1996 Herxheim (6th) 11pts

World Final appearances

Individual World Championship

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vill ...

, Motodrom Halbemond - 9th - 8pts *

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 ...

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 - 9th - 7pts *

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 ...

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 ...

- 16th - 1pt * 1986 -

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

Silesian Stadium The Silesian Stadium (; Polish: ) is a sport stadium located on the premises of Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland. The stadium has a fully covered capacity of 54,378, after refurbishment completed in October 2017. The stadium hosted many Poland ...

- 13th - 3pts *

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 ...

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 ...

- 11th - 5pts

World Pairs Championship

, Ullevi (with

) - 6th - 12pts (6) * 1986 -

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 (with Klaus Lausch) - 6th - 27pts (22) *

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 (with Gerd Riss) - 4th - 36pts (22)

World Team Cup

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

- Olching, Speedway Stadion Olching (with

/ Georg Hack / Georg Gilgenreiner) - 3rd - 28pts (8) *

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

- London,

White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...

(with Georg Hack /

/ Alois Wiesböck / Georg Gilgenreiner) - 3rd - 18pts (7)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maier, Karl 1965 births Living people German speedway riders West German speedway riders German expatriate sportspeople in Poland Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship riders Racing drivers from Munich Belle Vue Aces riders Birmingham Brummies riders German expatriate speedway riders in England