Ricky Anders Kling (born 2 June 1987 in

Virserum Virserum () is a locality situated in Hultsfred Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 1,742 inhabitants in 2010. Prior to 1971, it was a ''köping''. The history of Virserum goes back to the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, th ...

, Sweden) is a Swedish

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

rider. He has won the Swedish Championships as part of

Vargarna Vargarna () is a Swedish motorcycle speedway team based in Norrköping, Sweden, representing SMK Östgöta. The team race at Norrköping Motorstadion. They ride in the Elitserien and are six times champions of Sweden. History 1948 to 1954 ...

twice.

Career

Kling had a very promising junior career, and was considered a great promise. He initially struggled to establish himself as a professional rider, but managed to establish himself after a few struggling years. Kling made his British League debut in 2007 with

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, but when they closed mid-season, he then joined

Lakeside Hammers The Lakeside Hammers (formerly the Arena-Essex Hammers) were a speedway team who raced in the British league system from 1984 to 2018, most recently racing in the SGB Championship in 2018. The team were nicknamed the Hammers after the West Ham H ...

. He stayed with the Hammers for the

2008 Elite League speedway season The 2008 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 74th season of the top division of UK speedway and the 12th since its establishment as the Elite League. The first fixtures of the ...

, which was the same year in which he won the Swedish U21 title. 2007 Ricky Kling Oxford motorcycle speedway

Due to building constraints, he was forced to look elsewhere for the

2009 Elite League speedway season The 2009 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 75th season of the top division of UK speedway and the 13th since its establishment as the Elite League in 1997. Summary The fir ...

and joined the

Eastbourne Eagles The Eastbourne Eagles were a British motorcycle speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England. They were founded in 1929 and are two times champions of Britain in 1995 and 2000. The team last raced on 31 July 2021. Hist ...

for two seasons. He the joined the

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wit ...

for the 2011 season and then

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by l ...

for the 2012 season. His final season in Britain was during the 2013 Premier League speedway season when he rode for the

Plymouth Devils The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. The team competed during various seasons from 1932 to 1969, before reforming after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006. In 2021, the club successfully applied to join t ...

. In 2021, Kling made a one season comeback riding for

Dackarna Dackarna is a motorcycle speedway club from Målilla in Sweden who compete in the Swedish Elitserien. Their home track since 1993 has been the Skrotfrag Arena which was the venue for the Grand Prix of Scandinavia and is the current venue for ...

in the

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

Honours

* Individual U-21 World Championship: **

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

- 9 place (6 points) **

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

- 14 place (3 points) * Team U-21 World Championship: **

- Silver medal (0 points) **''

- 6 place (5 points in Semi-Final B)'' **''

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

- Bronze medal (8 points) * Individual U-19 European Championship: **

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

- 5 place (10+X points) **

- 5 place (9 points) * European Pairs Championship: **''

- 10 place (11 points in Semi-Final A)'' * Team Swedish Championship: **2004 - Bronze medal **2005 - Bronze medal **2006 - Bronze medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kling, Ricky 1987 births Belle Vue Aces riders Eastbourne Eagles riders Lakeside Hammers riders Living people Oxford Cheetahs riders Plymouth Devils riders Poole Pirates riders Swedish expatriate speedway riders in England Swedish speedway riders Dackarna riders Lejonen riders Vargarna riders Vetlanda Speedway riders People from Hultsfred Municipality Sportspeople from Kalmar County

Career

Honours

See also

References