ŻUŻEL/NEWS/INNE: Top 30 of all-time global speedway: Jarosław Hampel

Jaroslaw Hampel is another competitor in our series. A multiple representative of Poland on the international stage, he has achieved many successes, which allow us to consider him among the top speedway riders of all time.

• The beginnings of his career
• Successes on the international stage
• The current stage of the popular “Little’s” career
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The beginnings of his career

Jarosław Hampel began his adventure with speedway in the 1990s. He gained his speedway license in 1998 with Polonia Piła, but started racing on a motorcycle adapted for sliding under the guidance of coach Stanisław Śmiegielski at a mini-track in Pawłowice, near Leszno. After two years of training at Unia Leszno, the club in Piła contacted him, where he officially obtained his speedway license. Already in his second year of racing on speedway tracks, in the 1999 season, he won a bronze medal in the Individual European Junior Championships. A year later, he won a silver medal with Polonia Piła in the Polish Team Championships, but a bigger surprise came in the final of the Polish Individual Championships, where the young Hampel placed high in 2nd place, earning him a silver medal in the Polish Individual Championships, leaving behind much more experienced riders like Jacek Krzyżaniak, Adam Fajfer, Andrzej Huszcza, Sławomir Drabik, Piotr Świst, Grzegorz Walasek, and Piotr Protasiewicz. In the same season, he also debuted in the Speedway Grand Prix cycle with a wild card in the European GP round in Bydgoszcz. Promising beginnings backed by hard work fueled “Little’s” successes, who, under the mentorship of Hans Nielsen, increasingly marked his presence on the national and world stage. After four years spent at his home club, he decided to transfer to the current BETARD SPARTA Wroclaw, where his career gained even more momentum. In his last year as a junior and at the same time first in the Lower Silesian club, he won the gold medal in the Junior World Individual Championships. On the track in Kumla, Sweden, he left behind rivals like Chris Harris, Rafał Szombierski, Fredrik Lindgren, Matej Zagar, Niels Kristian Iversen, Kenneth Bjerre, and Peter Ljung. This victory opened the door to a great worldwide career, as it led organizers to invite Hampel to participate in the Speedway Grand Prix cycle as a permanent wild card rider.

Successes on the international stage

The debut season of “Little” as a permanent participant in the Speedway Grand Prix cycle was marked by varying effectiveness performances. Due to an injury, “Little” missed the round in Copenhagen, Denmark, but it did not prevent him from effectively collecting points in the overall championship standings. At the end of the season, the Pole finished in 8th place, ensuring his stay in elite competitions for the 2005 season. Once again, the 6th round held at the Marketa Stadium Prague in the Czech Republic was very favorable, where the white-and-red representative finished in 2nd place. He also performed well in the British GP, where he secured the lowest podium position with 18 points in Cardiff, Wales. In other tournaments, he also added valuable points, but his absence in three tournaments—Sweden’s Eskilstuna, Slovenia’s Krsko, and Italy’s Lonigo—did not allow him to stay in the cycle. BSI Speedway, the cycle organizer, granted Hampel a permanent wild card, allowing him to compete again with the world’s best riders, remaining in the cycle until 2008 and returning as a full participant in 2010. Scoring 137 points across all Speedway Grand Prix tournaments, he won a silver medal in the Individual World Championships. Notably, the long-awaited world championship gold medal was won by Tomasz Gollob, making both medals exceptionally highlight the dominance of Polish riders in the prestigious cycle.

In the 2011 season, Hampel was no longer a novice gaining experience in elite competitions but was considered one of the favorites for medals. A weaker performance in the last tournament held at the Edward Jancarz stadium in Gorzów also dashed “Little’s” hopes for the silver medal, forcing the Pole to settle for a bronze medal, which was still a significant achievement in his career. Adding to the excitement was the fact that he left behind competitors like Jason Crump and the 2010 World Champion Tomasz Gollob. He repeated his feat in the 2013 season, among other accomplishments, by winning the New Zealand round in Auckland and the 10th round of the Speedway Grand Prix held at the Matije Gubca Stadium in Slovenian Krsko, where he triumphed with 16 points. “Little” also won the following year on a one-time track in Stockholm, but had to fight for survival in the cycle until the last tournament, with his main competitors for staying in the championships being Troy Barchelor and Fredrik Lindgren. However, the Pole managed to withstand the pressure, securing the lowest podium position in the final competition in Toruń. Even though 2015 LOTTO WARSAW FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland faced organizational challenges and the event was halted after 12 races due to a dangerous track, Jarosław Hampel finished the tournament in a high 3rd place.

