BRITISH CAREER: (1986-90) Swindon; (1991) Swindon, Arena-Essex; (1992-93) Arena-Essex; (1995-98) Swindon; (2000) Belle Vue; (2002) Belle Vue.
CAREER RECORD WITH SWINDON: Meetings: 334 (213 League; 33 Knock-Out Cup; 22 League Cup; 3 Craven Shield; 26 Gold Cup; 1 BSPA Cup; 4 Midland Cup; 22 Challenge; 5 Four-Team Championship; 2 Four-Team Tournament; 3 Three-Team Tournament) Rides: 1,576 Points: 2,754 Bonus: 239 Total: 2,993 Average: 7.60 Maximums: 9 (5 full and 4 paid)
CLUB DEBUT: 17 September 1986 versus Oxford (Away) Knock-Out Cup; 0 points (3 rides).
BRIAN KARGER initially began riding in 1983, originally partaking in schoolboy moto-cross before moving on to speedway. He was subsequently signed by Ted Nelson and Bill Chandler in 1986, making his Swindon debut in a Knock-Out Cup tie at Oxford on 17 September, when failing to score from three starts.
He went on to ride in fourteen league matches that season, scoring 51 points and it was obvious that he had the talent and ability to develop into a class act. Brian's most notable performances that year saw him net an unbeaten 8+1 points from three rides at home to Reading on 19 October, while on his travels he recorded an impressive 9-point return from four starts a week later at King's Lynn on 26 October.
Having originally started in a reserve berth, Karger progressed into the main body of the team in 1987, gleaning a total of 123 league points for a solid 6.88 average. The improvement continued the following season as his league average rose to 7.59, whilst he also became famous for his sweeping overtaking manoeuvres around the outside on the pits bend at Blunsdon.
Amazingly, he still hadn't managed to secure a first unbeaten tally for the club, but that was put right in 1989, when he swept to 14+1 points from five outings in a home league match versus King's Lynn on 28 August. That was only one of several double-figure returns, with his best showing undoubtedly occurring at Wolverhampton two weeks previously on 14 August, when he plundered 18 points from a marathon seven rides.
All of that helped him to a total of 297 points, with his league average again heading upwards to a healthy 8.05 figure. However, his finest hour was surely finishing in third place - behind Shawn Moran and Hans Nielsen - in the British League Riders' Championship at Belle Vue on 1 October that year.
So, come 1990, and Brian was an established scorer in the British League but, unfortunately, it all went wrong for him when he crashed in a Danish Super League match on 22 June, suffering a broken thigh and a fractured jaw. Having yielded 89 points from Swindon's first eleven league fixtures, the accident prematurely brought the curtain down on his season, with the legendary Phil Crump eventually being tempted into a comeback to help plug the gap.
Fit again for 1991, Karger was made captain of the Robins, but it wasn't a happy season as he suffered a loss of form and, in May - to the horror of many amongst the Blunsdon faithful - he was released. Second Division Arena-Essex were quick to sign the Dane and he helped them secure a glorious double of the Championship and Knock-Out Cup, posting a huge 10.27 average in league matches alone.
He then remained with the promoted Hammers for a further two seasons, posting league averages of 8.73 and 8.24, respectively, amongst the cream of top-flight domestic speedway. Brian was to spend the 1994 season racing in his native Denmark, before he agreed to return to Swindon as a short-term replacement for the injured Peter Nahlin mid-way through 1995.
He did well, too, scoring 100 points from nine league matches, with the highlight being a magnificent 18-point maximum against Oxford at Blunsdon on 15 July, which was actually his first-ever full maximum for the Robins.
Following that successful stint, Karger made a full-time return to Swindon in 1996, when he was again appointed team skipper. Looking happy to be back in the fold, he formed a formidable attack with Jimmy Nilsen and John Jorgensen, storming to 350 points and a superb 8.96 average as the Robins claimed fourth place in the league standings.
Still with Swindon the following year - and by then an established Danish international - he recorded another 333 points for an 8.09 average in the newly-formed Elite League. Although his scoring dipped slightly in 1998, the season was still going pretty well for Brian; but he was to suffer a suspension by the BSPA for failing to turn up for a league meeting at Eastbourne on 22 August.
Having already missed matches due to a back injury, he then found himself barred from racing in Great Britain - even though he had qualified for the following season's Grand Prix series after repeating his 1995 victory in the Inter-Continental Final.
After missing the whole of the 1999 campaign, he surprisingly returned in August 2000, when he linked-up with Belle Vue and scored 94 league points from ten meetings. Another year in the wilderness followed in 2001, before he returned to Belle Vue for what was his swansong to the British racing scene in 2002.
Brian was one of the star turns at the Blunsdon-staged Mad Wellie [Malcolm Holloway] Farewell on 9 October 2005, of course, when he belied his advancing years to reach the grand final, in the process bringing back many wonderful memories of his thrilling pit bend swoops. On the day, Leigh Adams went on to win the showdown from Hans Andersen, while Karger filled third spot ahead of fellow Dane Niels-Kristian Iversen.
Again he appeared at the Abbey Stadium in 2006, when he donned a Swindon race-jacket once more for the Mike Broadbank Benefit versus Australia on 28 September. And, he recorded a brace of excellent wins to roll back the hands of time, giving those present plenty to enthuse over.
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DATE OF BIRTH: 9 February 1967, Horsans, Denmark.
All of that helped him to a total of 297 points, with his league average again heading upwards to a healthy 8.05 figure. However, his finest hour was surely finishing in third place - behind Shawn Moran and Hans Nielsen - in the British League Riders' Championship at Belle Vue on 1 October that year.
Having already missed matches due to a back injury, he then found himself barred from racing in Great Britain - even though he had qualified for the following season's Grand Prix series after repeating his 1995 victory in the Inter-Continental Final.
