Birger Forsberg (born 25 September 1930 – 31 August 2007) was a motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. He earned 19 international caps for the Sweden national speedway team.[1][2]

Birger Forsberg
Born25 September 1930 (1930-09-25)
Skellefteå, Sweden
Died31 August 2007(2007-08-31) (aged 76)
Skellefteå, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Career history
Sweden
1952–1960Monarkerna
Great Britain
1957Rayleigh Rockets
1958–1959Poole Pirates
1960Ipswich Witches

Biography

edit

Forsberg, born in Skellefteå, Sweden, raced from 1952 to 1960 for Monarkerna during his Swedish career.[3] His first visits to Britain included a British Easter tour in 1955[4] and a 1956 April tour of Britain.[5]

He began his British leagues career riding for Rayleigh Rockets during the 1957 Speedway National League season.[6] He left Rayleigh for Poole Pirates in 1958 and stayed with the south coast team for two seasons recording averages of 7.11 and 6.85 respectively.[7]

In 1960, he joined Ipswich Witches for his final season in British speedway.[8]

He was a prominent rider during the qualification rounds of the Speedway World Championship throughout the 1950s and participated in the inaugural 1957 Individual Long Track European Championship final.[9]

References

edit
  1. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  2. ^ "History Speedway and Longtrack". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Poole's Speedway defeat". Evening Despatch. 14 October 1953. Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "At Brandon April 9". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 8 March 1955. Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Swedes here". Leicester Evening Mail. 4 April 1956. Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "1957 season". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Birger Forsberg". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 9 January 2024.