Nicki Pedersen

Nicki Pedersen
Personal information
Nationality	Denmark
Date of birth	(1977-04-02) 2 April 1977
Place of birth	Odense, Denmark
Website	www.nickipedersen.com
Current club information
Polish league	Gorzów Wielkopolski
Swedish league	Vargarna
Danish league	Holsted
Career history
Great Britain Newcastle Diamonds Wolverhampton Wolves King's Lynn Stars Oxford Cheetahs Eastbourne Eagles Peterborough Panthers Denmark Fjelsted Holstebro Brovst Holsted Poland Gniezno Grudziądz Wybrzeże Gdańsk Zielona Góra Rybnik Stal Rzeszów Włókniarz Częstochowa Stal Gorzów Russia Mega Lada Sweden Filbyterna Västervik Smederna Hammarby Bajen Lejonen Vargarna	1998 1999-2000 2001-2002 2003 2003-2007 2011 ?-1997 1998-1999 2000-2002 2003- 1999 2000 2001 2002, 2004-2005 2003 2006-2007 2008-2009 2010- 2007-2010 1997-1998 1999-2001 2002-2005 2006-2007 2008-2010 2011-
Speedway Grand Prix statistics
2009 Number	1
Starts	77[1]
Podiums	28 (9-10-9)
Finalist	35 time
Winner	9 times
Individual honours
World Champion Danish Champion Elite League Riders Champion Danish Under-21 Champion European Grand Prix Champion British Grand Prix Champion Slovenian Grand Prix Champion Polish Grand Prix Champion Italian Grand Prix Champion Czech Grand Prix Champion Golden Helmet of Pardubice (CZE)	2003, 2007, 2008 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 2004, 2007 1997, 1998 2002, 2007 2003 2006, 2007 2006 2007 2007, 2008 2010
Team honours
World Cup Winner Polish Div Two Champion Danish League Champion Elitserien Champion	2006, 2008, 2012 2001, 2002, 2003 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004 2008

Nicki Pedersen (born 2 April 1977 in Odense, Denmark)^[2] is a Danish motorcycle speedway rider. He has won the World Championship in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and was a World Cup winner with Denmark in 2006, 2008 and 2012.^[3] His brother, Ronni Pedersen, has also ridden in the Speedway Grand Prix and World Cup.

Career

Domestic teams

Pedersen began speedway racing aged 11 at Danish club Fjelsted. He started his Polish speedway career in 1999 with Polish second division club Start Gniezno and has since ridden for GKM-u Grudziądz, Wybrzeże Gdańsk, ZKŻ Zielona Góra and RKM-u Rybnik. Between 2006 and 2007 he rode for Stal Rzeszów and since 2008 he has ridden for Włókniarz Częstochowa. Pedersen rides for Lejonen in the Swedish Elitserien, and Holsted in the Danish Super League.^[4]

Pedersen's speedway career in the United Kingdom began with the Premier League team Newcastle Diamonds, before Elite League side Wolverhampton Wolves bought him for the 1999 season. He was at Wolverhampton for two years before the club loaned him out to King's Lynn, Oxford and Eastbourne. Pedersen spent four years at Eastbourne but left at the end of the 2007 season due to a change in ownership of the club and a reduction of the points limit for team building purposes by the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).^[5] Although Nicki is still an asset of Wolverhampton, he has ruled out a return to the Elite League.^[6]

Grand Prix

Pedersen took part in his first Grand Prix in 2000, as a wildcard in Denmark and impressed by finishing in fourth place. That earned him a permanent Grand Prix spot in 2001. He showed potential in the opening round in 2001, finishing third in Germany. Consistent scoring left him in 11th place in the World Championship after his first full year.

Pedersen had a bad start to 2002, but secured his GP place in 2003 after recording the first win of his career in the European Grand Prix. He finished the year in 12th place despite an inconsistent season. In 2003, he improved massively on his 2002 performance. He finished second in the opening Grand Prix of the season, and after a 10th place in the Swedish Grand Prix, Pedersen won again in Cardiff to give him a chance of becoming World Champion. Consistent high placings and four more podium finishes, including three in a row, secured the 2003 World Championship for Pedersen.

The 2004 season was less successful for Pedersen; he failed to record a win or a podium place. He finished in fifth place in the World Championship, well behind the two leaders Tony Rickardsson and Jason Crump. A second place in Slovenia was his best result during the 2005 Grand Prix season and he finished in fourth in the World Championship. Pedersen won the opening GP meeting of the 2006 season in Slovenia, but after that he fell behind championship leaders Rickardsson and Crump. He improved to finish third in the World Championship however, after a podium place in Latvia and a win in Poland.

