Five IMP titles, silver at the Individual World Championships, Team World Championships and National Championships, three triumphs in the Golden Helmet tournaments- these are just some of the successes associated with Zenon Plech, patron of MAXTO ITS IMME. The Łódź competition will be the fifth edition named after the tournament of the best players of PGE Ekstraliga.
- Zenon Plech won a total of 7 DMP medals (3 gold and 4 silver).
- He participated in 8 finals of the Individual World Championships winning 2 medals – 1 silver and 1 bronze.
- From the very beginning, when the first proposals to commemorate Dad came up, we wanted the competition to have the appropriate rank and lineup – recalled Krystian Plech, the son of the legendary speedway rider about IMME named after Z. Plech.
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Club Career in Poland
Zenon Plech was born on January 1, 1953 in a small village located in the Lubusz Voivodeship, Zwierzyn. During childhood, Zenon Plech wasn’t passionate about sports, speedway being a particular subject he showed little interest in. In 1970 he began classes at the Gorzów high school and moved into the school’s dormitory. Stal Gorzów was at that time a true powerhouse with Pogorzelski, Jancarz, and Migos famous not only in the country. He once went to a speedway match with friends due to a lack of other ideas. Since there was an announcement about a recruitment drive for a youth school on the stadium, he decided to try. At 16, with untamed ambitions and something about him that signaled a future champion from the start.
In school, he towered over everyone and after just a year, during a league match between Stal and Wybrzeże, he obtained the necessary time limit to get a speedway license. He immediately began stunning performances in the Gorzów league team and also competed in the return match at the Gdańsk track. He rode for Stal Gorzów until 1976. During that time he won 5 DMP medals – 2 silver (1971, 1974) and 3 gold (1973, 1975-76). In 1977 he moved to Gdańsk where he represented the local Wybrzeże for the next 11 seasons (until the end of his career). The transfer to Gdańsk came with new opportunities like studies at the University of Gdańsk, as well as obligations like military service. In 1978 he added a third Team Runner-Up Polish Championship medal to his collection. Two years later, in 1980, together with Wybrzeże, he won the playoffs to stay in the highest league class by defeating Stal Rzeszów. For the next 4 years, the Gdańsk team finished in the middle of the table holding the 4th, 5th, 5th, and 7th places respectively. They returned to the DMP podium in 1985 winning the title of Team Runner-Up Polish Champion. For Zenon Plech it would be the last DMP medal. In his final two seasons, together with the team from the Tri-City, he finished 7th.
Overall, Zenon Plech won a total of 7 DMP medals (3 gold and 4 silver) throughout his club career.
Participation in Individual World Championships
He debuted in the final of the Individual World Championships in 1973 at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów. During 5 series of starts, he scored 12 points, securing himself a bronze medal. He was bested only by New Zealander Ivan Mauger and Jerzy Szczakiel. In the following years, he placed 8th in Gothenburg, Sweden (1974), 14th at Wembley (1975), and 5th in Chorzów (1976). In 1977, at the semi-final in Gorzów, he earned 6 points and was ranked 10th, unfortunately missing advancement to the final. The next year he advanced to the semi-final held in Pocking, Germany but did not ride; he was replaced by Czechoslovakian racer Karel Vobornik. In 1979, the finals were once again held in Chorzów, which proved to be a lucky venue for Plech. The Pole scored 13 points and clinched the title of Individual Runner-Up World Champion, only losing to Mauger. He also competed in the finals in Gothenburg in 1980, at Wembley in 1981, and in Norden, Germany in 1983. In all three tournaments, Zenon Plech ended in 15th place.
All in all, the Pole participated in 8 finals of the Individual World Championships winning 2 medals – 1 silver and 1 bronze.
International Career
Together with the Polish national team, Zenon Plech won Team World Championship medals 5 times – 1 gold (1976) and 4 silver (1972, 1974, 1978, 1980). He also won medals in the World Pairs Championship. In 1980 he won the World Pairs Runner-Up title, while he stood on the lowest podium three times (1973, 1979, and 1981).
He earned 5 titles of Individual Polish Champion (1972, 1974, 1979, 1984-1985). More than Plech, only Tomasz Gollob with 8 gold medals. He also won 2 silver medals (1981 and 1983) in these competitions.
He triumphed 3 times in the Golden Helmet competitions (1973, 1974, and 1978), while in 1975 he claimed 2nd place. He also added a victory in the Silver Helmet in 1971 to his collection. With positive outcomes, he competed in the Alfred Smoczyk Memorial in Leszno, winning it 3 times (1972, 1978-79) and standing once on the second podium (1973).
Throughout his career, he was often referred to by the nickname Super-Zenon. Plech also raced in the British speedway league, where he was known by the nickname Golden Boy. He rode for the “Hawks” (Hackney, London) from 1975–1976 and 1979–1981. In the 1982 season, he was with the “Tigers” from Sheffield.
After finishing his career, he tried his hand as a coach for Wybrzeże Gdańsk, Stal Gorzów, and WTS Wrocław. In 2001 he led the Polish national team to a silver medal in the Team World Cup. In 1999, while coaching WTS, he contributed to the team’s silver medal in the Polish Team Championship but parted ways with the team a few matches before the end of the season. He was instrumental in launching the major league career of Krzysztof Cegielski.
Before the 2008 season, he took on the role of coach for Polonia Bydgoszcz, which did not compete in the major league for the first time in history. He fulfilled the club’s management’s plans by leading the team to promotion to the speedway elite. He also coached Bydgoszcz’s Polonia in the 2009 season. On September 1, 2018, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Polish Speedway National Team.
He passed away in one of the Gdańsk hospitals on November 25, 2020, at the age of 67. From the 2021 season, the Individual International Championships of Ekstraliga has been named in honor of Zenon Plech. The Łódź competition will be the fifth edition.
– From the very beginning, when the first proposals to commemorate Dad arose, we wanted the competition to be of an appropriate rank and lineup. In the years when Dad competed, he competed with the best in the world in what was then the world’s best league, the British league. Among great champions, and everyone who wanted to achieve international success wanted to ride on the islands. It was also true, among others, for Dad. We can now be proud that it is the PGE Ekstraliga that provides the opportunity for the best in the world to compete, and the tournaments involving its best riders are a special recognition for us. We are very grateful to the entire Ekstraliga Żuzlowej team, headed by President Wojciech Stępniewski, for being able to honor Dad’s memory once again in such a distinguished field – said Krystian Plech in an interview for ekstraliga.pl.
The entire text is available HERE.
