Rune Holta

Rune Holta

Born	(1973-08-29) 29 August 1973 (age 51) Stavanger, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian & Polish
Career history
Norway
1991–2001	NMK Sandnes & Jæren
Poland
1994	Grudziądz
1996, 2012	Zielona Góra
1997–1998, 2007	Tarnów
1999–2000, 2002–2005, 2010, 2013–2014, 2017, 2020	Częstochowa
2006	Rzeszów
2008–2009	Gorzów
2011, 2018–2019	Toruń
2015	Ostrów
2016, 2021	Rybnik
2022	Poznań
2023	Łódź
Denmark
1997–2004, 2013	Outrup
2008	Grindsted
Sweden
1995–2002	Valsarna
2003–2008, 2015, 2021	Vetlanda
2009, 2012–2013	Indianerna
2010–2011, 2016	Dackarna
2014	Västervik
Germany
2016–2019	Brokstedt
Speedway Grand Prix statistics
SGP Number	7
Starts	74 [1]
Podiums	5 (2–1–2)
Finalist	8 times
Winner	2 times
Individual honours
1994, 1996, 1997, 2000	Norwegian Champion
2003, 2007	Polish Champion
1999, 2000	Nordic Champion
2009, 2011	Golden Helmet of Pardubice
2008	Swedish Grand Prix
2010	Scandinavian Grand Prix
Team honours
2005, 2007, 2010	World Cup Winner
2003	Polish Team Champion
2007	Polish Pairs Champion
1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2015	Swedish Elitserien Champion
1999, 2001	Danish League Champion
1999	Polish Div Two Champion

Rune Holta (born 29 August 1973 in Stavanger, Norway) is a speedway rider. ^[2] He grew up in Randaberg, Norway, ^[3] but has been a Polish citizen since 2002.

Career

In 1994, Holta finished runner-up to Mikael Karlsson in the final of the 1994 Speedway Under-21 World Championship following a run-off for the title. ^[4] This was the same year that Holta won the first of his four Norwegian Individual Speedway Championships. ^[5]

In 2002, he took Polish citizenship, allowing him to represent Poland in international competitions and was a member of their Speedway World Cup winning teams in 2005, 2007 and 2010. He has also won the Polish Championship in 2003 and 2007.

In 2020, he rode for Dackarna Malilla in the Swedish Elit League and for Włókniarz Częstochowa in the Polish Ekstraliga. In 2022, he helped PSŻ Poznań win the 2022 2.Liga. ^[6]

Awards

For his sport achievements, he received:
Golden Cross of Merit in 2007.

Plane crash

Place of 2007 plane crash.

In 2007 Holta survived a plane crash with fellow rider Tomasz Gollob. The plane, flown by Władysław Gollob, crashed on the way to a meeting at Tarnów. Holta escaped with cuts and bruises. ^[7]

On his official website, Holta stated "In spite of the circumstance I'm doing OK but I'm very shaken. We have been very lucky, and I'm just glad that I'm still alive." ^[8]

Major results

Speedway Grand Prix

Year	Position	Points	Best Finish	Notes
2000	26th	8	9th	1 wild card ride
2001	14th	41	5th
2002	11th	80	4th
2003	8th	98	4th
2004	14th	60	4th
2005	20th	6		1 wild card ride
2006	–	–	–	Did not participate
2007	7th	91	3rd

2007 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 14)

Race no.	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
1 /11	Italian SGP	15	2	(X,0,X,2,0)	4
2 /11	European SGP	11	6	(1,F,2,3,X)	6
3 /11	Swedish SGP	6	9	(3,1,1,1,3) +0	1
4 /11	Danish SGP	12	5	(0,2,3,F,0)	4
5 /11	British SGP	11	5	(3,1,E,1,0)	7
6 /11	Czech Rep. SGP	3	16	(1,2,3,2,3) +3 +1	11
7 /11	Scandinavian SGP	11	5	(0,0,1,1,3)	10
8 /11	Latvian SGP	10	7	(1,1,2,3,0)	16
9 /11	Polish SGP	6	10	(0,3,2,2,3) +0	11
10 /11	Slovenian SGP	3	17	(2,3,3,3,2) +2 +1	13
11 /11	German SGP	6	10	(1,2,3,1,2) +1	15

1

2008 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 7)

Race no.	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
1 /11	Slovenian SGP	13	5	(3,1,0,1,0)	1
2 /11	European SGP
3 /11	Swedish SGP
4 /11	Danish SGP
5 /11	British SGP
6 /11	Czech Rep. SGP
7 /11	Scandinavian SGP
8 /11	Latvian SGP
9 /11	Polish SGP
10 /11	Italian SGP
11 /11	German SGP

	permanent speedway rider
	wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
	rider not classified (track reserve who did not start)

See also

• List of Speedway Grand Prix riders
• Norway national speedway team
• Poland national speedway team

References

1. Świat Żużla, No 2 (78) 2009, page 14, ISSN   1429-3285
2. Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 521. ISBN   0-316-72645-1.
3. Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac. ISBN   0-9552376-1-0
4. "Wolves' Karlsson trumphant as King of the Under-21s" . Birmingham Daily Post. 15 August 1994. Retrieved 10 March 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Speedway History Info - Historia Zuzla". Historia Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
6. "2022 Liga 2 results". Flash Score. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
7. "Holta survives plane crash drama". Evening Star. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
8. "Holta in airplane crash". www.holta-racing.com. 1 June 2007. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2007.