Anders Michanek

Anders Michanek

Anders Michanek at the 1975 Intercontinental Final
Born	(1943-05-30) 30 May 1943 (age 80) Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Career history
Sweden
1965–1966, 1984–1985	Gamarna
1967–1983	Getingarna
1989	Rospiggarna
Great Britain
1967	Long Eaton Archers
1968	Leicester Lions
1970	Newcastle Diamonds
1971–1973, 1975, 1981	Reading Racers
1977	Cradley Heathens
1979	Ipswich Witches
Individual honours
1974	World Champion
1977	Long Track World Champion
1972, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1982	Swedish Champion [1]
1973	European Final winner
1967, 1973	Brandonapolis
1973	Pride of the East
1973	Blue Riband
1973	Spring Classic
1967	Olympique
1973	Superama
1973	Golden Gauntlets
Team honours
1973, 1974, 1975	World Pairs Champion
1970	World Team Champion
1973	British League Champion
1965, 1970, 1974, 1975	Swedish Pairs Champion
1967, 1969, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981	Allsvenskan Champion
1982, 1983	Elitserien Champion
1965	Allsvenskan Div 2 Champion
1972	Spring Gold Cup Winner

Anders Michanek (born 30 May 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden) ^[2] is a Speedway rider. ^[3] In 1974 he won the Speedway World Championship in his Swedish homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. ^{[4] [5]}

Career

Michanek had a very successful career riding in the British League. He initially signed for the Long Eaton Archers in 1967 before going on to ride for various clubs including Leicester Lions, Newcastle Diamonds, Reading Racers, Ipswich Witches and Cradley Heathens. ^[6]

During the 1971 Swedish final, Michanek refused to pariticpate in a re-run for the title and was disqualified. Michanek and Göte Nordin both finished on 14 points and in the race off Michanek beat Nordin after the latter pulled out of the race, claiming that he saw a red light to stop the race. The match referee ordered a re-run but Michanek refused to take part claiming there was no red light. The incident resulted in violence between rival supporters and was headline news in Sweden. ^[7] Michanek contemplated retirement from the sport but continued to ride. Spurred on by the incident he went on to win the Swedish title the following year and then won four more during his career.

Michanek won the World Final in 1974 at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, and won the Swedish Individual Championship several times. ^[8] He won the World Long Track Final in 1977 at Aalborg in Denmark. ^[9]

When Michanek finished second behind Denmark's Ole Olsen in the 1975 World Final at London's Wembley Stadium, it was reported that he was relieved to have relinquished his world title as he had not enjoyed the pressure of being the World Champion. Reports also told that he only started to enjoy the 1975 Final after finishing third in his opening heat behind Olsen and Russian rider Viktor Trofimov knowing that from that point he was not likely to repeat his 1974 win. This was reflected when he came out and won his final four races to finish 2 points behind the undefeated Olsen in second place.

Anders Michanek also won the World Pairs Championship in 1973 in Borås with Bernt Persson, again in 1974 at the Hyde Road Speedway in Manchester with Sören Sjösten, and a third time in succession in 1975 in Wrocław, Poland with Tommy Jansson. He also won the Speedway World Team Cup with Sweden in 1970.

In 1977, Michanek won the Long Track World Championship in Aalborg, Denmark.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

• 1967 – London, Wembley Stadium – 6th – 9pts
• 1968 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – 7th – 9pts
• 1970 – Wroclaw, Olympic Stadium – 9th – 7pts
• 1971 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – 5th – 11pts
• 1972 – London, Wembley Stadium – 7th – 8pts
• 1973 – Chorzów, Silesian Stadium – 10th – 6pts
• 1974 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – Winner – 15pts
• 1975 – London, Wembley Stadium – 2nd – 13pts
• 1976 – Chorzów, Silesian Stadium – Reserve – 2pts
• 1977 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – 8th – 8pts
• 1978 – London, Wembley Stadium – 10th – 7pts

World Pairs Championship

• 1971 – Rybnik, Rybnik Municipal Stadium (with Bernt Persson) – 3rd – 22pts (13)
• 1972 – Ryavallen Borås (with Bengt Jansson) – 4th – 22pts (15+2)
• 1973 – Ryavallen, Borås (with Tommy Jansson) – Winner – 24pts (15)
• 1974 – Manchester, Hyde Road (with Sören Sjösten) – Winner – 28pts (14)
• 1975 – Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Tommy Jansson) – Winner – 24pts (17)
• 1977 – Manchester, Hyde Road (with Bernt Persson) – 2nd – 18pts (16)

World Team Cup

• 1968 – London, Wembley Stadium (with Ove Fundin / Bengt Jansson / Olle Nygren / Torbjörn Harrysson) – 2nd – 30pts (7)
• 1969 – Rybnik, Rybnik Municipal Stadium (with Bengt Jansson / Sören Sjösten / Ove Fundin / Torbjörn Harrysson) – 4th – 12pts (7)
• 1970 – London, Wembley Stadium (with Ove Fundin / Bengt Jansson / Sören Sjösten) – Winner – 42pts (10)
• 1971 – Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Bernt Persson] / Sören Sjösten/ Bengt Jansson / Leif Enecrona) – 4th – 18pts (9)
• 1972 – Olching, Olching Speedwaybahn (with Tommy Jansson / Christer Lofqvist / Jan Simensen / Göte Nordin) – 4th – 18pts (4)
• 1973 – London, Wembley Stadium (with Bernt Persson / Bengt Jansson / Tommy Jansson) – 2nd – 31pts (11)
• 1974 – Chorzów, Silesian Stadium (with Sören Sjösten / Tommy Jansson / Christer Lofqvist) – 2nd – 31pts (9)
• 1975 – Norden, Motodrom Halbemond (with Tommy Jansson / Bernt Persson / Sören Sjösten / Sören Karlsson) – 3rd – 17pts (8)
• 1976 – London, White City Stadium (with Bernt Persson / Lars-Åke Andersson / Bengt Jansson / Christer Löfqvist) – 3rd – 26pts (11)
• 1977 – Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Bengt Jansson / Tommy Nilsson / Bernt Persson / Sören Karlsson) – 4th – 11pts (5)

Long Track World Championship

• 1977 – Aalborg – Winner
• 1979 – Marienbad – 2nd
• 1981 – Radgona – 3rd

References

1. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 85. ISBN   0-86215-017-5.
2. Oakes, Peter; Mauger, Ivan OBE (1976). Who's Who of World Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ISBN   0-904584-04-6.
3. Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN   978-0-244-72538-9
4. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN   0-7524-2402-5
5. Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 524. ISBN   0-316-72645-1.
6. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
7. "Reading speed star in row" . Reading Evening Post. 4 October 1971. Retrieved 16 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Swedish Champion", Speedway Star , 9 September 1978, p. 8
9. "World Long Track", Speedway Star, 9 September 1978, p. 8