Misplaced Pages

Josef Hofmeister nicknamed Wack Hofmeister (born 17 June 1934) is a former motorcycle rider from Germany, who competed in Grasstrack, Longtrack and motorcycle speedway. He competed in six World Longtrack Championship Finals and won a hat-trick of titles between 1958 and 1960. Josef was also a World Speedway finalist on four occasion.

Career

Hofmeister started his career in 1949 in the youth class and retired 1963 at just 29 years of age. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he was the first German star of international motorcycle racing.

He was a three time winner of the Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship or European Championship as it was called, when he won it in 1958, 1959 and 1960.

In 1957, he reached his first world final, making his way through the rounds to compete in the 1957 Individual Speedway World Championship. He only ever had one match in British speedway for the Southampton Saints, during the 1957 Speedway National League season.

In 1958, he reached his second world final, competing in the final of the 1958 Individual Speedway World Championship.

In 2022, he received the honour of having the Altes Stadion Abensberg renamed after him. It would be known as the Wack Hofmeister Stadium.

Retirement

After retiring Josef Hofmeister ran a sports shop in Kempten, Allgäu.

Individual World Championship

• 1957 - London, Wembley Stadium - 16th - 0pts
• 1958 - London, Wembley Stadium - 15th - 2pts
• 1959 - London, Wembley Stadium - 13th - 4pts
• 1960 - London, Wembley Stadium - 8th - 6pts

World Longtrack Championship

European Championship

• 1957 Stockholm (Second) 14pts
• 1958 Mühldorf (Champion) 21pts
• 1959 Helsinki (Champion) 19pts
• 1960 Plattling (Champion) 24pts
• 1961 Semi-final
• 1962 Mühldorf (13th) 8pts
• 1963 Malmö (12th) 7pts

References

1. Matthews/Morrison, Peter/Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and Results. Guinness Superlatives. p. 290. ISBN 0-85112-492-5.
2. "Josef Hofmeister". Grasstrack Speedway. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
3. "Speedway Wizrads seek World Title". Hull Daily Mail. 21 September 1957. Retrieved 24 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
5. "1958 season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
6. "Speedway stadium in Abensberg got a new name". Speedweek.com. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
7. "A stadium is now named after speedway legend Josef "Wack" Hofmeister". Merkur. Retrieved 10 December 2023.

• 1934 births
• Living people
• German speedway riders
• West German speedway riders
• Southampton Saints riders
• German expatriate speedway riders in England
• Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship riders
• People from Abensberg
• Sportspeople from Lower Bavaria