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Tommy Knudsen

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Tommy Knudsen
Born (1961-11-09) 9 November 1961 (age 63)
Roager, Denmark
NationalityDanish
Career history
Denmark
1990Fredericia
Great Britain
1979-1988, 1990-1992Coventry Bees
Individual honours
1975, 1976Danish Under-16 Champion
1978Danish Under-21 Champion
1980European Under-21 Champion
1981, 1985, 1993Nordic Final Champion
1982Pride of the East winner
1985, 1987, 1994Danish Gold Bar winner
1986Midland Riders' Champion
1988Lobos Tomicek Memorial winner
1997Danish Champion
1997Danish Final winner
1982, 1984Brandonapolis
1982Golden Gauntlets
Team honours
1981, 1985, 1986
1987, 1988, 1991
1995, 1997		World Team Cup
1985, 1991World Pairs Champion
1979British League Champion
1979, 1981, 1982Midland Cup
1980Midland League
1981British League Cup
Competition record
Representing  Denmark
Speedway World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 1981
Speedway World Team Cup
Gold medal – first place 1981
Gold medal – first place 1985
Gold medal – first place 1986
Gold medal – first place 1987
Gold medal – first place 1988
Gold medal – first place 1991
Gold medal – first place 1995
Gold medal – first place 1997
Silver medal – second place 1982
Silver medal – second place 1993
Bronze medal – third place 1990
Bronze medal – third place 1994
Speedway World Pairs Championship
Gold medal – first place 1985
Gold medal – first place 1991
Bronze medal – third place 1993
Intercontinental Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1986

Tommy Knudsen (born 9 November 1961 in Roager, Denmark)[1] 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.[2]

He is not to be confused with Tom P. Knudsen (born 1968), another rider from the period.

Career

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Knudsen first became known when he won the Danish Under-16 Championships of 1975 and 1976 before becoming the Danish Under-21 Champion in 1978. Knudsen started racing in the United Kingdom during second half meetings in 1978. He was signed up by Coventry Bees in 1979 and was touted as a future champion.[3]

Knudsen won the 1980 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship[4] and recorded a 8.10 average for Coventry during the 1980 British League season. Knudsen also raced in Australia during the 1980s, winning the "Mr Melbourne" title at the Melbourne Showgrounds in January 1987, and a week later finished third behind fellow Dane Hans Nielsen and American Rick Miller in the West End Speedway International at the Wayville Showground in Adelaide.

Knudsen was matching Ole Olsen's average at Coventry during 1981 and helped the Bees win the League Cup and Midland Cup. That season he also made his first World Final appearance, finishing third at the 1981 Individual Speedway World Championship at Wembley Stadium in London, after losing a ride-off for 2nd to countryman Ole Olsen. Knudsen had earlier defeated Olsen to win the opening heat of the World Final and a large number of fans and members of the speedway press believed that Knudsen would become Denmark's next world champion.[5]

Unfortunately for Knudsen, two fellow Danish riders Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen emerged and becam ethe world's leading riders, which arguably denied Knudsen his chance of becoming a world individual champion. However, because the Danes dominated world speedway, Knudsen was able to win eight World Team Cup's in 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1995 and 1997 and two Speedway World Pairs titles in 1985 and 1991.[6] Although he rode in a further five World Finals (1985, 1986, 1991, 1992 and 1994), Knudsen would never again finish on the podium in a World Final, his best placing being 4th in 1992. At the 1985 Final held in Los Angeles, Knudsen was undefeated on the night, famously holding out US team captain Bobby Schwartz in the penultimate heat to ensure Denmark could not be beaten.

During this golden period of speedway for the Danes, Knudsen remained loyal to the Coventry Bees, riding for them from 1979 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1992, captainign the team and remaining one of the league's best riders.[7]

He announced his retirement at the end of August 1990 after a crash in Australia but returned to racing the following year.[8]

World final appearances

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Individual World Championship

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World Pairs Championship

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World Team Cup

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Individual Under-21 World Championship

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Speedway Grand Prix results

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Year Position Points Best Finish Notes
1995 10th 67 Winner Won German and Swedish Grand Prix
1996 11th 44 Winner Won Polish Grand Prix

References

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  1. ^ Tanner R. Speedway Star magazine (30 August 1986)
  2. ^ "Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Ole and the New". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 15 March 1979. Retrieved 29 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Euro glory for Briggs". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 July 1980. Retrieved 29 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Happy Penhall the ambassador". Birmingham Mai. 7 September 1981. Retrieved 29 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Speedway World Pairs". Sunday Mirror. 21 July 1991. Retrieved 13 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Betting on NASCAR in 2022". www.coventrymotorspeedway.com. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  8. ^ "It happened this week". Speedway Star. 27 August 2022. p. 19.
  9. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
  10. ^ "'For the Record' (1991)". The Times. 22 July 1991. Retrieved 11 July 2021 – via Gale Primary Sources.
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