Lars Gunnestad

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Lars Gunnestad
Lars Gunnestad 1991 Speedway rider.png
Born (1971-02-18) 18 February 1971 (age 54)
Drammen, Norway
NationalityNorwegian
Career history
Great Britain
1991 Sheffield
1993–1998, 2000–2002 Poole
Poland
1991–1992 Zielona Góra
1993 Bydgoszcz
2000–2001 Rybnik
2003 Ostrów
Norway
1991, 1999 NMK Drammen
Sweden
1987 Piraterna
1988–2004 Indianerna
2005 Valsarna
Individual honours
1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993,
1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003
Norwegian Champion
Team honours
1990, 1991 Elitserien Champion
1994 British League Champion
2002 Craven Shield Winner

Lars Gunnestad (born 18 February 1971) [1] is a former Norwegian international motorcycle speedway rider. [2] He won the Individual Speedway Norwegian Championship a record ten times and earned 22 caps for the Norway national speedway team. [3]

Contents

Career

Lars Gunnestad and Rinat Mardanshin. Polish league. 1992 Lars Gunnestad i Rinat Mardanszin.jpg
Lars Gunnestad and Rinat Mardanshin. Polish league. 1992

Gunnestad was born on 18 February 1971 in Drammen, Norway. He first came to prominence in 1988, when he won his first Norwegian title at the age of 17. His first British club was Sheffield in 1991, [4] who competed in the British League Division Two. Gunnestad missed the British speedway season in 1992 despite signing for Poole Pirates, but returned in 1993 to compete in the British League for Poole Pirates, [5] with whom he would spend this rest of his British career.

Gunnestad became a popular rider at Poole and eventually received a testimonial meeting there in 2001. [6] He appeared in five Speedway Grand Prix meetings as a wild card.

Speedway Grand Prix results

1995 SGP
Grand PrixPos.Pts.HeatsDraw
1 (1) Flag of Denmark.svg Vojens 119(1,1,1,2,1) +1C 13
1998 SGP
Grand PrixPos.Pts.HeatsDraw
1 (2) Flag of Denmark.svg Vojens 184(0,3,1) 24
2 (3) Flag of Sweden.svg Linköping 241(0,X) 24
2002 SGP
Grand PrixPos.Pts.HeatsDraw
1 (4) Flag of Norway.svg Hamar 136(3,2)(0,1) 23
2003 SGP
Grand PrixPos.Pts.HeatsDraw
1 (5) Flag of Norway.svg Hamar 184(0,2,1) 23
 permanent speedway rider
  wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
 rider not classified (track reserve who did not start)

World Longtrack Championship

Personal life

His sons, Lars Daniel Gunnestad and Thomas Gunnestad, were both speedway riders. [7] Lars Daniel won the 2011 Norwegian Championship and Thomas won the 2012 Norwegian Championship. [8]

See also

References

  1. Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac. ISBN   0-9552376-1-0
  2. "GUNNESTAD: FOREVER A PIRATE". Poole Speedway. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  3. "Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  4. "last gamble by Panthers" . Peterborough Herald & Post. 6 September 1991. Retrieved 26 August 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Poole" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. 22 March 1993. Retrieved 26 August 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. Robert Bamford, Glynn Shailes (2004). 50 Poole Pirates Greats. Tempus Publishing. pp. 54–55. ISBN   0-7524-3257-5.
  7. "Norwegia powalczy o DPŚ" (in Polish). SportoweFakty.pl. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  8. "Rune Sola mistrzem Norwegii" (in Polish). SportoweFakty.pl. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2009.