8-Time Ice Speedway World Champion Dies At Age 40, But In a Car Crash

RIP, Nikolai Krasnikov.

Photo by: FIM Moto

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Jun 20, 2025 at 10:01am ET

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Before I start this obituary, I want to take this opportunity to say that if you've never seen either Speedway or Ice Speedway racing, you owe it to yourself to give it a watch. It's mesmerizing madness, and you'll soon be hooked if you do. All gas, no brakes, and a clear requirement of all participants to have cojones the size of small planetary bodies. On ICE. (Or dirt, if it's normal Speedway and not the frozen variety.)

On June 16, 2025, the FIM reported the sad news that eight-time FIM Ice Speedway World Champion Nikolai Krasnikov has died at the age of 40. A car crash was the cause; further details about what happened don't appear to be publicly available.

While he was racing, Krasnikov secured championships for himself eight times in a row between the years of 2005 and 2012. He was also a team player, helping his home country of Russia to achieve team ice speedway championships on 12 separate occasions. The team went for 10 in a row from 2004 to 2013, with a loss in 2014 finally breaking the winning streak. However, they managed to get back on top of the world standings in both 2015 and 2016.

Seriously, if you've never watched, here's a short little taster:

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If you look around, you can find a variety of videos; some short, some long, some shot with shaky and/or potatocams, but all uploaded because someone simply couldn't believe what they were seeing and wanted to share it with the world.

It's a sad day for Krasnikov's fans, and the international motorcycling community. RideApart's thoughts are with his family, friends, and loved ones, and we send our sincere condolences to all.