Sønderjylland Elite Speedway (SES) (English Southern Jutland Elite Speedway) 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 clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

club from

Vojens Vojens () is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 7,424 (1 January 2025).Danish Speedway League The Danish Speedway League () or Danish Super League or Metal League as it is called today is the top division of motorcycle speedway in Denmark. In 1955, the idea of a Danish Tournament for teams surfaced. The Danish Speedway League began in ...

. The Vojens speedway team was formerly known as Vojens Speedway Klub.

Track

The club's home venue is the

Vojens Speedway Center The Vojens Speedway Center is a Motorcycle speedway track located in Vojens, Denmark. The track has been part-owned since its opening by Denmark's first three time Speedway World Champion Ole Olsen. Track The Speedway Center is a long track ...

, which is located about 3 kilometres in a south westerly direction from the centre of Vojens, on Tinglykke 9.

History

Vojens Speedway

Ole Olsen and Aage Sondergaard formed a company called Speedsport Ltd and in the Spring of 1975, they started construction on a speedway stadium that would meet international specifications. The Vojens Speedway Center was opened on 21 September 1975 and would become an international venue for major speedway events. The following year the mini adjacent speedway track (50 and 80cc machines) was opened by the Vojens Speedway Klub. The two organisations naturally formed a relationship and a team was created by the Vojens Speedway Klub to race in the Danish Tournament at the Vojens Speedway Center. The leagues were of an amateur nature at the time, the Geopards (Cheetahs) and Goodyear-drengene (Goodyear Boys) were the names of the first team. Other teams were the Fighters and Hunters. In

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 en ...

, the professional

Danish Speedway League The Danish Speedway League () or Danish Super League or Metal League as it is called today is the top division of motorcycle speedway in Denmark. In 1955, the idea of a Danish Tournament for teams surfaced. The Danish Speedway League began in ...

or Superliga was created, of which Vojens Speedway Klub (VSK) were a founder member. They competed in the Super League from 1986 until 1989, with their first major star being

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 World Pairs. He earned 81 caps for the Denmark national speedway team. He i ...

. The team lost their place after finishing last in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. VSK would make further appearances in the Super League in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

but could never cement their place in the league. Another attempt started in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and the club managed a third place finish in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

but following the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

season, the club suffered financial problems and withdrew from the league. VSK only continued to run 50cc and 80cc mini speedway.

2020 to present

A new team by the name of Sønderjylland Elite Speedway was created to race at the Vojens Speedway Center in 2020 and replaced the Vojens Speedway Klub. The team won the

title during the 2022 Danish speedway season. Riders included Anders Thomsen and

Matej Žagar Matej Žagar (born 3 April 1983 in Ljubljana, Slovenia) is a Slovenian motorcycle speedway rider who was won two Individual Speedway European Champion titles in 2008 Individual Speedway European Championship, 2008 and 2009 Individual Speedway E ...

. They topped the table in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

but lost in the Super Final.

Notable riders

* * * * * * *

References

{{Danish speedway teams Speedway teams in Denmark Haderslev Municipality 1976 establishments in Denmark 2011 disestablishments in Denmark 2020 establishments in Denmark Sports clubs and teams established in 1976 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2011 Sports clubs and teams established in 2020 Sport in the Region of Southern Denmark