Ari Koponen (20 July 1959 – 28 April 2018) was a Finnish

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider.

Career

In 1978, Koponen joined the

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of British speedway, during the 1952 Speedway National Lea ...

for the

1978 British League season The 1978 Gulf British League season was the 44th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 14th season known as the British League. Summary The list of nineteen teams that competed in the league was identical to the previou ...

, this was his first season in the British leagues. The following year he won a bronze medal at the

1979 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship The 1979 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship was the third edition of the European Under-21 Championships. European final *July 22, 1979 * Leningrad, Jääspeedway References {{Individual Speedway Junior World Championship seas ...

. He remained with Birmingham for five years, scoring over 800 points until he joined

Wimbledon Dons The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London.Jacobs, N. ''Speedway in London'', The track opened in 1928 and the Dons operated there from 1929 until 1991. They w ...

in 1983. It was in 1983, that Koponen became the national champion of Finland after winning the

Finnish Individual Speedway Championship The Finnish Individual Speedway Championship is a Motorcycle speedway championship held each year to determine the Finnish national champion. It was first staged in 1955. Winners See also Finland national speedway team References {{Interna ...

. In 1984, Koponen switched from Wimbledon to join the

Swindon Robins The Swindon Speedway team, also known as the Swindon Robins, are an English motorcycle speedway team established in 1949 that have competed primarily in the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom. They are five times l ...

where he enjoyed two successful seasons in 1984 and 1985. Also in 1985, he won a second Finnish national championship. In 1987, he won his third and final Finnish national championship. He was also a long track rider and reached the

Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship This is the complete list of Individual Long Track World Championship medalists from 1971. Also included are the medalists from 1957 to 1970 when the championship was known as the European Individual Long Track Championship. Medalists European L ...

final in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koponen, Ari 1959 births 2018 deaths Finnish speedway riders Birmingham Brummies riders Swindon Robins riders Wimbledon Dons riders Sportspeople from Lahti