Esbjerg Speedway Klub or Esbjerg Vikings (part of Esbjerg Motosport) is a speedway club from Esbjerg 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 scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

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 Solar time, me ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

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 Southeast A ...

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 gather ...

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 fact ...

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 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 Championships. 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 Bent Nørregaard-Jensen (born 2 December 1949) is a former international speedway rider from Denmark. Speedway career Nørregaard-Jensen was Danish champion in 1974 after winning the Danish Individual Speedway Championship. He was also the Da ...

, Preben Bollerup, Kaj O. Jensen, Finn Schelde, Kurt Bøgh 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

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

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 ente ...

, 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 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 Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

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 The 2007 Danish speedway season was the 2007 season of motorcycle speedway in Denmark. Individual Individual Championship The 2007 Danish Individual Speedway Championship was the 2007 edition of the Danish Individual Speedway Championship. The ...

. 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,

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 wo ...

, Kenneth Bjerre,

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 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 motorcycle speedway, speedway rider. He is a three-time Speedway World Championship, World Champion (2013 Speedway Grand Prix, 2013, 2015 Speedway Grand Prix, 2015 and 2018 Speedway Grand Prix, 2 ...

Track

History

1929 to 1966

1967 to 1985

1986 to 1990

2007 to present

Riders

Notable riders

References