Jimmy Nilsen

Jimmy Nilsen

A portrait of Jimmy Nilsen
Born	(1966-11-16) 16 November 1966 (age 57) Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Career history
Sweden
1982-1995	Getingarna/Stockholm United
1996	Rospiggarna
Great Britain
1985–1990, 1992, 1996–1998	Swindon Robins
1991	Berwick Bandits
1993–1994	Bradford Dukes
1995, 2000	Oxford Cheetahs
1999, 2001	Belle Vue Aces
Poland
1991–1992	ZKŻ Zielona Góra
1994, 1996	Polonia Piła
1995	GKM Grudziądz
1997–1999	Start Gniezno
2000	WTS Wrocław
Individual honours
1998	World individual championship runner-up
1996	Swedish champion
1996	Intercontinental Champion
1996	Nordic Champion
1984	Swedish U21 champion
1990	Jack Young Memorial Cup winner
Team honours
1982, 1983, 1985, 1989	Elitserien Champion
1991	Polish Team Championship
1991	Inter-Nations Championship
1993	British League Knockout Cup

Jimmy Oyvind Nilsen (born 16 November 1966) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden.^[1] He earned 53 international caps for the Sweden national speedway team.^[2][3]

Career

Nilsen came to prominence in 1984, when he won the Swedish U21 championship and finished second to Per Jonsson at the 1985 European (World) Under-21 Championship final in Abensberg, West Germany.^[4] It was in 1985 that he started racing in the British leagues after signing for Swindon Robins for the 1985 British League season.^[5]

Nilsen impressed when as a 19-year he finished 4th in the 1986 World Final (his first World Final appearance) at the Silesian Stadium in Katowice, Poland. Nilsen topped the Swindon league averages in 1987 and finished fourth again at the 1987 World Final at the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium in the Netherlands.^[6]

In 1988, he won a bronze medal in the 1988 Speedway World Team Cup and reached the final of the 1988 Speedway World Pairs Championship final and the following season won a silver medal in the World Pairs with Per Jonsson in the 1989 Speedway World Pairs Championship^[7] and a bronze medal at the 1989 Speedway World Team Cup.

Nilsen finised 5th in the 1990 Individual Speedway World Championship in Bradford, England (won by Jonsson). Also In 1990 after appearing in a "Rest of the World" team in a test against Australia at the North Arm Speedway in Adelaide, Nilsen won the inaugural running of the Jack Young Memorial Cup, named in honour of Jack Young. At the end of the 1990 season and despite being named rider of the year, Nilsen left Swindon on loan to ride in the Berwick Bandits team for the 1991 season.^[8]

Nilsen finished 5th at the 1991 Individual Speedway World Championship final at Ullevi in Göteborg and won silver medals in the 1991 Speedway World Pairs Championship, with Henrik Gustafsson and the 1991 Speedway World Team Cup. The following season in 1992, Nilsen won another silver medal at the 1992 Speedway World Team Cup and finished 7th in the 1992 Individual Speedway World Championship at the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland.

Nilsen was Swedish Champion in 1996.^[9] 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.

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 (with Jan Andersson / Per Jonsson / Tommy Nilsson / Pierre Brannefors) – 4th – 10pts (2)
• 1986 - Göteborg, Ullevi, Vojens, Speedway Center and Bradford, Odsal Stadium (with Jan Andersson / Per Jonsson / Tommy Nilsson / Erik Stenlund / Tony Olsson) - 4th - 73pts (16)
• 1988 - Long Beach, Veterans Memorial Stadium (with Conny Ivarsson / Henrik Gustafsson / Tony Olsson / Per Jonsson) - 3rd - 22pts (5)
• 1989 - Bradford, Odsal Stadium (with Mikael Blixt / Per Jonsson / Tony Olsson / Erik Stenlund) - 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

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. "Ultimate Rider Index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
3. "Jimmy Nilsen". WWOS backup. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
4. "Rain is a welcome relief for Racers". Reading Evening Post. 16 July 1985. Retrieved 9 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Nilsen granted work permit". Western Daily Press. 13 July 1985. Retrieved 7 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Hans roars to world triumph". Sandwell Evening Mail. 7 September 1987. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Tatum targets Munich". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 7 August 1989. Retrieved 7 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Nilsen loan move". Western Daily Press. 18 January 1991. Retrieved 7 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Speedway.org: 1996, accessed 2010-07-10