Matej Žagar (born 3 April 1983 in Ljubljana, Slovenia) is a Slovenian motorcycle speedway rider who was won two Individual Speedway European Champion titles in 2008 and 2009.[1][2][3] He is 18 times Slovenian Speedway Champion.[4][5]
He began his career in the United Kingdom with the Trelawny Tigers in 2003 before moving to the Reading Racers in 2004 when the Tigers closed.[2] He became a permanent rider in the 2006 Speedway Grand Prix and 2007 Speedway Grand Prix seasons. In the UK he represented Reading, Swindon and Eastbourne before quitting the United Kingdom after an underwhelming 2010 campaign. He was touted as a potential GP wildcard for the 2012 SGP season following impressive and consistent performances in the Polish Extraliga with Gorzow, but turned down the opportunity to replace Darcy Ward due to the 1GP rider in the Extraliga and his contract with Gorzow, where 2010 world champion Tomasz Gollob was signed up. He returned to the UK after signing for the Belle Vue Aces in 2013 and rode for them until 2016.[2][3]
In August 2019, he won the GP Challenge for the second time in his career, which ensured that he claimed a permanent slot for the 2020 Speedway Grand Prix.[7] He then became the first rider in history to win a third GP Challenge when he won it for a third time in 2020.
In 2021, after 9 consecutive Grand Prix seasons and finishing in 13th place he lost his permanent place in the Grand Prix World Championship but did ride in the 2022 season opener in his home country.[8]
In 2022, he once again returned to the British speedway with the Belle Vue Aces[3] and was part of the team that won the league title during the SGB Premiership 2022.[9] Also in 2022, he helped SES win the 2022 Danish Super League.[10] He raced for Grinstead during 2023 and 2024.[11]
Career highlights
Individual World Championship
2003 - 30th place (5 points)
2004 - 27th place (8 points)
2005 - 16th place (23 points)
2006 - 7th place (97 points)
2007 - 14th place (54 points)
2008 - 20th place (7 points)
2009 - 19th place (7 points)
2011 - 19th place (14 points)
2013 - 7th place (110 points)
2014 - 5th place (114 points) - including Finnish Grand prix win
2015 - 6th place (107 points) - including Warsaw and Gorzow Grand Prix wins
2016 - 9th place (90 points)
2017 - 7th place (107 points) - including German and Scandinavian Grand Prix wins
2018 - 10th place (79 points)
2019 - 9th place (78 points)
2020 - 11th place (46 points)
2021 - 13th place (45 points)
2022 - 18th place (11 points)
2023 - =26th place (1 point)
Individual U-21 World Championship
2004 - 6th place (8 points)
2004 - track reserve (1 point)
2004 - 5th place (10 points)
2004 - 3rd place (8 points and 3rd in Final)
Team World Championship
2001 - 6 points in Preliminary Round 1
2002 - 10th-11th place (5 points in Event 3)
2003 - 9th place (13 points in Event 2)
2004 - 9th-10th place (18 points in Qualifying Round 2)
2005 - 9th-10th place (11 points in Qualifying Round 2)
2006 - 9th-10th place (17 points in Qualifying Round 2)
2007 - 13th-14th place (16 points in Qualifying Round 1)
2008 - 11th-12th place
2009 - 4th place in Semi-finals (10 points in semi-final)
2010 - 9th-10th place
2011 - 9th-10th place
2012 - 9th-10th place
2013 - 9th-10th place
2014 - 11th place
2015 - 11th place
2016 - 12th place
Individual European Championship
2002 - 15th place (4 points)
2003 - 4th place (10 points)
2004 - European Champion (14+3 points)
2006 - 17th place (0 points)
2008 - European Champion (14 points)
Individual U-19 European Championship
2000 - 11th place (8 points)
2001 - track reserve (2 points)
2002 - European Champion (15 points)
European Pairs Championship
2005 - 3rd place (14 points)
2006 - 2nd place (11 points)
Slovenian Championship
He is a 17 times champion of Slovenia in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
