Tomas "Tommy" Pettersson (born 29 December 1952) is a Swedish former

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. Born in

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

, Pettersson learnt to ride a speedway bike in England, at

Olle Nygren Harald Olof "Olle" Ingemar Nygren (11 November 1929 – 13 February 2021) was a Swedish speedway rider who reached the finals of the Speedway World Championship five times. Nygren was Swedish Champion in 1949 and became Nordic Champion in 1960. ...

's training school in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, , p. 232 He made his competitive debut in 1971 for his home town team

Vargarna Vargarna are a Swedish motorcycle speedway team based in Norrköping, Sweden. The team race at the Norrköpings Motorstadion. History The name Vargarna literally translates into English as "The Wolves". The team won the Swedish Speedway Team Cha ...

, and won the Swedish Junior Championship the following year. He rode for Sweden in test matches against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1973 and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1974, and was due to tour England with Sweden in 1975 but a broken leg from a racing crash ruled him out. In 1976 he signed for

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 ...

but a dispute between Birmingham and Vargarna meant that he only appeared in three challenge matches for Birmingham.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 157 He returned to Britain in 1977, first with

Bristol Bulldogs The Bristol Bulldogs were a British motorcycle speedway team based in the Knowle Stadium, Bristol, England from 1928 to 1978.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History The club was formed in 1928. Their first trophy ...

and then a longer spell with

Leicester Lions Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League ...

References

1952 births Living people Swedish speedway riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Leicester Lions riders Sportspeople from Norrköping {{Sweden-speedway-bio-stub