Bo Petersen (born 21 February 1958 Bolbro, Denmark) is a former

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider from Denmark. He was the 1980 Danish champion and earned 59 caps for the

Denmark national speedway team The Denmark national speedway team are one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. History It was not until the emergence of rider Ole Olsen (speedway rider), Ole Olsen that the Danish speedway team came to prominence. Previo ...

Career

Petersen first rode in the United Kingdom with the Hackney Hawks for the 1978 British League season. Signed by Len Silver in 1978 he stayed with the Hackney until they closed at the end of the season 1983. In 1984, Petersen signed for the Swindon Robins. He then had spells with King's Lynn Stars and

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were champions of the United Kingdom five times and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023. History 1928–1930 Speedway (known ...

in the top flight of the British League, before joining long-time sponsor Ivan Henry's new club Arena Essex Hammers in 1991. Henry had combined with Terry Russell to take over the Hammers from former promoter Chick Woodroffe. Competing in the British League Division Two, Petersen topped the league

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

s and led Arena to the League Championship, Knockout Cup and Fours Team Championship. The Hammers gained promotion to the British League Division One in 1992. Petersen achieved a calculated match

of over eight points per meeting in the top flight, but announced his retirement at the end of that season. During 1993, a serious head injury to Peter Ravn led to Petersen returning to the Hammers to cover his fellow Dane's absence. The Hammers finished fourth in the League and finished runners-up in a controversial Knockout Cup final. Petersen, disgusted by off-track incidents, threw his runners-up medal into the crowd at the end of the meeting.. He announced his retirement at the end of the season despite finishing the season calculated match

of over eight points per meeting. He made one further appearance on a bike at Arena Essex when he rode for a Hammers Dream Team in the Andy Galvin Benefit Meeting in March 1995. He was a

Speedway World Team Cup The Speedway World Team Cup was an annual motorcycle speedway, speedway event held each year in different countries. The competition started in 1960 and was replaced with the Speedway World Cup in 2001. Format From 1960 until 1985, each team c ...

winner with the Danish speedway team in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

- 7th - 9ptsBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

World Team Cup

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

- London,

White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...

(with Ole Olsen / Hans Nielsen / Mike Lohmann / Finn Thomsen) - 2nd - 31pts (0) *

Leszno Leszno (, , ) is a historic city in western Poland, seat of Leszno County within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Leszno is a former residential cit ...

, Alfred Smoczyk Stadium (with

Erik Gundersen Erik Gundersen (born 8 October 1959 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time, having won the Speedway World Champi ...

Preben Eriksen Preben Kollster Eriksen (born 9 August 1958) in Odense, Denmark, is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark. He earned 41 caps for the Denmark national speedway team. Career Eriksen rode with the Wolverhampton Wolves in 1977 but was r ...

/ Hans Nielsen) - Winner - 44pts (12) *

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, Veterans Memorial Stadium (with

Tommy Knudsen Tommy Knudsen (born 9 November 1961 in Roager, Denmark) is a former Motorcycle speedway rider who won eight Speedway World Team Cups, and two World Pairs. He earned 81 caps for the Denmark national speedway team. He i ...

/ Hans Nielsen /

) - Winner - 37pts (0)

References

External links

Hackney Hawks WebsiteLakeside Hammers Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Bo 1958 births Living people Danish speedway riders Hackney Hawks riders King's Lynn Stars riders Danish expatriate speedway riders in England Lakeside Hammers riders Swindon Robins riders Wolverhampton Wolves riders