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Josef Franc (born 18 January 1979) is a Czech former international motorcycle racer who competed in Grasstrack, Longtrack and motorcycle speedway.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] He earned 8 international caps for the Czech Republic national speedway team^[5]

Career

In 2001, Franc joined Berwick Bandits along with fellow Czechs Michal Makovský and Adrian Rymel.^[6]

He has appeared as a wildcard in the 2003 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic^[7] and as a track reserve in the 2007 Czech Republic Speedway Grand Prix, scoring three points from two rides and has represented the Czech Republic national speedway team at senior level.

Franc was the Czech Republic Under-21 Champion in 1999 and was the Czech Republic national champion in 2017 and 2018.^[8]

In 2019, he was part of the Czech team, along with Hynek Štichauer and Martin Málek, that won the bronze medal at the 2019 Team Long Track World Championship.^[9]

In 2022, he was part of the Czech team, again with Málek and Štichauer, that won the silver medal at the 2022 Team Long Track World Championship.^[10]

Individual World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix
- 2003 – 45th place (1 pt in one event)
- 2007 – 28th place (3 pts in one event)
Team World Championship (Speedway World Team Cup and Speedway World Cup)
- 2003 – 6th place (started in Event 1 only)
- 2004 – 6th place
- 2006 – 8th place
- 2007 – 2nd place in Qualifying round 2
Individual U-21 World Championship
- 1999 – Vojens – did not start as track reserve
- 2000 – Gorzów Wlkp. – 6th place (8 pts)

Individual European Championship
- 2002 – Rybnik – 14th place (5 pts)
- 2003 – Slaný – did not start as track reserve
- 2007 – 13th place in Qualifying Round 3
- 2008 – Lendava – 6th place (10 pts)
Individual U-19 European Championship
- 1998 – Krško – 8th place (8 pts)
European Club Champions’ Cup
- 2004 – Ljubljana – 4th place (10 pts)

Grand-Prix Years

Best Grand-Prix Results

Team Championship

2010 Morizès (6th) 9/25pts (Rode with Zdeněk Schneiderwind, Richard Wolff, Pavel Ondrasik).
2011 Scheeßel (4th) 21/36pts (Rode with Aleš Dryml Jr., Richard Wolff, Pavel Ondrasik).
2012 St. Macaire (5th) 16/30 (Rode with Aleš Dryml Jr., Richard Wolff, Michael Hádek).
2013 Folkestone (7th) 11/23pts (Rode with Richard Wolff, Karel Kadlec).
2014 Forssa (6th) 13/23pts (Rode with Richard Wolff, Jan Klatovský).
2015 Mühldorf (6th) 18/30pts (Rode with Richard Wolff, Michal Dudek, Michal Škurla).
2016 Mariánské Lázně (Third) 18/42pts (Rode with Hynek Stichauer, Martin Málek).
2017 Roden (4th) 28/43pts (Rode with Hynek Stichauer, Martin Málek).
2018 Morizès (5th) 20/32pts (rode with Martin Malák, Michal Škurla).

Finalist

^ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who’s Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
^ Świat Żużla, No 1 (77) / 2009, pages 58-59 ISSN 1429-3285
^ “2008 Rider index” (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
^ “Franc, Josef”. Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
^ “ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022” (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
^ “Bandits turn to young guns”. Berwick Advertiser. 11 January 2001. Retrieved 27 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ “Life is just grand for wildcard Franc”. Berwick Advertiser. 21 August 2003. Retrieved 27 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ “Individual Czechoslovakian Championship at Zuzla Indvidual [sic] Czechoslovakian Championship”. Historia Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^ “World Longtrack Championship”. GrasstrackGB. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
^ “2022 RESULTS Herxheim – Long Track of Nations”. FIM. Retrieved 15 July 2023.