John Rickard Hellsén, also known as Richard Hellsen during his speedway career, is a Swedish former speedway rider. He earned 22 caps for the

Sweden national speedway team The Sweden national speedway team are one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. History The Sweden speedway team has won the Speedway World Team Cup and Speedway World Cup on ten occasions and were a major force in the open ...

Career

Hellsen began his career with Stjärnorna during the

1972 Swedish speedway season The 1972 Swedish speedway season was the 1972 season of motorcycle speedway in Sweden. Individual Individual Championship The 1972 Swedish Individual Speedway Championship final was held on 29 September in Borås. Anders Michanek won the Swedi ...

. The following year he made his British leagues debut riding with the

King's Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" was adopted from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 199 ...

in the

1973 British League season Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, although he only rode 4 times that season. During the 1973 season he won the silver medal at the

Swedish Junior Speedway Championship The Individual Speedway Junior Swedish Championship is an annual speedway event held each year since 1958. Swedish riders aged 21 and under take part. Previous winners See also * History of motorcycle speedway in Sweden References { ...

. He was a three-time gold medalist in the Swedish Pairs Championship (1979, 1981, 1982) and a five-time gold medalist in the

Swedish Speedway Team Championship The Swedish Speedway Team Championship is the team championship of motorcycle speedway, speedway in Sweden. History The Championship was introduced in 1950. In 1982 the Championship was renamed with a new league called the Elitserien (speedwa ...

, in 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1982 (all whilst riding with

Getingarna Getingarna was a motorcycle speedway club from Stockholm in Sweden. They hold the record for Swedish Championships with 14 league titles to their name. History The club's first name was Motorsällskapet and they competed in the very first Swe ...

). Meanwhile in Britain, it was with Oxford Rebels that he was part of the Midland Cup winning team in 1975. The team transferred to White City under Danny Dunton and

Bob Dugard Robert Leonard Dugard (3 July 1942 – 5 August 2018), better known as Bob Dugard. was a motorcycle speedway rider and promoter from England. Biography Dugard raced for various clubs during his racing career, starting with Eastbourne Eagles in ...

in 1976 after fears that the stadium at Cowley was to be sold for development. He then became a regular heat leader with King's Lynn, for ten years from 1976 to 1985. He was a finalist of the

1980 Speedway World Pairs Championship The 1980 Speedway World Pairs Championship was the eleventh Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, FIM Speedway World Pairs Championship. The final took place at the Matija Gubec Stadium in Krško, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ...

, in Krško and finished just outside the medals in fourth place. He was also a multiple representative of Sweden in the qualifying rounds of the World Cup team.

Personal life

He retired in 1996 and since retiring has been restoring Volkswagen Beetles, building hot rods and Volkrods. Lives in Beccles, Suffolk, and has two grandsons: Jack aged 4 and Ezra who is just 1 year old.(2016) ource:Interview with Karl Fiala of Speedway Friends

World Final appearances

World Pairs Championship

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Krško Krško (; ) is a town in eastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the City Municipality of Krško. The town lies on the Sava River and on the northwest edge of the Krško Plain (), which is part of the larger Krka Flat (). The area is divided between t ...

Matija Gubec Stadium Matija Gubec Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Krško, Slovenia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of local club Krško Posavje. It has a capacity of 1,470 seats. During speedway competitions the st ...

(with Jan Andersson) - 4th - 18pts (9)

References

External links

* http://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/1347/richard-hellsen {{DEFAULTSORT:Hellsen, Richard 1951 births Living people Swedish speedway riders Hackney Hawks riders King's Lynn Stars riders Swedish expatriate speedway riders in England Long Eaton Invaders riders Milton Keynes Knights riders Oxford Cheetahs riders Peterborough Panthers riders Swindon Robins riders White City Rebels riders Motorcycle racers from Stockholm Rospiggarna riders Getingarna riders