Jimmy Nilsen

Jimmy Nilsen
Personal information
Nationality	Sweden
Date of birth	(1966-11-16) 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

• 1986 - Chorzów, Silesian Stadium - 4th - 11pts
• 1987 - Amsterdam, Olympic Stadium - 4th - 22pts
• 1990 - Bradford, Odsal Stadium - 5th - 10pts
• 1991 - Göteborg, Ullevi - 5th - 10pts
• 1992 - Wrocław, Olympic Stadium - 7th - 7pts

World Pairs Championship

• 1988 - Bradford, Odsal Stadium (with Per Jonsson) - 5th - 29pts (17)
• 1989 - Leszno, Alfred Smoczyk Stadium (with Per Jonsson) - 2nd - 44pts (23)
• 1990 - Landshut, Ellermühle Stadium (with Per Jonsson) - 4th - 33pts (17)
• 1991 - Poznań, Olimpia Poznań Stadium (with Henrik Gustafsson / Per Jonsson) - 2nd - 24pts (8)

World Team Cup

• 1985 - Long Beach Veterans Memorial Stadium - 4th - 10pts (2)
• 1986 - Göteborg, Ullevi, Vojens, Speedway Center and Bradford, Odsal Stadium - 4th - 73pts (16)
• 1988 - Long Beach Veterans Memorial Stadium - 3rd - 22pts (5)
• 1989 - Bradford, Odsal Stadium - 3rd - 30pts (0)
• 1991 - Vojens, Speedway Center - 2nd - 30pts (7)
• 1992 - Kumla, Kumla Speedway - 2nd - 33pts (1)
• 1997 - Piła, Stadion Żużlowy Centrum - 3rd - 21pts (3)
• 1998 - Vojens, Speedway Center - 2nd - 24pts (13)

World Cup

• 2001 - Wrocław, Olympic Stadium - 3rd - 51pts (7)

Individual Under-21 World Championship

• 1985 - Abensberg, Motorstadion - 2nd - 13pts

Speedway Grand Prix results

References