Västervik Speedway

Swedish motorcycle speedway team

Västervik Speedway

Club information
Track address| Hejla Arena
Västervik
Country| Sweden
Founded| 1966
Team manager| Morgan Andersson
Team captain| Robert Lambert
League| Elitserien
Website| Official Website
Club facts
Colours| Blue and yellow
Track size| 296m
Track record time| 55.1 seconds[1]
Track record date| 20 August 2018
Track record holder| Nicki Pedersen
Major team honours
| Swedish Team Championship| 2005

|

Västervik Speedway are a motorcycle speedway team from Västervik in Sweden. They ride in the Elitserien[2] and are one time champions of Sweden.[3][4] The team race at the Ljungheden also known as the Helja Arena.

Ljungheden in 2023

## History

[edit]

### 1966 to 1981

[edit]

They were established as Skepparna and raced in division 3 during the 1966 Swedish speedway season.[5] In 1977 the team won their first honours when winning division 2 and were promoted to the top tier for the first time. However, in 1978 the team struggled and were subsequently relegated before signing Bengt Jansson and winning division 2 again in 1979. With the addition of Tommy Johansson the team survived the 1980 and 1981 seasons.

### 1982 to 1992

[edit]

The club were put in the second tier, on the introduction of the Elitserien in 1982.[6] In 1986 the team won division 2 and backed up this success in 1990 by winning division 1, which resulted in their return to the top tier for the first time since 1981.[7][8] They have raced in the Elitserien (the top league division of Swedish speedway) ever since.

### 1993 to 2004

[edit]

In 1993, the team changed their name to Västervik and signed Sam Ermolenko (who would become the world champion that year). The team finished third for their highest ever position.[9][10] The team continued to compete in the Elitserien finishing third again in 2001 after signing Tomasz Gollob and Nicki Pedersen.[11]

### 2005 to present

[edit]

During the 2005 Swedish speedway season the club won their first Swedish Team Championship with a team that included Tomasz Gollob, Jacek Gollob, Bjarne Pedersen and Niels Kristian Iversen. They then narrowly lost the title after finishing runners-up to Dackarna in 2007.[12] In 2014, the club were relegated but won two Allsvenskan titles in 2016 and 2017, which took them back to the Elitserien.

In 2023, the team signed three times world champion Tai Woffinden.[13]

## Season summary

[edit]

Main article: Swedish Speedway Team Championship

## Previous teams

[edit]

Extended content

2012 team

* Jurica Pavlič 1.889
* Chris Harris 1.669
* Tomasz Jedrzejak 1.520
* Danny King 1.508
* Davey Watt 1.500
* Rafał Okoniewski 1.432
* Peter Ljung 1.393
* Mikael Max 1.383
* Pontus Aspgren 0.973

2022 team

* Mads Hansen
* Fredrik Lindgren
* Bartosz Smektała
* Paweł Przedpełski
* Jaimon Lidsey
* Kenneth Bjerre
* Peter Ljung
* Anton Karlsson
* / Gleb Chugunov

2023 team

* David Bellego
* Gleb Chugunov
* Mads Hansen
* Chris Holder
* Oscar Holstensson
* Anton Karlsson
* Alexander Liljekvist
* Fredrik Lindgren
* Mikkel Michelsen
* Bartosz Smektała
* Anders Thomsen
* Jacob Thorssell
* Tai Woffinden

## Notable riders

[edit]

*   * Craig Boyce
*   * Sam Ermolenko
*   * Jacek Gollob
*   * Tomasz Gollob
*   * Niels Kristian Iversen
*   * Bengt Jansson
*   * Jörgen Johansson
*   * Tommy Johansson
*   * Freddie Lindgren
*   * Bjarne Pedersen
*   * Nicki Pedersen
*   * Todd Wiltshire
*   * Tai Woffinden

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "HEJLA Arena".
2. ^ "Speedway Around The Globe - Sweden". Speedway Star. 23 July 2022. pp. 38–39.
3. ^ "HISTORICAL RESULTS 1948-2015". Speedway History. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
4. ^ "Vastervik Speedway". Elit Speedway. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
5. ^ "1966". Speedway.org. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
6. ^ "The elite series in speedway". Gislaved MotorKlubb. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
7. ^ "Vargarna 1990". formula2.se. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
8. ^ "1990 season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
9. ^ "Historik". Västervik Speedway. 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
10. ^ Stefan Holm (25 March 2009). "Lär känna världens märkligaste klubbnamn" (in Swedish). Sportbladet. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
11. ^ "2001 season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
12. ^ "Swedish Leagues". SpeedwayWorld.tv. 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
13. ^ "WOFFY MAKES SWEDISH COMEBACK WITH VASTERVIK FOR 2023". FIM. Retrieved 2 February 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Speedway Elitserien

Teams|

* Dackarna
* Indianerna
* Lejonen
* Piraterna
* Rospiggarna
* Smederna
* Vargarna
* Västervik

Leagues|

* Elitserien
* Allsvenskan
* Division One

See also|

* Speedway
* Speedway Grand Prix
* Speedway World Cup
* List of speedway teams in Sweden
* Sweden national speedway team

* v
* t
* e

Swedish speedway teams & seasons

Elitserien|

* Dackarna
* Indianerna
* Lejonen
* Piraterna
* Rospiggarna
* Smederna
* Vargarna
* Västervik

Allsvenskan|

* Gislaved
* Griparna
* Masarna
* Njudungarna
* Örnarna
* Solkatterna
* Valsarna

Division One|

* Team DaLej
* Indianerna C
* Vikingarna
* Smederna B

Former|

* Bysarna
* Filbyterna
* Getingarna
* Hammarby
* Kaparna
* Monarkerna
* Team Bikab

Seasons|

Swedish Speedway Team Championship

* 1948
* 1949
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* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
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* 1981
* 1982
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* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

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