Josef Hofmeister
| Born | 17 June 1934 Abensberg, West Germany |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Wack Hofmeister |
| Nationality | German |
| Career history | |
| Germany | |
| 1950s | MSC Abensberg |
| Great Britain | |
| 1957 | Southampton Saints |
| Individual honours | |
| 1958, 1959, 1960 | Long Track World Champion |
| 1956, 1959, 1961 | German Longtrack Golden Helmet |
| 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 | German Longtrack Silver Helmet |
| 1957, 1959, 1960 | Continental Final Champion |
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[edit]
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.[1]
He only ever had one match in British speedway for the Southampton Saints, during the 1957 Speedway National League season.[2]
In 1958, he reached the final of the 1958 Individual Speedway World Championship.[3]
In 2022, he received the honour of having the Altes Stadion Abensberg renamed after him. It would be known as the Wack Hofmeister Stadium.[4][5]
Retirement[edit]
After retiring Josef Hofmeister ran a sports shop in Kempten, Allgäu.
Individual World Championship[edit]
- 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[edit]
European Championship[edit]
- 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[edit]
- ^ "Josef Hofmeister". Grasstrack Speedway. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ^ "1958 season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ "Speedway stadium in Abensberg got a new name". Speedweek.com. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ "A stadium is now named after speedway legend Josef "Wack" Hofmeister". Merkur. Retrieved 10 December 2023.