Esbjerg Speedway Klub or Esbjerg Vikings (part of Esbjerg Motosport) is a

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

club from

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

in Denmark, who compete in the

Danish Speedway League The Danish Speedway League ( da, Dansk Speedway Liga) or Danish Super League or Metal League as it is called today is the top division of motorcycle speedway in Denmark. Roll of Honour List of teams to have finished in medal-winning positions: ...

. The team have won the

title on 10 occasions in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, 1971,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, 1980,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Track

The club's home venue is the Granly Speedway Arena, which is located about 16 kilometres in a easterly direction from the centre of Esbjerg, on Tinghedevej 9.

History

1929 to 1966

Esbjerg Motorsport was founded in 1929 as the Esbjerg Automobile and Motorcycle Club. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the club acquired moorland and built a track called the Korskro Motor Center, which opened on 7 July 1946. Following financial issues and increased stadium safety costs during the early 1950s the club were forced to find a cheaper option and moved to the Esbjerg Athletic Stadium. The venue held several important meetings such as the 1960, 1996 and 1968

Danish Individual Speedway Championship Individual Speedway Danish Championship is the National competition for Danish speedway riders to determine the champion of Denmark. The event was first held in 1947. From 1947 to 1951 there was no definitive difference between the short track and ...

s. Esbjerg Motor Sport joined the Danish Automobile Sports Union (DASU) in 1963.

1967 to 1985

, a new organised tournament was formed with seven teams being registered. One of the teams was the called Vikingerne (the Vikings) formed by the Esbjerg club and this resulted in instant success as they won the 1967 Danish tournament. The team consisted of Finn Rasmussen, Bent Nørregaard-Jensen, Preben Bollerup, Kaj O. Jensen, Finn Schelde,

Kurt Bøgh Kurt Bøgh (c. 1933-2011) was an international speedway rider from Denmark. Speedway career Kurt Bøgh won four silver medals and three bronze medals during the Danish Individual Speedway Championship in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973 and ...

and team captain Poul Wissing. The Vikings left the Athletic Stadium and returned to the Korskro Motor Center (which has undergone an expansion in 1955) and then achieved four consecutive league titles in

, 1971 and

. The team enjoyed a large following and attendance receipts helped them become profitable, erasing the memories of the 1950s financial troubles. However, the Korskro track did not meet international specifications, so it was totally rebuilt and renamed the Esbjerg Motor Center, which opened on 1 May 1971. It also contained a longtrack, which became one of the sport's primary venues and held the 1982 and 1985

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 ...

s. The Vikings domination of Danish speedway continued, with the team winning three more Danish championships in 1980,

and

1986 to 1990

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, the professional

or Superliga was created, of which Esbjerg were a founder member. The Vikings were able to call upon the world champion

Erik Gundersen Erik Gundersen (born 8 October 1959 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider in the late 1970s and 1980s. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time. He was the ...

for the new era. Despite having one of the world's best riders the team struggled to make an impact and when they finished last in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

they dropped out of the top tier.

2007 to present

The Vikings returned to the top tier 17 years later for the 2007 Danish speedway season. They finished runner-up in 2008 and then won their 10th and 11th league titles in

and

. The team of the period included riders such as

Niels Kristian Iversen Niels Kristian Trochmann Iversen (, born 20 June 1982 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is an international motorcycle speedway rider. He was part of the Danish teams that won the Speedway World Cup in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014. Early life ...

Artem Laguta Artem Grigoryevich Laguta (russian: Артём Григорьевич Лагута; born 13 November 1990) is a Russian motorcycle speedway rider and member of the Russian national team. He is the 2021 World Champion. Career details Laguta b ...

Patryk Dudek Patryk Dudek (; born 20 June 1992) is a Polish motorcycle speedway rider who is a member of the Polish national speedway team. Career Dudek's father, Sławomir, was a professional rider and Patryk gained his speedway licence in 2008. Dudek ...

Kenneth Bjerre Kenneth Bjerre Jensen (born 24 May 1984 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a Danish international motorcycle speedway rider who races using the name Kenneth Bjerre. He rode in the UK for Peterborough Panthers and King's Lynn Stars in the E ...

Mads Korneliussen Mads Klit Korneliussen (born 15 June 1983) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark. Career Born in Aalborg, Denmark, Mads Korneliussen is the son of Karl Erik Korneliussen and younger brother of Tim Korneliussen, both former riders. ...

Leon Madsen Leon Madsen (born 5 September 1988) is a Danish speedway rider who is twice a World Championship silver medalist. Career Born in Vejle, Madsen won the 80cc junior World Championship in 2001. In 2018 and 2022, Madsen won the Individual Speedwa ...

and

Mikkel Bech Mikkel Bech Jensen (born 31 August 1994), often referred to simply as Mikkel Bech, is a Danish speedway rider. Career Born in Næstved and raised in Glumsø, Bech took up speedway at the age of 4, and began his senior career with Esbjerg. He mad ...

. In 2014, the track was renamed the Granly Speedway Arena. The team have since competed every season in the Super League. In 2022, the club signed three times world champion

Tai Woffinden Tai Woffinden (born 10 August 1990) is a British speedway rider. He is a three-time World Champion (2013, 2015 and 2018). Early life Woffinden was born in Scunthorpe, the son of former speedway rider Rob Woffinden. Although born in the Unite ...

Track

History

1929 to 1966

1967 to 1985

1986 to 1990

2007 to present

Riders

Notable riders

References