Kai Laukkanen

Kaj Laukkanen

Born	(1975-04-08) 8 April 1975 (age 49)
Nationality	Finnish
Career history
Poland
1999–2000	Piła
2001, 2003	Gdańsk
2002, 2007	Gniezno
2006	Zielona Góra
2008	Lublin
Great Britain
1996	Long Eaton
1998	Glasgow
1999–2002, 2004	Belle Vue
2003	Oxford
Denmark
2001–2005	Outrup
2007	Fjelsted
2008	Grindsted
Sweden
2002	Indianerna
Individual honours
2001	Intercontinental Champion
1997, 1999, 2000 2001, 2002, 2003 2004, 2006	Finland National Champion

Kai Pekka Laukkanen (born 8 April 1975)^[1][2] is a Finnish former motorcycle speedway rider.^[3] He earned 15 caps for the Finland national speedway team.^[4]

Career

Laukkanen won the final running of the Intercontinental Final in 2001. He rode in 2004 Speedway Grand Prix and won the bronze medal in 2005 Individual Speedway European Championship.

He is an eight times national champion of Finland after winning the Finnish Individual Speedway Championship in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006.^[5]

In the British leagues, he started his career with Long Eaton in 1995 but was loaned to Oxford in February 1996.^[6] He joined Belle Vue Aces in 1999.^[7]

Major results

World Championships

• Individual World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix
  • 2002 - 28th place (6 pts in one event)
  • 2004 - 20th place (25 pts)
  • 2007 - 23rd place (5 pts in three events)
• Team World Championship (Speedway World Team Cup and Speedway World Cup)
  • 1995 - 7th place in Group B
  • 2000 - 2nd place in Quarter-Final A
  • 2001 - 9th place
  • 2002 - 8th place
  • 2003 - 7th place
  • 2006 - 7th place
  • 2007 - 8th place
  • 2009 - 3rd place in Qualifying round 2
• Individual U-21 World Championship
  • 1995 - Tampere - 5th place (12 pts)
  • 1996 - Olching - 9th place (7 pts)

European Championships

• Individual European Championship
  • 2005 - Lonigo - 3rd place (12 pts)
• European Pairs Championship
  • 2006 - Finland Withdrew from Final
  • 2007 - Terenzano - 4th place (16 pts)
  • 2008 - 5th place in Semi-Final 2

See also

• Finland national speedway team
• List of Speedway Grand Prix riders

References

1. Świat Żużla, No 1 (73) / 2008, page 32-33, ISSN 1429-3285
2. speedwaygp.republika.pl Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 8 March 2009.
3. "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
4. "Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
5. "Individual Finnish Championship". Historia Sportu Zuzlowego. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
6. "More to watch Racers". Reading Evening Post. 22 February 1996. Retrieved 25 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Life of Brian suffers as doomed Dane crocked again". Heartland Evening News. 13 August 1999. Retrieved 25 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.