Eddie Jancarz, R.I.P.

[PolskiZuzel]

How the time flies.

It is already 13 years since the tragic death of Poland's and Wimbledon's

Eddie Jancarz. The anniversary of the exact date, 11th January 1992, passed

just few days ago, but the memory of his life and achievement is being kept

alive in Poland and especially his home town, Gorzow, where one of its

streets and a stadium with its speedway track bears the name of Edward

Jancarz. Recently a proposal for a stone monument honouring Jancarz has been

put forward, and no doubt will be constructed in due time.

Thirteen years ago, much missed London's "Speedway Mail International"

published his obituary. Without much bragging about it :-), I am reproducing

it here in full. I hope younger members of this list will benefit from it.

 

 

 

SPEEDWAY MAIL INTERNATIONAL

week ending January 18, 1992

By ROMAN CHYLA and TONY McDONALD

 

 

EDWARD JANCARZ, the most successful rider in Polish speedway history, was

tragically killed on Saturday evening.

 

The 45 year-old former Wimbledon number one died following a stabbing

incident at his Gorzow flat.

His wife of two years, Katarzyna, 30, has been charged with the killing and

is likely to appear in court.

It was reported in the daily Bydgoszcz newspaper, 'Gazeta Pomorska'

earlier this week, that Jancarz and his second wife were involved in a

furious row that turned into tragedy. Jancarz, who was reported under the

influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, suffered three knife

wounds to his upper body. It was the third which severed a main artery in

his shoulder, causing extensive bleeding and his death at around 8 pm.

News of Jancarz's death shook Poland, where he is a speedway legend, and

will also stun Britain ',

He was always one of the most popular imports and fans at Wimbledon, his

only British League club from 1977 until 1983, will be deeply saddened by

what has happened.

 

Polish superstar Edward Roman Jancarz, began his illustrious speedway career

in 1965, when he signed for his local Gorzow club. Just seven days after

receiving his racing licence, Jancarz made his debut for Stal Gorzow in a

Polish League match at Gdansk. He scored just one point but it was the

start of a brilliant career that would blossom on the national and

international stage.

 

In 1967 Jancarz won the Polish Under-23 Championship but the highlight of

his career came the following season. Jancarz scored eight points in the

European Final at Wroclaw to quality for his first World Final. Just less

than two weeks past his 22nd birthday, he took on the world's finest at the

Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg. The meeting was dominated by the two Kiwi

greats, Ivan Mauger and Barry Briggs, but the stylish Pole grabbed third

place with 11 points. He clinched the bronze medal by defeating Russian

Kurilenko In a run-off.

 

In 1969 Jancarz made history by reaching the World Final again. As In

Sweden, Mauger and Briggs ruled supreme. But Jancarz won his last two races

to scramble into sixth place with nine points. There was more glory for the

young man they called 'Steady Eddie' before the end of the 1969 season. A

few days after Wembley, Jancarz romped to 11 out of 12 points - making him

joint top scorer - as Poland won the World

Team Cup at Rybnik. A magnificent 1969 season was capped by his victory in

the prestige Golden Helmet and Stal Gorzow's Polish League championship

success. Those achievements earned Eddie Poland's Sports

Personality of the Year award - a great honour for a speedway rider.

 

Britain saw the impressive Jancarz for the first time in 1970, when he came

with the touring Stal Gorzow team, but serious shoulder and collar bone

injuries ruled him out of his country's first-ever World Final staging, at

Wroclaw, later that year, when Mauger completed his hat-trick.

 

Jancarz added a new dimension to his career in 1973 when, at the age of

only 27, he became Stal Gorzow's new rider/coach ... and celebrated with

another league title that same season.

 

A year later Jancarz and Zenon Plech broke new ground by touring Australia,

New Zealand and USA with the

Mauger/Briggs World Champions' Troupe. They pulled in massive crowds and

the fans went wild at the sight of these East Europeans racing flat out. In

1974 Jancerz was the senior member of the Polish Test team that toured

England (he holds the record number of international caps for Poland). The

following summer Jancarz scored 15 points in the World Pairs Final at

Wroclaw, but he and Piotr Bruzda were pipped by a point by Sweden.

 

In his homeland, Jancarz remained a powerful force. The1975 season saw the

first of his two individual Polish Championship victories, although he had

to wait until 1983 for his second, and only other, success in his country's

premier event of the year.

 

By then Jancarz had finished a British League career with Wimbledon that

began in 1977. He made his debut for the Dons against Sheffield at Plough

Lane on March 17,1977 and went on to enjoy a highly successful debut season,

averaging (cma) 10.44 in home matches and winning the prestige Embassy

Internationale - the only East European ever to achieve the feat.

 

Although Eddie's BL commitments were occasionally interrupted by Continental

recalls, he remained a very popular and - as his nickname indicates - steady

performer for Wimbledon, right up until 1982, when he also made his last

World Final appearance, in Los Angeles.

In all, Edward Jancarz qualified for 11 individual World Finals,

although injury prevented him from competing in one. He has 11

World Championship medals.

 

Since his retirement from racing five years ago, Jancarz has been coaching

young Polish riders at Gorzow - where his life began and, tragically, where

it came to such an awful end.

...

[stevehone]

have to agree ... top servant to speedway

 

being a Wimbledon supporter back then i had the pleasure of watching Jancarz every week (could be a tad frustrating at times though)

[iris123]

Great rider.I said on another thread that i thought if Eddie came over to Wimbledon earlier in his career he could have made it to the very top and been World Champ.

[sandman]

Steady Eddie was a very stylish racer, and good with the fans. Really such a terrible ending for such a nice man. I believe I have an Eddie Jancarz international Polish body colour, that I traded for a Gordeev one, somewhere. I always enjoyed seeing him ride..If there is anything positive about a thread such as this, it brings back good memories from a different time, of him, and it helps keep his memory alive..even though he is no longer with us..

[squibby]

A tragedy in every respect, not just from the speedway viewpoint. I trust he will rest in peace now, after such a violent demise. Every time my mates and I talk speedway, and Poland comes into the chat, it always seems to involve memories of Edward Jancarz and Zenon Plech. Makes you think, doesn't it - there but for the grace of God etc.

[salty]

have to agree ... top servant to speedway

 

being a Wimbledon supporter back then i had the pleasure of watching Jancarz every week (could be a tad frustrating at times though)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Shouln't you have said " I had the pleasure of watching Jancarz occasionally, and only from June onwards"

 

Agree with the sentiments though, when he was there he was a top rider.

[DaveG]

I thought that during a bad period for Wimbledon that Eddie was a delight to watch tight lines and high elbows. My recollections being that he tended to go extremely tight on the 2nd bend where he would find room that did not look possible. I agree that this was a World Champion in the making with better exposure earlier in Britain.

 

So nearly beat PC at Belle Vue ( Golden Apple?) but travelling did for him often rolling into pits at Wimbledon with seconds to go to 1st race.

 

Thanks for Memories