Pedersen was dominant in 2007, winning four of the eleven Grand Prix, and finishing runner-up in two. He dropped only one point in the opening two rounds and had a run of six consecutive finals, which ended after an exclusion in the semi final in Great Britain. Pedersen won the penultimate Grand Prix in Slovenia and in doing so became the 2007 World Champion after accumulating an unassailable lead at the head of the standings.^[7]

Speedway Grand Prix results

2007 Speedway Grand Prix - 1st place

Final Championship standings:		1st	196	Riding No (3)
	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
1 /11	Italian SGP	1	24	(3,3,3,3,3) +3 +6	13
2 /11	European SGP	1	23	(3,2,3,3,3) +3 +6	3
3 /11	Swedish SGP	4	11	(0,3,3,X,3) +2 +0	9
4 /11	Danish SGP	2	16	(T,3,3,1,2) +3 +4	6
5 /11	British SGP	6	12	(2,3,2,3,2) +X	9
6 /11	Czech Rep. SGP	1	24	(3,3,3,3,3) +3 +6	7
7 /11	Scandinavian SGP	5	16	(3,3,3,3,3) +1	12
8 /11	Latvian SGP	2	19	(3,3,1,3,2) +3 +4	11
9 /11	Polish SGP	3	19	(2,3,3,3,3) +3 +2	16
10 /11	Slovenian SGP	1	23	(3,2,3,3,3) +3 +6	14
11 /11	German SGP	8	9	(1,1,1,3,3) +E	7

2008 Speedway Grand Prix - 1st place

Final Championship standings:		1st	174	Riding No (1)
	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
1 /11	Slovenian SGP	2	17	(3,2,3,1,1) +3 +4	11
2 /11	European SGP	3	16	(3,2,1,3,3) +2 +2	3
3 /11	Swedish SGP	3	16	(2,1,3,3,2) +3 +2	7
4 /11	Danish SGP	2	20	(3,3,3,2,3) +2 +4	13
5 /11	British SGP	3	11	(2,1,2,0,3) +3 +f	10
6 /11	Czech Rep. SGP	1	22	(3,2,3,3,3) +2 +6	10
7 /11	Scandinavian SGP	3	14	(2,2,0,3,3) +2 +2	14
8 /11	Latvian SGP	2	18	(2,3,3,3,0) +2 +4	1
9 /11	Polish SGP	2	21	(3,3,2,3,3) +2 +4	10
10 /11	Italian SGP	11	6	(1,x,3,0,2)	8
11 /11	German SGP	5	13	(3,3,1,2,3) +1	7

References

External links

• Official website
• Rider page at speedwayworld.tv
• Rider page at armchairgm.com

2011 Speedway Grand Prix riders
1	Gollob	2	Hampel	3	Crump	4	Holta	5	Hancock
6	Harris	7	Bjerre	8	Holder	9	Jonsson	10	Pedersen
11	Lindgren	12	Sayfutdinov	13	Laguta	14	Lindbäck	15	Kołodziej

v t e Speedway World Champions 1936 - L. Van Praag 1937 - J Milne 1938 - B. Wilkinson 1949 - T. Price 1950 - F. Williams 1951 - J. Young 1952 - J. Young 1953 - F. Williams 1954 - R. Moore 1955 - P. Craven 1956 - O. Fundin 1957 - B. Briggs 1958 - B. Briggs 1959 - R. Moore 1960 - O. Fundin 1961 - O. Fundin 1962 - P. Craven 1963 - O. Fundin 1964 - B. Briggs 1965 - B. Knutsson 1966 - B. Briggs 1967 - O. Fundin 1968 - I. Mauger 1969 - I. Mauger 1970 - I. Mauger 1971 - O. Olsen 1972 - I. Mauger 1973 - J. Szczakiel 1974 - A. Michanek 1975 - O. Olsen 1976 - P. Collins 1977 - I. Mauger 1978 - O. Olsen 1979 - I. Mauger 1980 - M. Lee 1981 - B. Penhall 1982 - B. Penhall 1983 - E. Müller 1984 - E. Gundersen 1985 - E. Gundersen 1986 - H. Nielsen 1987 - H. Nielsen 1988 - E. Gundersen 1989 - H. Nielsen 1990 - P. Jonsson 1991 - J. Pedersen 1992 - G. Havelock 1993 - S. Ermolenko 1994 - T. Rickardsson 1995 - H. Nielsen 1996 - B. Hamill 1997 - G. Hancock 1998 - T. Rickardsson 1999 - T. Rickardsson 2000 - M. Loram 2001 - T. Rickardsson 2002 - T. Rickardsson 2003 - N. Pedersen 2004 - J. Crump 2005 - T. Rickardsson 2006 - J. Crump 2007 - N. Pedersen 2008 - N. Pedersen 2009 - J. Crump 2010 - T. Gollob 2011 - G. Hancock 2012 - C. Holder 2013 - T. Woffinden

v t e Eastbourne Eagles Squad 2007 (British Elite League) Nicki Pedersen (c) Lewis Bridger Dean Barker Davey Watt Stefan Andersson Morten Risager Cameron Woodward Trevor Harding Also Rode David Norris Manager Trevor Geer