Jimmy Nilsen

Jimmy Nilsen
Personal information
Nationality  Sweden
Date of birth 16 November 1966
Place of birth    Sweden
Current club information
Career status Retired
Career history
Great Britain
Swindon Robins
Berwick Bandits
Bradford Dukes
Oxford Cheetahs
Belle Vue Aces
Poland
ZKŻ Zielona Góra
Polonia Piła
GKM Grudziądz
Start Gniezno
WTS Wrocław

1985-1990, 1992, 1996–1998
1991
1993-1994
1995, 2000
1999, 2001

1991-1992
1994, 1996
1995
1997-1999
2000
Individual honours
Swedish Under-21 Champion
Jack Young Memorial Cup winner
Swedish Champion
Swedish Final winner
Scandinavian Final winner
Intercontinental Champion
1984
1990
1996
1996
1996
1996
Team honours
Polish Team Championship
Inter-Nations Championship
British League Knockout Cup
1991
1991
1993

Jimmy Nilsen (born 16 November 1966) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden.[1]

Career

Jimmy Nilsen was Swedish Champion in 1996 after finishing 3rd in 1994. Nilsen also rode in five World Finals as well as representing Sweden in Test Matches, World Pairs (best finish 2nd in 1989 with Per Jonsson) and World Team Cup (finishing 2nd in 1991, 1992 and 1998). He also helped Sweden to 3rd place in the 2001 World Cup Final in Wrocław, Poland.[2]

After finishing second to Per Jonsson at the 1985 European (World) Under-21 Championship Final in Abensberg, West Germany, Nilsen impressed when as a 19 year he finished what would be a career best 4th in the 1986 World Final (his first World Final appearance) at the Silesian Stadium in Katowice, Poland, a placing he would repeat in the 2 day 1987 World Final at the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium in the Netherlands. He would appear in another three World Finals, finishing 5th in 1990 in Bradford, England (won by Jonsson), 5th in 1991 at Ullevi in Göteborg, and 7th in 1992 at the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland.

Nilsen later qualified for the Speedway Grand Prix in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, finishing a career best 2nd in 1998 behind countryman Tony Rickardsson.

In 1990 after appearing in a "Rest of the World" team in a test against Australia at the North Arm Speedway in Adelaide, South Australia, Nilsen won the inaugural running of the Jack Young Memorial Cup named in honour of the Adelaide rider who had won the World Final in 1951 and 1952. A year later he returned to Australia as part of the touring Swedish team that defeated Australia 3-2 in a 5 match test series.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

World Team Cup

World Cup

Individual Under-21 World Championship

Speedway Grand Prix results

Year Position Points Best Finish Notes
1997 8th 71 3rd Third in British Grand Prix
1998 2nd 99 2nd Second in German and British Grand Prix
1999 4th 73 2nd Second in Swedish and Polish Grand Prix
2000 11th 42 5th
2001 21st 20 7th

References

  1. International Speedway: Denmark v Sweden, accessed 2010-07-10
  2. Speedway.org: 1996, accessed 2010-07-10