Einar Kyllingstad Explained

Einar Kyllingstad
Nationality:Norwegian
Birth Date:17 July 1965
Birth Place:Bryne, Norway
Career1:Great Britain
Career2:Reading Racers
Years2:1985
Career3:King's Lynn Stars
Years3:1986, 1987
Career4:Oxford Cheetahs
Years4:1988
Career5:Sheffield Tigers
Years5:1988
Career6:Sweden
Career7:Rospiggarna
Years7:1990
Indivyear1:1984, 1985
Indivhonour1:Norwegian Championship
Teamyear1:1991
Teamhonour1:World Pairs Championship (bronze medal)

Einar Kyllingstad (born 17 July 1965) is a Norwegian former speedway rider.[1]

Speedway career

Kyllingstad hailed from . Growing up on a farm, he began riding a moped as a child, and competitive speedway at the age of 17.[2] He attended a vocational course in mechanics, and while still living in Norway, he was a farmhand for his brother-in-law.[3]

Kyllingstad is a two times champion of Norway, winning the Norwegian Championship in 1984 and 1985.[4] He earned 16 caps for the Norway national speedway team.[5]

In 1985, he signed for Reading Racers.[6] He had visited several clubs in late 1984 to gauge various contract offers. In British speedway, Kyllingstad would earn "an annual salary far exceeding that of a regular industrial labourer in Norway".[7] Kyllingstad then rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1985 until 1988,[8] riding for the King's Lynn Stars,[9] Oxford Cheetahs and Sheffield Tigers.

In 1989 he settled in Hallstavik, Sweden. He was disillusioned with the speedway milieu in England, which he described as "too harsh", claiming that his manager tried to pressure him to continue racing after Kyllingstad crashed and sustained a concussion. As a "coincidence" he came in contact with the speedway club Rospiggarna and racaed for them for several years. By 1997, he still earned a normal fulltime salary from speedway, combined with working in a paper factory during offseason.[2]

Riding for Norway in the World Championships, Kyllingstad (together with Lars Gunnestad) became the first Norwegian rider to reach the final series of the World Pairs Championship, in 1991.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP. Speedway. org. 1 July 2021.
  2. News: Jærsk suksess i Sverige. Friestad. Sølve. 17 September 1997. Jærbladet. no.
  3. News: Det starta på trehjulsykkelen. Mæland. Lars. 5 January 1985. Stavanger Aftenblad. nn.
  4. Web site: Einar Kyllingstad. wwosbackup. 1 July 2021.
  5. Web site: Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022 . British Speedway . 26 August 2024.
  6. News: Speeding In . Daily Mirror . 8 January 1985 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription . 26 August 2024.
  7. News: Målet er å bli best i verda. Mæland. Lars. 5 January 1985. Stavanger Aftenblad. nn.
  8. Web site: History Archive. British Speedway. 1 July 2021.
  9. News: Read the riot act . Lynn Advertiser . 13 May 1986 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription . 26 August 2024.
  10. News: – VM-medalje en døråpner. Jonsbråten. Oddbjørn. 20 July 1991. Stavanger Aftenblad. no.