the only one he had available. Briggs and fellow ITV commentator Dave Lanning surmised that the Pole's confidence was shot following his practice crash which accounted for his poor showing at Wembley, though Lanning was far more scathing of the reigning World Champion. In defence of his World title, Szczakiel was seeded straight to the Continental Semi-final at the Motodrom Halbemond in Norden, West Germany. There he finished 16th and last having failed to score a point and thus failing to qualify for both the Continental Final in Togliatti, Italy, as well as the 1974 World Final in Gothenburg. Szczakiel was also winner of the World Pairs Championship with Andrzej Wyglenda in 1971. He scored 15 points in the final, held at the Rybnik Municipal Stadium in Rybnik, Poland. As a measure of Szczakeil's skill as a rider, between 1971 and 1973 he raced Ivan Mauger 13 times - and won 6, including beating him twice in the 1973 World Final. At home in Poland, Szczakiel rode for first division team Kolejarz Opole in the Pierwsza Liga in 1970's. He continued to ride for Opole until his forced retirement from a back injury in 1980. He stayed involved with the team as Manager until 1986 and became an honorary member of the club. Restrictions During his career, while other Polish riders such as Zenon Plech and Edward Jancarz were seemingly free to travel the world representing Poland in speedway, Polish authorities would not allow the 1973 World Champion to race anywhere but in Europe and only on rare occasions did he compete in Britain. Following his 1973 World title win, Szczakiel was invited by fellow World Champions Ivan Mauger and Barry Briggs to join their troupe (Ole Olsen, Scott Autrey, Chris Pusey and Bert Harkins) on a world tour to the USA, Australia and their native New Zealand. Polish authorities had other ideas however and vetoed his participation (but allowed both Plech and Jancarz to go on the tour). After his retirement, when asked about not being allowed to compete outside of Europe, Szczakiel said: Personal life Jerzy Szczakiel was married and had three children. In later life he worked as a shoe importer. World Final Appearances Individual World Championship 1970 - Wroclaw, Olympic Stadium - Reserve - Did not ride 1971 - Gothenburg, Ullevi - 15th - 0pts 1973 - Chorzów, Silesian Stadium - winner - 13pts+3pts World Pairs