Elit Vetlanda Speedway

Njudungarna or Vetlanda Speedway are a motorcycle speedway team based in Vetlanda, Sweden, who compete in the Swedish Speedway Team Championship. They race at the Vetlanda Motorstadion and are ten times champions of Sweden.

History

1946 to 1965

The club was formed in 1946, and arranged their first meeting three years later. The team raced as Njudungarna and first participated in the league system during the 1961 Swedish speedway season although a team called Vetlanda had raced in 1950.

1967 to 1985

They raced in the highest division of Swedish speedway for the first time in 1967, following their promotion after they won the second division in 1966. In their maiden season in the top league they finished runner-up to Getingarna, a feat they repeated again the next two seasons in 1969 and 1970. The main riders during the successful period included Bo Josefsson, Conny Samuelsson, Bo Wirebrand and Gunnar Malmqvist.

The club were relegated in 1974 but bounced straight back after winning the second division again in 1975. The following season the club finally won their long awaited Swedish Speedway Team Championship and the underwent a golden period of success. They won the silver medal (2nd in the league) for three consecutive years from 1977 to 1979 and then they won their second Championship in 1980. Second place finishes, in 1981 and 1982, were followed by another Championships (now called the Elitserien) in 1983. Riders such as Lars-Åke Andersson, Christer Löfqvist, Conny Ivarsson and Börje Klingberg, helped the club achieve the success.

1986 to 1999

In 1986, the name Njudungarna was dropped in favour of Vetlanda and the success continued. Jan Andersson, Kenneth Nyström and Claes Ivarsson were signed and the team won another two championships in 1986 and 1987. Hans Nielsen signed for the club in 1990 and topped the league averages. The club continued to compete in the Elitserien until the end of 1999.

2000 to 2021

In 2000 the club were placed in the Allsvenskan. In 2002, they were promoted back to the Elitserien and in 2003, they raced as VMS Elit. Their 7th and 8th Championships were won in 2004 and 2006 respectively, with riders such as Rune Holta, Wiesław Jaguś, Aleš Dryml Jr., Jason Crump, Lee Richardson and Jarosław Hampel.

The club experienced further success from 2012 to 2015, winning the championship three times and bringing their number of titles to 11 (just 3 behind the record of 14 held by Getingarna). The riders during this period included Thomas H. Jonasson, Tai Woffinden, Bartosz Zmarzlik and Leon Madsen.

The name Elit Vetlanda Speedway was adopted in 2018 and the club finished in the top four of the Elitserien from 2018 to 2020. In 2021, they finished 5th and were eliminated in the play off quarter final. On 30 March 2022, Elit Vetlanda Speedway applied for bankruptcy, which was approved by the Eksjö Local Court. The club also withdrew from the Elitserien.

2022-present

A team using the original name of Njudungarna was entered in the third tier division 1 for the 2022 Swedish speedway season and opted for the Allsvenskan in 2023. They went on to win the Allsvenskan that season.

Season summary

Previous teams

2019 team
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2020 team
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2021 team
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Notable riders

World champions

File:Bartosz Zmarzlik2.jpg, Bartosz Zmarzlik
File:Hans Nielsen in 2004.png, Hans Nielsen
File:Tai Woffinden (cropped).jpg, Tai Woffinden
File:Jason Crump.jpg, Jason Crump

References

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Speedway teams in Sweden
Sport in Vetlanda
Sports clubs and teams in Jönköping County
1946 establishments in Sweden
20th-century establishments in Jönköping County