NILSSON: TAKING MY SPACE IN SPEEDWAY GP

Swedish star Kim Nilsson pledged to “take my space” on the track after storming to an unforgettable first Speedway GP final in Teterow last Saturday.

Nilsson was the only newcomer to the Speedway GP line-up for 2023 after becoming the shock winner of last year’s FIM GP Challenge in Glasgow.

He collected two championship points in each of the three opening rounds in Croatia, Warsaw and Prague, but Nilsson showed his class on a technical Teterow track last Saturday, achieving his first Speedway GP heat win, semi-final and final on his way to fourth place.

It’s a result the Rospiggarna and Landshut rider is keen to build on. After becoming a Speedway GP finalist, Nilsson is determined to make his presence felt on the sport’s biggest stage.

“I just want to keep progressing,” he said. “Saturday was really good, but I think I can still progress more as a rider. Now I feel I am in the mix even more. I am taking my space on the track more than I did before.

“I think that’s needed. No-one gives anything for free in this series. I want to be a bit harder and take my space.

“I didn’t know what to expect on Saturday. I had never been to Teterow before. I just went there open-minded and found something that I thought worked in practice. I had some good starts and made some good decisions on the first corner.”

Nilsson has been nursing a broken metacarpal bone in his left hand, suffered at a Polish First Division meeting in Gdansk on May 21. He admits the injury took its toll in the Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic on June 3.

He said: “In the first and second rounds, I was there and felt I was in the mix. But in Prague, I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike. I struggled with the hand, and I struggled with the setups.

“When I left Prague, I still didn’t know what to do. I think I tried everything and nothing worked. From the Prague meeting to this meeting, things changed completely – the feeling I have. Now I understand that I can actually ride a bike again!

“I am just trying to ride through the pain and on some tracks, it is okay. On others, it is not so good. I feel I have more control from the starts now. I think that’s the biggest thing – that the injury is getting better and better.”