Zenon Plech RIP

[salty]

A super rider and, by all accounts, a smashing fella.

RIP.

[Piotr Pyszny]

That is, indeed, sad news.

Some lovely memories of Zenon here...

 

[Lefty]

A superb rider. Certainly knew how to ride Waterden Rd. Made the Friday journeys from the West Midlands worthwhile. RIP

[proud panther]

Remember seeing him in the Pride of the East at Lynn, & he was incredible. Can someone put me out of my misery, & tell me who the other Pole was that night ?

[TheWatcher]

17 minutes ago, proud panther said:

Remember seeing him in the Pride of the East at Lynn, & he was incredible. Can someone put me out of my misery, & tell me who the other Pole was that night ?

Zenon finished third in 1973 with 12 points. Edward Jancarz (7pts) was the other Pole. Anders Michanek and Ole Olsen both scored 13 and Michanek won the run-off.

[proud panther]

3 minutes ago, TheWatcher said:

Zenon finished third in 1973 with 12 points. Edward Jancarz (7pts) was the other Pole. Anders Michanek and Ole Olsen both scored 13 and Michanek won the run-off.

Thanks Watcher, am I correct in thinking that it was their first appearance in England ?

[TheWatcher]

1 minute ago, proud panther said:

Thanks Watcher, am I correct in thinking that it was their first appearance in England ?

No, the Pride of the East was at the end of October. Both had ridden in the International Tournament in England that summer.

[Gunner85]

Sad news.... both  Zenon and Edward Jancarz served  British Speedway well in those early days of Polish riders riding in Britain.

Zenon was a very talented rider.My condolences to his family

[OldHawk]

Sadly, only last month I was asked to write a bio of Zenon for the speedway museum website.

A link here in case anyone would like to read something a little more in depth than you get on wikipedia

http://www.speedwaymuseumonline.co.uk/zenonplech.html

 

[OldHawk]

And couldn't let this sad moment pass without a picture of him in action for the Hawks

[martinmauger]

An all-action rider for sure and I think the only rider who made to the 4's Final at Sheffield in 1979 (which Hull won) following the delayed by 24 hours World Pairs at Vojens.  RIP....

[Garry1603]

Such sad news, a classy rider and a classy guy by all accounts.

A rider from Poland riding in the UK (along with Edward Jancarz) was real box office news in those days, but they both lived up to the hype and were real crowd pleasers.

RIP Zenon

Edited November 26, 2020 by Garry1603

[iris123]

8 minutes ago, Garry1603 said:

Such sad news, a classy rider and a classy guy by all accounts.

A rider from Poland riding in the UK (along with Edward Jancarz) was real box office news in those days, but they both lived up to the hype and were real crowd pleasers.

RIP Zenon

Don't forget Cieslak and of course before them Woryna and a few others

[PolskiZuzel]

On 11/25/2020 at 1:50 PM, PHILIPRISING said:

(...)  helped Ivan and Briggo acquire his visas to race in Australia, New Zealand and America and, of course throughout his time in the UK. Always enjoyed a catch up when we met at SGPs. So sad ...

It's interesting what you say...

I wonder if anyone of you heard of referee being persuaded to change his original verdict on something that happened on a speedway track.

With reference to Zenon Plech's premature passing there quitea few article being published in Poland. In one of them

https://www.speedwaynews.pl/aktualnosci/item/70913-to-byl-bieg-30-wierze-ze-zrobie-to-na-co-wszyscy-licza?fbclid=IwAR31iZCICd_EmMhAM-nJoxtY_70DTzHeAfNk6P0y_0a4mD_lPoyodfLuVdk

respectful Polish journalist claims just that...and it happened - in his words - after the infamous race in the Katowice 1973 world final in which Zenon Plech was knocked down by Khlynovski . Anyway, read it for yourself ( in my translation):

(...) The English used to call Plech – a Golden Boy. The Golden Boy entered the speedway world like a hurricane, and his riding style electrified fans around the world. Unbridled, crazy and extravagant - that's how Plech was on the track. He used the entire width of the track and the entire saddle on his motorcycle, the long characteristic saddle of the time in the Czech ESO speedway bikes. - I liked them because I could move freely back and forth - said Zuper Zenon a few years ago.

All the described values were on show to over a hundred thousand fans during the final in Chorzów. In the second race of the day - next to the Sweden’s Michanek – lined up the biggest favourites of the tournament's: Plech, Mauger and Olsen. The New Zealander was the fastest at the start , so Plech began competition with a point loss, but with a victory over Olsen. In the following heats, Plech was unstoppable, whilst his rivals began to lose points. The united forces of Szczakiel-Waloszek stopped Mauger in the eighth heat, while in the last series, Olsen defeated Szczakiel. As a result, two heats before the end of the competition, the classification was as follows: Szczakiel and Mauger on 13 points, Ole Olsen and Zenem Plech on 11, and Grigorij Khlynowski on 10. The last two had one more race up their sleeve. They both came up to the tapes in heat 19.

At the starting line everyone was surprised by Peter Collins, whose style of entering world class riders resembled that of Plech. So far the Englishman riding was an average. Plech starting from the outside chose a wide lane and picked up speed on the opposite straight and as he entered the second bend he sharply rode under the Brit. Plech withstood the challenge, rode close to a foul and in speedway jargon - pushed Collin wide on the outside. So Plech , with deafening cheering took the lead. Behind him was Khlynowski, who began to sense his chance of overtaking leading Plech. If this was the end of the race, Plech would have joined the race-off for the gold medal. Khlynowski, however, would not give up. He closed on the Pole and finally rode very close to his rival on the bend that started the fourth lap. At the exit of that bend Russian staggered a bit, then he blocked Plech’s racing lane and the Pole consequently fell onto the track, and landed on the fence.  

