Björn Knutson commonly spelt Knutsson (born 27 April 1938 in Sweden) is a 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 clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider who won the

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

in 1965 and was a four-time winner of the

World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

. He gained the nickname 'The Crown Prince' for his speedway success. He earned 42 caps for the

Sweden national speedway team The Sweden national speedway team are one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. History The Sweden speedway team has won the Speedway World Team Cup and Speedway World Cup on ten occasions and were a major force in the open ...

Career

Knutson also won the Speedway Swedish Individual Championship in 1961 and 1963. He first rode in Great Britain after signing for Southampton Saints, during the 1959 Speedway National League. He topped the team's averages in 1960 and became one of the league's leading riders during the period. He outscored his teammate

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times: in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway ...

at Southampton in both 1962 and 1963 at a time, when Briggs was in the middle of winning his four world championships. He finished his British league career with

West Ham Hammers The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team that raced at West Ham Stadium in London, England, from 1929 to 1971. The team were twice champions of the United Kingdom. History Origins and 1920s Speedway arrived at West Ham in 1928, the ina ...

, at the end of the 1964 Speedway National League season.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Malmö Stadion Malmö Stadion, often known simply as Stadion before the construction of the new Stadion, Malmö, Stadion between 2007 and 2009, is a multi-purpose stadium in Malmö, Sweden. As of 2015, it is the home of association football club IFK Malmö, p ...

- 2nd - 12pts + 3pts *

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

- London,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

- 4th - 10pts + 2pts *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 2nd - 13pts *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

- Gothenburg,

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

- 5th - 10pts *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - Winner - 14pts *

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

- Gothenburg, Ullevi - 10th - 5pts

World Team Cup

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

- Gothenburg, Ullevi (with

Ove Fundin Ove Fundin (born 23 May 1933) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1951 to 1970. Fundin is notable for winning the Speedway World Ch ...

/ Rune Sörmander /

Olle Nygren Harald Olof Ingemar Nygren (11 November 1929 – 13 February 2021) was a Swedish motorcycle speedway rider, who reached the finals of the Speedway World Championship five times. He earned 90 caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Career ...

) - Winner - 44pts (9) *

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

(with Rune Sörmander / Ove Fundin / Per Tage Svensson / Soren Sjosten) - 2nd - 30pts (7) *

Slaný Slaný (; ) is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...

, Slaný Speedway Stadium (with Ove Fundin / Sören Sjösten /

Göte Nordin Göte Nordin (2 July 1935 – 21 November 2023) was a former motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He earned 45 caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Speedway career Nordin is a two times champion of Sweden, winning the Swedish Individ ...

/ Rune Sörmander) - Winner - 36pts (10) *

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Stadion Wien (with Ove Fundin /

Per Olof Söderman Per Olof Söderman (born 29 October 1932) was a speedway rider from Sweden. During his racing career he was also known as Peo Söderman. He earned 44 caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Speedway career Söderman reached the final of ...

/ Göte Nordin / Rune Sörmander) - Winner - 37pts (11) *

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian Districts of Germany, district of Kelheim (district), Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situa ...

Abensberg Stadion The Wack Hofmeister Stadium formerly the Altes Stadion Abensberg (the Old Stadium) is a motorcycle speedway and association football stadium located slightly east of the centre of Abensberg in Germany. It hosts the speedway team MSC Abensberg ...

(with Ove Fundin / Göte Nordin / Rune Sörmander / Sören Sjösten) - Winner - 34pts (11) *

Kempten Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...

(with Ove Fundin /

Bengt Jansson Bengt Gustaf Jansson (born 9 January 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He earned 107 caps for the Sweden national speedway team. Career Jansson was runner up in the 1967 World Final ...

/ Göte Nordin) - 2nd - 33pts (11) *

- Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Ove Fundin / Leif Enecrona / Göte Nordin / Leif Larsson) - 3rd - 22pts (11)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knutson, Bjorn 1938 births Living people Swedish speedway riders Individual Speedway World Champions West Ham Hammers riders Swedish expatriate speedway riders in England Southampton Saints riders Vargarna riders