The subsequent competition held in Finland at the Ratinan Stadium in Tampere was also fortunate for “Little,” as he made it to the final race. While the Pole did not reach the podium, he confirmed high aspirations and good form at the start of the season. In the 3rd round of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix, STELMET FALUBAZU’s rider, as expected, was one of the favorites in the competition on the well-known and beloved track in Prague, Czech Republic. In the final, he had to acknowledge the superiority of Tai Woffinden, but left behind Maciej Janowski and Nicki Pedersen. Unfortunately, as it turned out later, a severe injury he sustained in Gniezno during the semi-final of the Speedway World Cup led to significant career setbacks. In a fateful race, Swedish Linus Sundström, not leaving space by the boards for a rapidly accelerating Russian Vitaly Belousov, unintentionally caused a severe collision. Losing control of his motorcycle, the Russian fell onto the track, and Hampel, also accelerating, hit his motorcycle. Despite jumping off his motorcycle, Hampel forcefully crashed under an inflatable barrier, impacting strongly against a wooden track enclosure. The impact’s sound left an enormous impression on fans gathered at the venue by Wrześnienska Street. Numerous injuries to “Little” nearly ended his career. With spiral fractures of the femur in eight places and a long rehabilitation, it certainly could have thwarted the ambitions of a rider who was at that time in the top three of the overall Speedway Grand Prix rankings. Nevertheless, the Polish representative remained undeterred, spending several months to regain full fitness. He returned to the track in April 2017, but has not yet had the opportunity to compete for the title of the world’s best speedway rider again.

Beyond medals in the Individual World Championships, he has won the gold medal World Team Championship six times, in the years 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013, a silver in 2008 and 2014, and a silver medal in the Individual European Championships in 2018, achieved after returning to racing following the disastrous leg injury. Adding to this can be the bronze medal from the Individual Junior World Championships in 2000 and gold achieved 3 years later, giving a substantial collection of medal achievements for the current representative of Zielona Góra’s STELMET FALUBAZU.

The current stage of the popular “Little’s” career

In the 2024 season, Jarosław Hampel represented the colors of PGE Ekstraliga’s newcomer, STELMET FALUBAZU Zielona Góra, where he was one of the team’s leaders. With certainty, his immense experience paired with undiminished enthusiasm for continued work can translate into a favorable result for the western Polish team, also in the 2025 season. As for individual competitions, “Little” has a good chance of replicating his achievement from 2011, when, at the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium in Leszno, he won his only to-date gold medal in the Polish Individual Championships. In recent years, Jarosław Hampel has had little luck regarding qualifications for the World and European Individual Championships, but for the national, and potentially later European qualifications, he will approach as one of the favorites. Despite surpassing 40 and overcoming a very serious injury, he still seems to be a reliable competitor capable of effectively competing among the best, although a return and significant presence in the Speedway Grand Prix cycle may prove more challenging. A large part of this difficulty could stem from his lack of recent years’ riding on the tracks hosting the Speedway Grand Prix cycle events, though the 26-year experience on speedway tracks, including in championship-level competition, may work in favor of the Polonia Piła trained rider. The successful career of the amiable competitor from Zielona Góra continues and it is not out of the question that it may gain further momentum in possibly one of the final chapters of his speedway journey. Certainly, both fans of STELMET FALUBAZU Zielona Góra and other speedway sports enthusiasts from all over Poland, especially those who remember “Little’s” promising beginnings, will be strongly rooting for further achievements of the white-and-reds representative.

Łukasz Rusiecki