Holstebro Speedway Klub is a

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 ...

club from

Holstebro Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 36,489 (1 January 2022).1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Track

The track is located about 16 kilometres east of Holestebro on Hesselåvej 41B (south of Skave) and is adjacent to the Holstebro Moto Cross track.

History

1953 to 1967

In 1953, Holstebro Motor Klub (HMK) converted the grass track at Naur to a 367-metre speedway track. The track was known as the Naur track because it was just outside Holstebro to the west, by the railway line to Naur. The track hosted significant speedway events but unfortunately, due to financial difficulties the HMK suspended activities in 1967. This coincided with the introduction of the speedway leagues in 1967, resulting in Holstebro not having a team in the league.

1985 to present

In 1985, the Holstebro Speedway Klub (HoSK) was formed and with the help of the municipality they were able to build a track in Skave (its current location). The following year the professional

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: ...

or Superliga was created. The team signed the likes of Henka Gustafsson and competed in the 1988 Danish speedway season, performing well but not making the medals. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, they finished third to claim the bronze medal, a feat they repeated in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. It was during the 1997 Danish speedway season that the club achieved their greatest success, led by

Tommy Knudsen Tommy Knudsen (born 9 November 1961 in Roager, Denmark) is a former Motorcycle speedway rider who won eight Speedway World Team Cups, and two Speedway World Pairs Championship, World Pairs. Career Knudsen first became kno ...

they won the league title and became champions of Denmark. Knudsen also became the individual champion of Denmark. The rest of the team consisted of Dalle Andersson, Hans Andersen,

Bjarne Pedersen Bjarne Aagaard Pedersen (born 12 July 1978 in Holstebro, Denmark)Oakes, P.(2006). ''Speedway Star Almanac''. is an international motorcycle speedway rider who has represented Denmark in the Speedway World Cup, winning it on two occasions: i ...

and

Charlie Gjedde Charlie Rasmussen Gjedde (born 28 December 1979 in Holstebro, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark, who won the Speedway World Cup with Denmark in 2006. Career A former Danish Under-21 Champion, Gjedde ha ...

. Another success came in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, with a silver medal. Riders included

Nicki Pedersen Nicki Pedersen (born 2 April 1977) is a Danish motorcycle speedway rider. He has won the World Championship in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and was a World Cup winner with Denmark in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014. His brother, R ...

and

Gert Handberg Gert Handberg (born 30 May 1969 in Brædstrup, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider form Denmark. Career Gert joined Cradley Heathens in 1988 on a recommendation, after winning the Danish Junior Championship during the ...

. The club dropped out of the top league in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

but returned in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, led by

. Another second-place finish was achieved in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. After finishing 6th in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, the club dropped out of the top league again and currently race in the lower divisions.

Notable riders

* * * * * * * *

References

{{Danish speedway teams Speedway teams in Denmark Speedway in Denmark