Birger Forsberg

Birger Forsberg
Born25 September 1930 (1930-09-25)
Skellefteå, Sweden
Died31 August 2007(2007-08-31) (aged 76)
Skellefteå, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Career history
Sweden
1952–1960Monarkerna
Great Britain
1957Rayleigh Rockets
1958–1959Poole Pirates
1960Ipswich Witches

Birger Forsberg (born 25 September 1930 – 31 August 2007) was a motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He earned 19 international caps for the Sweden national speedway team.[1][2]

Biography

Forsberg, born in Skellefteå, Sweden, raced from 1952 to 1960 for Monarkerna during his Swedish career.[3] His first visits to Britain included a British Easter tour in 1955[4] and a 1956 April tour of Britain.[5]

He began his British leagues career riding for Rayleigh Rockets during the 1957 Speedway National League season.[6] He left Rayleigh for Poole Pirates in 1958 and stayed with the south coast team for two seasons recording averages of 7.11 and 6.85 respectively.[7]

In 1960, he joined Ipswich Witches for his final season in British speedway.[8]

He was a prominent rider during the qualification rounds of the Speedway World Championship throughout the 1950s and participated in the inaugural 1957 Individual Long Track European Championship final.[9]

References

  1. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  2. ^ "History Speedway and Longtrack". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Poole's Speedway defeat". Evening Despatch. 14 October 1953. Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "At Brandon April 9". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 8 March 1955. Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Swedes here". Leicester Evening Mail. 4 April 1956. Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "1957 season". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Birger Forsberg". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 9 January 2024.