Tommy Knudsen

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Tommy Knudsen
Tommy Knudsen.jpg
Born (1961-11-09) 9 November 1961 (age 62)
Roager, Denmark
NationalityDanish
Career history
Denmark
1990 Fredericia
Great Britain
1979-1988, 1990-1992 Coventry Bees
Individual honours
1975, 1976Danish Under-16 Champion
1978 Danish Under-21 Champion
1980 European Under-21 Champion
1981, 1985, 1993 Nordic Final Champion
1982Pride of the East winner
1985, 1987, 1994Danish Gold Bar winner
1986Midland Riders' Champion
1988Lobos Tomicek Memorial winner
1997 Danish Champion
1997Danish Final winner
1982, 1984 Brandonapolis
1982 Golden Gauntlets
1997 Golden Gala - Italy
Team honours
1981, 1985, 1986
1987, 1988, 1991
1995, 1997		 World Team Cup
1985, 1991 World Pairs Champion
1979 British League Champion
1979, 1981, 1982Midland Cup
1980Midland League
1981British League Cup
Competition record
Representing Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Speedway World Championship
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1981
Speedway World Team Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1981
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1985
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1986
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1987
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1988
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1991
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1995
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1997
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1982
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1993
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1990
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1994
Speedway World Pairs Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1985
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1991
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1993
Intercontinental Cup
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 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 is not to be confused with Tom P. Knudsen (born 1968), another rider from the period. [2]

Contents

Career

Knudsen first became known when he won the Danish Under-16 Championship in 1975 and 1976 before becoming the Danish Under-21 Champion in 1978.

He became Speedway World Pairs Champion in 1985 with individual World Champion Erik Gundersen and again in 1991 with Hans Nielsen and Jan O. Pedersen. Tommy was also European (World) Under-21 Champion in 1980.

In his first World Final appearance, Knudsen finished a career best 3rd in 1981 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.

After winning the European U/21 title in 1980 and finishing 3rd in the World Final in 1981, a number of fans and members of the speedway press believed that Knudsen would become Denmark's next World Champion. Unfortunately for Knudsen, Denmark's next champion was Erik Gundersen who won the title in 1984 and 1985. Hans Nielsen would go on to win 4 World Championships while Jan O. Pedersen would win in 1991. 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.

Knudsen was also a member of the Danish team that won the Speedway World Team Cup in 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1995 and 1997. 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.

He rode in the UK for the Coventry Bees from 1979 to 1988 and then from 1990 to 1992. [3]

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. He announced his retirement at the end of August 1990 after a crash in Australia but returned to racing the following year. [4]

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

World Team Cup

Individual Under-21 World Championship

Speedway Grand Prix results

YearPositionPointsBest FinishNotes
1995 10th67WinnerWon German and Swedish Grand Prix
1996 11th44WinnerWon Polish Grand Prix

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References

  1. ↑ Tanner R. Speedway Star magazine (30 August 1986)
  2. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "Betting on NASCAR in 2022". www.coventrymotorspeedway.com. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  4. ↑ "It happened this week". Speedway Star. 27 August 2022. p. 19.
  5. ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN   0-7524-2402-5
  6. ↑ "'For the Record' (1991)". The Times. 22 July 1991. Retrieved 11 July 2021– via Gale Primary Sources.
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