At first, the referee from the GDR (East Germany) excluded Khlynowski and awarded three points to Plech, two to Collins, and one to Gorideyev . It is known in speedway that once the referee makes a decision, there is no point in protesting , because he will not change it. This time however it was different. Immediately after the referee verdict, the Anglo-Saxon camp started to defend the Ivan Mauger’s interests . They assumed that in the run-off Mauger would defeat Szczakiel, (…) who, incidentally, was a huge revelation of the tournament. They realised that it would be more difficult with Plech, and moreover, Mauger would have a coalition of opponents rather than having to settle for a one-to-one duel. The leaders of the protests turned out to be Ole Olsen (Mauger's close friend), the leading British journalist Phil Rising and the influential man in British speedway, Reg Fearman.

The telephone line between the referee's booth and the pits got heated up. There were arguments that throughout the tournament the referee favoured the Russians and the Poles. That he did not care about the flying starts of his Eastern friends, and kept the Western stars under the tape. Sharp words and accusations began to fall without limitation. Words about scandal, lack of fair-play and protests to the FIM. In the end referee bowed down and changed his original decision in favour of a new, daring interpretation!

Well, Khlynowski remained disqualified, but three points went to Collins, two to Plech, who did not finish the race, and one point for Gordeyev who at the time of Plech’s crash was in fourth position . "This interpretation had no logic," said Plech later on. - It is difficult to justify why the German referee decided in this way. To this day, I don't know and I wonder how the run-off with my participation would go. Unfortunately, I will never know - said Super Zenon years later, who finally finished the competition in third place, and the title was won by his countryman Jerzy Szczakiel.

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by PolskiZuzel

[Goldhawk]

ZUPER ZENON !! We called him and he was our hero . My all time favourite rider and just incredible. The whole stadium at Hackney buzzed when Zenon took to the track !! We travelled to Chorzow Poland for the World Final way back in 1979 to cheer HIM on . This draw some confusion from the Poles but he was idolised by us Hackney fans and we were routing for him to win. He should have won the meeting and been 1979 World Champion . He was so humble and total gentleman off track . I got the chance to chat with him on the plane to Voyens GP in 1999. He vividly remembered his time at the Wick 20 years later and clearly had an affinity and affection for his adopted club and the fans who loved him. Our car had a ZUPER ZENON sticker in the back window when he rode for us. One day my wife was driving car up the M11 , who should draw up beside her ? Zenon himself and gave her a wave. Len Silver will be mortified to hear of Zenon's passing - RIP Zenon - A TRACK GREAT & LEGEND IN THE EAST END - WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU ! - UP THE HAWKS !!!

[OldHawk]

18 hours ago, martinmauger said:

An all-action rider for sure and I think the only rider who made to the 4's Final at Sheffield in 1979 (which Hull won) following the delayed by 24 hours World Pairs at Vojens.  RIP....

What has gone largely unsaid over the years was Zenon's appearance at this meeting was his first for the Hawks since 1976 and he was replacing Vic Harding so terribly killed just a few weeks before. Most Hackney fans never truly recovered from the loss of Vic but Zenon's arrival certainly had a major impact on restoring the clubs soul and making the healing process a little less raw. A month later, he beat Olsen from the back smashing the Track record in the process and Zenon was truly back!

[martinmauger]

5 hours ago, OldHawk said:

What has gone largely unsaid over the years was Zenon's appearance at this meeting was his first for the Hawks since 1976 and he was replacing Vic Harding so terribly killed just a few weeks before. Most Hackney fans never truly recovered from the loss of Vic but Zenon's arrival certainly had a major impact on restoring the clubs soul and making the healing process a little less raw. A month later, he beat Olsen from the back smashing the Track record in the process and Zenon was truly back!

Yeh, and while these are tributes to the late great Zenon Plech, for info: the meeting was the Inter League 4's and Ivan Mauger wasn't scheduled to ride for Hull in any case, other teams lost their top riders for whatever reasons.  Either way, Zenon made the journey from the World Pairs in Denmark, was present and correct on that very wet day in Sheffield and rode his best for his team, which being his first meeting for the Hawks for 3 years is all the more commendable....

[OldHawk]

From Zenon's Son Krystian

"Dear all friends of my dad.

 

I’m soo proud how many of You have him in heart around the world.

 

Are strange times, but want give You all opportunity to take a part in his funeral

 

Below is link to live stream. Stay safe. Pray.

 

 

28.11 9:30 (GMT+1)

 

https://youtu.be/amdeW3EsTy8

[OldHawk]

Zenons Funeral tomorrow at 830 UK time youtube stream

Please try to join if you are able so we have a good turn out

Thanks

Chris

[Goldhawk]

8 hours ago, OldHawk said:

What has gone largely unsaid over the years was Zenon's appearance at this meeting was his first for the Hawks since 1976 and he was replacing Vic Harding so terribly killed just a few weeks before. Most Hackney fans never truly recovered from the loss of Vic but Zenon's arrival certainly had a major impact on restoring the clubs soul and making the healing process a little less raw. A month later, he beat Olsen from the back smashing the Track record in the process and Zenon was truly back!

Absolutely re Vic and Zenon's arrival. I recalled that race back to him with Olsen and breaking track record 20 plus later. He reminded me Olsen was World Champion at the time ! Zenon just turbo charged past him back the back straight and the place went mad !!