Rottalstadion

Rottalstadion

Location	Füssinger Str. 14, 94060Pocking,Germany
Coordinates	48°23′34″N13°18′24″E
Capacity	10,000
Opened	1953
Length	(396 metres) 0.396 km

TheRottalstadionis a 10,000-capacitymotorcycle speedway,association footballand athletics stadium located in the southern area ofPocking,Germany.It hosts the speedway teamMSC Pockingand the football team SV Pocking 1892.

History

The Rottalstadion was built by members of the local motorsport club, shortly afterWorld War II,on a gravel pit but the club dissolved before speedway took a permanent hold at the venue.It finally had an official opening in 1953 whenFC NürnbergmetSSV Jahn Regensburgin a football match.

A new motorcycle club was created on 13 March 1962 and the founding members unanimously voted to join the DMV. Xaver Ziegler was instrumental in racing returning in June 1962, albeit on a sand track measuring a huge 760 meters. Events became a regular occurrence and a record crowd of 22,000 attended the stadium on Easter Sunday, 1967.

In 1974, a smaller conventional speedway track was built and on 30 March 1975, national teams fromPoland,theSoviet Union,SwedenandWest Germanycompeted in an international fixture. Several years later the MSC Pocking team would compete in the Bundesliga.The stadium hosted the semi finals of the1977 Speedway World Pairs Championship,before it was awarded the final of the1986 Speedway World Pairs Championship.

In 1993, a crowd of around 20,000 attended the1993 Individual Speedway World Championship,which was significant because it was the last one-off final before the introduction of theSpeedway Grand Prix.

In 1996 and 1998, the stadium hosted the prestigiousSpeedway Grand Prix of Germany,which were won byHans NielsenandTony Rickardssonrespectively.

During 2020, the track closed and fixtures were suspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemicbut reopened in 2021.

On 15 August 2023, the 396 metre track record was broken byValentin Grobauer,who recorded 84.6 km/h.