The Śląski Stadium will host the Grand Finale of the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship for the third time. The 'Cauldron of Witches' is a place of special significance for the history of both Polish and international speedway.
The history of speedway at this place dates back to the early 1970s. In July 1971, a decision was made to build a speedway track to replace the athletic track. A significant contribution to the project came from former rider and coach of the Śląsk Świętochłowice, Robert Nawrocki, who was regarded as an expert in overseeing the construction of many speedway venues.
The work was completed in early 1972. The newly built track was 384 meters long, and interestingly, instead of the traditional shale surface, stone granulate was used. A month after the completion of the work, the first official event was held here. On Thursday, June 8, the fourth round of the Polish Golden Helmet series took place, with Marek Cieślak emerging as the winner. This was the first of many high-profile events held in Chorzów.
A year later, Śląski Stadium became the second venue in Poland to host the final of the Individual World Championship. In 1970, the competition was held at the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, and after three years, the world championship returned to Poland, this time to the 'Cauldron of Witches'. The event, which took place on September 2, 1973, became a golden moment in the history of Polish speedway, as for the first time, a Pole won the title of Individual World Champion. That was Jerzy Szczakiel, who, after an exciting run-off against the legendary Ivan Mauger, claimed the gold medal. The memory of Szczakiel's success remains alive, and the final heat of tommorow's competition will be run in his honor. The winner of this race will receive a specially crafted trophy commemorating Jerzy Szczakiel.
By the end of the 20th century, Śląski Stadium hosted the Individual World Championship finals three more times. Additionally, in 1974, Chorzów was the host of the World Team Championship final, and in 1978 and 1981 – the World Pairs Championship.
It wasn’t until 2002 that the next international event took place at the 'Cauldron of Witches'. That year, the venue hosted the eighth round of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix, which was won by Nicki Pedersen, with Jason Crump and Mikael Max completing the podium. The following year, Chorzów hosted the opening round of the series, where Tony Rickardsson took the victory, Pedersen came second, and Lukas Dryml finished third. This was the last World Championship round at the stadium so far. Speedway's return to Chorzów took 15 years.
In 2018, speedway returned to the newly modernized 'Cauldron of Witches' with the Poland vs. The Rest of the World meeting and the final round of the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship, won by Leon Madsen. The Dane secured the title by scoring a perfect 18 points. The final round of the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship at the Silesian Stadium was also held in 2019, with Mikkel Michelsen celebrating victory this time.
Starting list for the Grand Finale of TAURON SEC 2024:
1. Leon Madsen (Denmark)
2. Rasmus Jensen (Denmark)
3. Kacper Woryna (Poland)
4. Tom Brennan (Great Britain)
5. Anders Thomsen (Denmark)
6. Bartłomiej Kowalski (Poland)
7. Timo Lahti (Sweden)
8. Dimitri Berge (France)
9. Jevgenijs Kostigovs (Latvia)
10.Janusz Kołodziej (Poland)
11. Maciej Janowski (Poland)
12. Piotr Pawlicki (Poland)
13. Norick Blödorn (Germany)
14. Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia)
15. Patryk Dudek (Poland)
16. Jacob Thorssell (Sweden)
17. Robert Chmiel (Poland)
18. Tim Sørensen (Denmark)
Tickets for the final round of the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2024, which will take place on September 21 in Chorzów, are available at ebilet.pl and speedwayeuro.com.
