Igor Plechanov Dead

[Igori 4]

Dear friends,

today we lost our Best Russian Rider - Igor Plechanov.

He has dead at home in Ufa (Russia), today 02.08.2007.

Sad news.

 

Regards, Igor Kalashnik

 

simply the best speedway

[Brian Hamilton 1]

Very sorry to hear of the passing of Rusia's first great rider. I saw him ride in 1966. He was the first Russian to break into the World Arena.

 

R.I.P.Igor.

[shazzybird 10]

Awwwwwww RIP Mr Plechanov

[Tsunami 10,219]

Sad to hear this. He brought, along with his teammates, a fresh look to speedway racing in the 60's. Remember those clipback bars except one of them,Kadirov or Kurilenko I suspect. Their dashing style and wild riding set them out from the others usually trying to hug the white line. A fine rider who seemed to be well thought of by his contemporaries.

 

RIP Igor

 

[M08 0]

Never heard of him, but it's still awful for anyone's life to be taken.

 

RIP Igor.

[Wessex Wanderer 148]

Very sad news. Surely the best Russian rider of all time and must be among the very best (regardless of nationality) of any never to win a World Championship.

 

A true great who mixed it with the likes of Briggs and Fundin and proved their equal.

 

RIP Igor and thanks for the memories.

[TwoMinuteWarning 69]

Igor first came to the UK leading the Russian Test team on their inaugral visit in 1964.

 

Their visit gave the sport banner headlines in the tabloid sport pages, for at that time, at the height of the cold war, anything to come from the "mysterious" Soviet Union was of enormous interest.

 

The Russians lost the Test series 3-0 - but it was a pleasure to be among the 27,000 at Wembley for that historic 1st Test, for the visitors were exciting, full-throttle merchants, riding strange bikes with even wierder handlebars.

 

Plechanov dropped just 10 points in the 18 rides of that series, against the might of Briggo, Nigel Boocock, McKinlay, and How.

 

Some weeks later, at Gothenberg in Sweden, Igor came second in the World Final - behind Briggo, but ahead of Fundin. Given his very limited experience against these great riders, it was an amazing performance by the Russian which shook the speedway world.

 

So thanks, Igor, for some wonderful memories, you were certainly your countries' greatest ever rider and, in the 1960's, one of the finest riders in the world.

 

R.I.P

[BobC 664]

I remember going to Wembley in 64,and seeing the GB vs USSR test match.He captured my imagination immediately.

 

It was awesome to watch him come to the south coast,and take both Exeter and Poole by storm,a few years later.

 

I had the pleasure of meeting him at Stoneleigh,a few seasons ago.He even signed my replica USSR racejacket.

 

So humble that some of us could still remember him.

 

A huge loss to our speedway family.

 

R.I.P Igor.

[Nigel 38]

I was at the Coventry test in 64, I was impressed by the fighting spirit of the never say die Russians, Igor feared no one and gave no quarter, he was world class, he could have been World champ, a privelage to have watched a real 'racer'.

(I still have the programme)

 

R.I.P. Igor

[Ian 24]

It's hard to believe that the days of the early Russian visitors are so now so far gone.

 

The Russian team had two outstanding riders - Igor Plechanov, and just behind him Boris Samorodov. It was a privilege to see them, particularly at a time when nobody had ever seen a Russian.

 

They looked different, they rode differently, they were enormously exciting to watch. Igor was the star. And he was always smiling.

 

Looking at Igori's site (first post above) it seems that Igor ended his days in some form of poverty and in very poor health. For example, he wore very think glasses following damage to his eyes from being splashed with methanol. What a tragic way for such a wonderful sportsman to finish up.

 

I, for one, will never forget this wonderful character. I have seen nobody like him since.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Ian

[BOBBATH 467]

I am extremely sad to hear of this-I guess my main recollections are that in the World Finals of both 1964 and 1965-Igor finished tied with Ove Fundin to decide second and third places(behind Briggo in 64 and Bjorn Knutsson in 1965-the latter meeting I was privileged to attend). Both times Igor beat Ove and so finished runner up in each of those finals. I wish he'd won it at least once-perhaps 1964 would have been best. A very nice unassuming person.What a damn shame he has passed.

[norbold 7,135]

Yes, I agree with everything said above. The best Russian speedway rider of all time and one of the all time greats of speedway who could, as has already been said, mix it with the likes of Fundin and Briggs as an equal. I loved watching him in World Finals and International events. He was exciting to watch.

 

Very sorry to hear of his passing and sincere condolences to his family.

[Brian Hamilton 1]

Igor first came to the UK leading the Russian Test team on their inaugral visit in 1964.

 

Their visit gave the sport banner headlines in the tabloid sport pages, for at that time, at the height of the cold war, anything to come from the "mysterious" Soviet Union was of enormous interest.

 

The Russians lost the Test series 3-0 - but it was a pleasure to be among the 27,000 at Wembley for that historic 1st Test, for the visitors were exciting, full-throttle merchants, riding strange bikes with even wierder handlebars.

 

Plechanov dropped just 10 points in the 18 rides of that series, against the might of Briggo, Nigel Boocock, McKinlay, and How.

 

Some weeks later, at Gothenberg in Sweden, Igor came second in the World Final - behind Briggo, but ahead of Fundin. Given his very limited experience against these great riders, it was an amazing performance by the Russian which shook the speedway world.

 

Hi Twominutewarning,

I was at thatTest at Wembley, but for some reason I thought it was 66 as i said in my post. It was a fantastic feeling seeing the Russians at wembley and remember vividly Vitaly Silo being seriously injured after going over the fence in his first ride.

So thanks, Igor, for some wonderful memories, you were certainly your countries' greatest ever rider and, in the 1960's, one of the finest riders in the world.

 

R.I.P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Brian Hamilton 1]

Igor first came to the UK leading the Russian Test team on their inaugral visit in 1964.

 

Their visit gave the sport banner headlines in the tabloid sport pages, for at that time, at the height of the cold war, anything to come from the "mysterious" Soviet Union was of enormous interest.

 

The Russians lost the Test series 3-0 - but it was a pleasure to be among the 27,000 at Wembley for that historic 1st Test, for the visitors were exciting, full-throttle merchants, riding strange bikes with even wierder handlebars.

 

Plechanov dropped just 10 points in the 18 rides of that series, against the might of Briggo, Nigel Boocock, McKinlay, and How.

 

Some weeks later, at Gothenberg in Sweden, Igor came second in the World Final - behind Briggo, but ahead of Fundin. Given his very limited experience against these great riders, it was an amazing performance by the Russian which shook the speedway world.

 

Hi Twominutewarning,

I was at thatTest at Wembley, but for some reason I thought it was 66 as i said in my post. It was a fantastic feeling seeing the Russians at wembley and remember vividly Vitaly Silo being seriously injured after going over the fence in his first ride.

So thanks, Igor, for some wonderful memories, you were certainly your countries' greatest ever rider and, in the 1960's, one of the finest riders in the world.

 

R.I.P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[2ndBender 28]

Very sad to hear this not unexpected news - I gather he hadn't been well for a while.

 

As a boy I remember watching Igor at Newport in 1965 and being totally enthralled by him and the rest of his team. He and Gennady Kurilenko broke, or equalled the track record about five times, I think - I can check the programme. And that on a track which they'd never seen before, and which many western riders considered 'difficult'.

 

RIP Igor - a true racer and a humble, modest hero.