Scott Nicholls

Scott Nicholls
Born (1978-05-16) 16 May 1978
Ipswich, England
Nationality England England
Website Nicholls Racing
Current club information
British league Belle Vue Aces
Polish league Start Gniezno
Swedish league Dackarna
Career history
Great Britain
1995–1998, 2001–2003, 2009–2010 Ipswich Witches
1999–2000 Poole Pirates
2004–2007, 2009, 2012–2013 Coventry Bees
2008 Eastbourne Eagles
2011 Swindon Robins
2014– Belle Vue Aces
Sweden
1998–2006 Smederna
2007–2008 Hammarby
2009– Vargarna
Speedway Grand Prix statistics
2009 Number 9
Starts 67[1]
Podiums 5 (0–4–1)
Finalist 9 time
Individual honours
1998, 1999 British Under-21 Champion
2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012 British Champion
2005 Golden Helmet of Pardubice (CZE)
Team honours
1998, 2005, 2007 Elite League Champion
1998, 2006, 2007, 2008 Elite League KO Cup Winner
1998, 2007 Craven Shield Winner

Scott Karl Nicholls (born 16 May 1978)[2] is a British speedway rider, who has won the British Championship seven times.

Career

Born in Ipswich, Nicholls began his speedway career in grasstrack racing becoming National Schoolboy champion in 1993. His first international appearance came in 1996 when he was selected to ride for Great Britain in the Speedway World Cup final. He then became British Under-21 Champion in 1998 and again in 1999.

His first experience of the Speedway Grand Prix series came with a wild card ride in Britain, with similar rides following in 2000 and 2001. He qualified as a full-time Grand Prix rider in 2002 and capped that season with a second place in the season ending event in Australia. That year he also won the first of his six British Championships. His sixth British Championship win occurred in 2011.[3]

Nicholls was the most successful ever Coventry Bees captain, skippering them to five trophies in three seasons between 2004 and 2007, including two Elite League championships. Despite quitting the British Elite League to reduce his racing schedule in 2009, Nicholls returned to the Coventry Bees in May 2009 as temporary cover for the injured Olly Allen.

Nicholls led his home club, the Ipswich Witches for the 2010 Elite League season, as well as riding for Vargarna in the Swedish league and Miskolc, a Hungarian team in the Polish league. With Ipswich dropping down a division, Nicholls signed for Swindon Robins for 2011. After an unsuccessful spell with the Robins, Nicholls returned to parent club Coventry Bees for the 2012 season, staying there in 2013. He has signed to ride for Belle Vue Aces in 2014.

Speedway Grand Prix results

Year Position Points Best finish Notes
1999 27th 3 19th A single wild card ride in Coventry
2001 33rd 4 17th Wild card ride in Cardiff
2002 13th 72 2nd First podium in Australia (2nd place)
2003 7th 102 2nd Second in Sweden
2004 12th 66 6th Missed Czech GP through injury
2005 9th 72 5th
2006 11th 83 2nd Missed Czech GP through injury, 2nd in Italy
2007 8th 91 2nd Finished 2nd in Slovenia, qualified for 2008 GPs after a race-off
2008 9th 77 4th
  permanent speedway rider
  wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
  rider not classified (track reserve who did not start)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Świat Żużla, No 2 (78) 2009, page 15, ISSN 1429-3285
  2. ↑ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
  3. ↑ "Nicholls wins British crown". Sky Sports. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
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