Rune Sörmander

Rune Sörmander

Born	(1929-11-29)29 November 1929 Växjö, Sweden
Died	20 December 2020(2020-12-20) (aged 91)
Nationality	Swedish
Career history
Sweden
1949	Smålänningarna
1950-1964	Dackarna
Great Britain
1953	Wembley Lions
1954	Belle Vue Aces
1957	Leicester Hunters
Individual honours
1955, 1958, 1959	Swedish Championship
1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962	Speedway World Championship finalist
1952	Continental Champion
1957	European Champion
1958, 1959	Nordic Champion
Team honours
1960, 1962, 1963, 1964	World Team Cup Winner
1957, 1958, 1959, 1962	Allsvenskan Champion

Rune Bertil Leopold Sörmander (29 November 1929 – 20 December 2020) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden.^[1] He earned 66 caps for the Sweden national speedway team.^[2]

Speedway career

Sörmander was one of speedway's leading riders during the 1950s and 1960s, he was a three times champion of Sweden, winning the Swedish Championship in 1955, 1958 and 1959.^[3][4] On 22 June 1952 he won the Continental Speedway Final, which formed part of the 1952 Individual Speedway World Championship.^[5]

He reached the final of the Speedway World Championship on seven occasions (1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962) and the final of the Individual Speedway Long Track World Championship three times (1959, 1961, 1962).^[6][1]

He also helped Sweden win the World Team Cup in 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964

He rode in the top tier of British Speedway, riding for various clubs.^[7] His last season in Britain was with the Leicester Hunters in 1957.^[8]

World Final appearances

Individual World Championship

• 1953 - London, Wembley Stadium - 11th - 5pts
• 1957 - London, Wembley Stadium - 5th - 11pts + 1pt
• 1958 - London Wembley Stadium - 13th - 4pts
• 1959 - London, Wembley Stadium - 11th - 6pts
• 1960 - London, Wembley Stadium - 12th - 5pts
• 1961 - Malmö, Malmö Stadion - 8th - 7pts
• 1962 - London, Wembley Stadium - 11th - 7pts

World Team Cup

• 1960 - Gothenburg, Ullevi (with Olle Nygren / Ove Fundin / Björn Knutson) - Winner - 44pts (11)
• 1961 - Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Sören Sjösten / Ove Fundin / Björn Knutson / Per Tage Svensson) - 2nd - 30pts (4)
• 1962 - Slaný, Slaný Speedway Stadium (with Björn Knutson / Sören Sjösten / Göte Nordin / Ove Fundin) - Winner - 36pts (3)
• 1963 - Vienna, Stadion Wien (with Björn Knutson / Per Olof Söderman / Göte Nordin / Ove Fundin) - Winner - 37pts (3)
• 1964 - Abensberg, Abensberg Stadion (with Björn Knutson / Göte Nordin / Ove Fundin / Sören Sjösten) - Winner - 34pts (7)

References

1. "Rune Sörmander profile". GrasstrackGB. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
2. "Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
3. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 85. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
4. "Sweden National Championship". Edinburgh Speedway Archive. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
5. "Individual Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
6. "World Speedway finals" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
7. "History Archive". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
8. "Hunters beaten". Leicester Evening Mail. 1 July 1957. Retrieved 13 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.