Jan Osvald Pedersen (born 9 November 1962 in Middelfart, Denmark) is a former Speedway rider who became Speedway World Champion in 1991 after finishing runner-up in 1986 and in third place in 1988 behind fellow Danes Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen. He also won the Speedway World Pairs Championship in 1990 and 1991, both times partnered by Hans Nielsen.

Career

In 1983 Pedersen signed for the Cradley Heathens. His first British meeting heralded a five-point return in Birmingham's Second City individual Trophy on 18 March. His future had been plotted for Dudley Wood almost a year earlier when he was recommended to Heathens team manager Peter Adams by his countryman,

Bent Rasmussen Bent Rasmussen (born 13 July 1957) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark. Career Rasmussen made his British leagues debut in 1977, when he joined the Hackney Hawks for the 1977 British League season. The following season he contin ...

. The ensuing months brought three more clubs knocking on his door but in August, Pedersen publicly pledged his future to Cradley. Pedersen finished his debut season with a 7.20 league average and Cradley's team total soared over 60-plus points as they won the British League again. The decision was then made by new manager Colin Pratt to loan the Dane out and he spent 1984 with Sheffield. Despite that season being marred by a broken arm, he did enough to convince Tigers' promoter Maurice Ducker that he was worth buying. However, Pratt refused to sell and Pedersen's return to Dudley Wood for 1985 saw the start of an uninterrupted 8-year stint with the club. Pedersen achieved success for club, country and individually. He picked up World Individual medals of bronze, silver and won the World Championship in 1991. His speedway career was brought to a premature end in his

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, where ...

year. Less than a fortnight after Pedersen's 10-year testimonial at Cradley, he crashed in Denmark and suffered a serious back injury and never raced competitively again. Since 1993 he has been doing some saloon car racing in Denmark and won a championship in his first season. He has also had one year spells as team manager with Oxford and promoter with Cradley when the Cradley team spent the 1996 season riding at Stoke. In 1999, he raced in the 25th Anniversary meeting at Denmark's Vojens track. A series of competitive races were held involving old and current international stars, including Gary Havelock, Henrik Gustafsson and

Jesper B. Monberg Jesper Bruun Monberg (born Jesper Bruun Jensen 14 October 1977 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a Danish speedway rider who has won the 2005 Individual European Championship, 1997 Under-21 Junior World Championship and 1997 Team World Championship title ...

. Pedersen managed to win every one of his races in his first track return since his career-ending accident in 1992. In 2012, he joined the Dudley Heathens Speedway team as their team coach. Dudley Heathens has roots with Cradley Heathens who currently ride at Perry Barr Stadium with the Birmingham Brummies.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

- 9th - 7pts *

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 ...

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

, Silesian Stadium - 2nd - 13pts *

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

- Amsterdam, Olympic Stadium - 7th - 19pts *

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

- Vojens, Speedway Center - 3rd - 13pts *

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 ...

- Göteborg, Ullevi - Winner - 15pts ''* Pedersen qualified for the

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

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 ...

World Final's but withdrew injured on both occasions.''

World Pairs Championship

Landshut Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...

, Ellermühle Stadium (with Hans Nielsen) - Winner - 43pts (24) *

- Poznań, Olimpia Poznań Stadium (with Hans Nielsen / Tommy Knudsen) - Winner - 28pts (14)

World Team Cup

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Ullevi, Vojens, Speedway Center and

(with Hans Nielsen / Erik Gundersen / Tommy Knudsen / John Jørgensen) - Winner - 129pts (30) *

- Fredericia,

Fredericia Speedway Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region Denmark, Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejl ...

, Coventry, Brandon Stadium and Prague, Marketa Stadium (with Hans Nielsen / Erik Gundersen / Tommy Knudsen) - Winner - 130pts (32) *

- Long Beach, Veterans Memorial Stadium (with Hans Nielsen / Erik Gundersen / Tommy Knudsen / John Jørgensen) - Winner - 44pts (12) *

- Vojens, Speedway Center (with Hans Nielsen / Tommy Knudsen / Gert Handberg /

Brian Karger Brian Karger (born 9 February 1967, in Horsens, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider. He was a member of the Denmark speedway team when they won the 1991 and 1995 World Team Cup Finals. He also qualified for the 1992 World ...

) - Winner - 51pts (15)

Individual Under-21 World Championship

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

- Pocking, Rottalstadion - 5th - 10pts *

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

- Lonigo,

Pista Speedway The Pista Olimpia Terenzano is a 4,000-capacity motorcycle stadium in the Terenzano Province of Udine. The stadium is situated south of Udine and north east of Pozzuolo del Friuli. The stadium has been the home of the World Championship round kno ...

- 12th - 5pts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Jan O. 1962 births Living people People from Middelfart Municipality Danish speedway riders Individual Speedway World Champions Speedway World Pairs Champions Speedway promoters Cradley Heathens riders Sheffield Tigers riders Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark