Stefano Alfonso (born 10 January 1968 in

Este, Italy Este () is a town and ''comune'' of the Province of Padua, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Euganean Hills. The town is a centre for farming, crafts and industry worthy of note. History Este had given it ...

) was a

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

rider who raced for the Scottish Monarchs and Edinburgh Monarchs in the United Kingdom.

Career Summary

After starting out as a MotoCross rider, Alfonso switched to speedway in 1992 at the age of 24. In 1995 Alfonso finished second in both the Continental semi-final in

Lonigo Lonigo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16,400 inhabitants. In its ''frazione'' of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani (Bagnolo), Villa Pisani, a Renaissance patrician villa designed ...

and the Continental Speedway final in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

before finishing 15th out of 16 in the Grand Prix Challenge in Lonigo. These performances were enough to get him noticed by British League clubs and he signed for the

Scottish Monarchs The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, Kenneth I MacAlpin () was the founder and first King of the Kingdom of Scotland (although he never held the title historically, being King of th ...

for the 1996 season. The highlight of Alfonso's career came during the 1996 season when he competed in the

1996 Italian Grand Prix The 1996 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 8 September 1996 at Monza. It was the fourteenth race of the 1996 Formula One World Championship. The 53-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher, driving a Ferrari, after he started f ...

, a meeting where he defeated the eventual 1996 World Champion,

Billy Hamill William Gordon Hamill (born 23 May 1970) is an American international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a former Speedway World Champion, winning the title in 1996 and earned 29 caps for the United States national speedway team. Career Earl ...

. An arm injury in June interrupted his British League season in 1996, and he only made a few more appearances before the end of the season. Alfonso didn't return to the UK in 1997 after being banned from racing due to failing a

drugs test A drug test (also often toxicology screen or tox screen) is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs o ...

at the Italian Championships in 1996. In 1998, Alfosno became the national champions of Italy. After competing on the Continent during 1998, Alfonso returned to the UK with Edinburgh Monarchs near the end of the season. However, he didn't make the expected impact while competing on sub-standard, borrowed machinery and failed to return to the Monarchs after a return home for an Italian Championship meeting. His failure to complete the necessary 6 matches to gain a new league average saw him excluded from the 1999 team and he never raced in UK speedway again. He continued to compete on the Continent, including racing in the Italian League in 2002, before a broken leg ended his career.

References

Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso, Stefano Italian speedway riders 1968 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Padua Italian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland

Career Summary

See also

References