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Västervik Speedway
Västervik Speedway
Club information
Track address	Hejla Arena; Västervik
Country	Sweden
Founded	1966
Team manager	Morgan Andersson
Team captain	Robert Lambert
League	Elitserien
Website	Official Website
Club facts
Colours	Blue and yellow
Track size	296m
Track record time	55.1 seconds
Track record date	20 August 2018
Track record holder	Nicki Pedersen
Major team honours
Swedish Team Championship	2005

Västervik Speedway are a motorcycle speedway team from Västervik in Sweden. They ride in the Elitserien^[2] and are one time champions of Sweden.^[3]^[4] The team race at the Ljungheden also known as the Helja Arena.

History

1966 to 1981

They were established as Skepparna and raced in division 3 during the 1966 Swedish speedway season.^[5] In 1977 the team won their first honours when winning division 2 and were promoted to the top tier for the first time. However, in 1978 the team struggled and were subsequently relegated before signing Bengt Jansson and winning division 2 again in 1979. With the addition of Tommy Johansson the team survived the 1980 and 1981 seasons.

1982 to 1992

The club were put in the second tier, on the introduction of the Elitserien in 1982.^[6] In 1986 the team won division 2 and backed up this success in 1990 by winning division 1, which resulted in their return to the top tier for the first time since 1981.^[7]^[8] They have raced in the Elitserien (the top league division of Swedish speedway) ever since.

1993 to 2004

In 1993, the team changed their name to Västervik and signed Sam Ermolenko (who would become the world champion that year). The team finished third for their highest ever position.^[9]^[10] The team continued to compete in the Elitserien finishing third again in 2001 after signing Tomasz Gollob and Nicki Pedersen.^[11]

2005 to present

During the 2005 Swedish speedway season the club won their first Swedish Team Championship with a team that included Tomasz Gollob, Jacek Gollob, Bjarne Pedersen and Niels Kristian Iversen. They then narrowly lost the title after finishing runners-up to Dackarna in 2007.^[12] In 2014, the club were relegated but won two Allsvenskan titles in 2016 and 2017, which took them back to the Elitserien.

In 2023, the team signed three times world champion Tai Woffinden.^[13]

Season summary

Previous teams

Extended content

2012 team

2022 team

2023 team

Notable riders

References

^ "HEJLA Arena".
^ "Speedway Around The Globe - Sweden". Speedway Star. 23 July 2022. pp. 38–39.
^ "HISTORICAL RESULTS 1948-2015". Speedway History. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^ "Vastervik Speedway". Elit Speedway. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
^ "1966". Speedway.org. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
^ "The elite series in speedway". Gislaved MotorKlubb. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
^ "Vargarna 1990". formula2.se. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
^ "1990 season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
^ "Historik". Västervik Speedway. 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
^ Stefan Holm (25 March 2009). "Lär känna världens märkligaste klubbnamn" (in Swedish). Sportbladet. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
^ "2001 season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
^ "Swedish Leagues". SpeedwayWorld.tv. 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
^ "WOFFY MAKES SWEDISH COMEBACK WITH VASTERVIK FOR 2023". FIM. Retrieved 2 February 2023.