Netherlands national speedway team explained

Clubname:Netherlands
Swcwins:0

The Netherlands national speedway team are one of the teams that compete in international team motorcycle speedway.

History

The Dutch speedway team first competed in international competition in test matches during 1937, although the Netherlands national long track team had already held test matches.[1]

The team competed at the inaugural Speedway World Team Cup, finishing fourth in the Central European round at the 1960 Speedway World Team Cup.[2] However, they did not participate in the World Cup again until the 1975 Speedway World Team Cup.[3] [4]

From 1975, the team competed in nearly every World Team Cup until 2001, when the competition was rebranded the Speedway World Cup. However, the team struggled to fair any better than reaching the quarter final stage and since 2001, the team have failed to qualify for the World Cup and have been overshadowed by the Longtrack team, who have been world champions three times in 2013, 2016 and 2023.

International caps

Since the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix era, international caps earned by riders is largely restricted to international competitions, whereas previously test matches between two teams were a regular occurrence.[5]

RiderCaps
4
Bathoorn, Leo
Bisschops, Thei
Bos, Henk
Dolman, Bob
Egges, Tonny
Eijbergen, Erik
Elzinga, Rene
Geurtz, Ralph
Groen, Emiel
Groen, Jim
Groen, Maik
21
Koppe, Ron
26
Kroeze, Tonny
Munnecom, Robert Jan
18
2
10
27
10
Stroes, Wil
van Dam, Ron
van Deijk, Jan
van der Sluis, Hans
Verbrugge, Patrick
Verbrugge, Roy

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bott, Richard. The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. 1980. 99. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. 0-09-141751-1.
  2. Web site: 1960 WORLD TEAM CUP . International Speedway . 15 October 2023.
  3. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 134. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
  4. Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 27–28. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
  5. Web site: ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022 . British Speedway . 15 October 2023.