Nicki Pedersen
| Competition record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Denmark
| ||
| Speedway World Championship | ||
 |
2003 | |
|
2007 | |
|
2008 | |
 |
2012 | |
 |
2006 | |
|
2014 | |
|
2015 | |
| Speedway World Cup | ||
|
2006 | |
|
2008 | |
|
2012 | |
|
2014 | |
|
2002 | |
|
2007 | |
|
2013 | |
|
2015 | |
|
2003 | |
|
2004 | |
|
2005 | |
| Intercontinental Cup | ||
|
2000 | |
| Golden Helmet | ||
|
2008 | |
|
2010 | |
|
2005 | |
|
2006 | |
Nicki Pedersen (born 2 April 1977 in Odense, Denmark)[1] is a Danish motorcycle speedway rider. He has won the World Championship in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and was a World Cup winner with Denmark in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.[2] His brother, Ronni Pedersen, has also ridden in the Speedway Grand Prix and World Cup.
Career
 | This section needs to be updated. (December 2019) |
Domestic teams
Pedersen began speedway racing aged 11 at Danish club Fjelsted. He started his Polish speedway career in 1999 with Polish second division club Start Gniezno and has since ridden for GTŻ Grudziądz, Wybrzeże Gdańsk, ZKŻ Zielona Góra and ŻKS ROW Rybnik. Between 2006 and 2007 he rode for Stal Rzeszów and since 2008 he has ridden for Włókniarz Częstochowa. Pedersen rides for Dackarna in the Swedish Elitserien, and Holsted in the Danish Super League.[3]
Pedersen's speedway career in the United Kingdom began with the Premier League team Newcastle Diamonds, before Elite League side Wolverhampton Wolves bought him for the 1999 season. He was at Wolverhampton for two years before the club loaned him out to King's Lynn, Oxford and Eastbourne. Pedersen spent four years at Eastbourne but left at the end of the 2007 season due to a change in ownership of the club and a reduction of the points limit for team building purposes by the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[4] Although Nicki is still an asset of Wolverhampton, he has ruled out a return to the Elite League.[5]
Grand Prix
Pedersen took part in his first Grand Prix in 2000, as a wildcard in Denmark and impressed by finishing in fourth place. That year he qualified for the 2001 Grand Prix where he managed a third in the opening round in Germany and then earned a spot in the Grand Prix in 2002. He showed potential in the opening round in 2002, finishing third in Germany. Consistent scoring left him in 11th place in the World Championship after his first full year.
Pedersen had a bad start to 2002, but secured his GP place in 2003 after recording the first win of his career in the European Grand Prix. He finished the year in 12th place despite an inconsistent season. In 2003, he improved massively on his 2002 performance. He finished second in the opening Grand Prix of the season, and after a 10th place in the Swedish Grand Prix, Pedersen won again in Cardiff to give him a chance of becoming World Champion. Consistent high placings and four more podium finishes, including three in a row, secured the 2003 World Championship for Pedersen.
The 2004 season was less successful for Pedersen; he failed to record a win or a podium place. He finished in fifth place in the World Championship, well behind the two leaders Tony Rickardsson and Jason Crump. A second place in Slovenia was his best result during the 2005 Grand Prix season and he finished in fourth in the World Championship. Pedersen won the opening GP meeting of the 2006 season in Slovenia, but after that he fell behind championship leaders Rickardsson and Crump. He improved to finish third in the World Championship however, after a podium place in Latvia and a win in Poland.
Pedersen was dominant in 2007, winning four of the eleven Grand Prix, and finishing runner-up in two. He dropped only one point in the opening two rounds and had a run of six consecutive finals, which ended after an exclusion in the semi final in Great Britain. Pedersen won the penultimate Grand Prix in Slovenia and in doing so became the 2007 World Champion after accumulating an unassailable lead at the head of the standings.[6]
Speedway Grand Prix results
| Year | Position | Points | Best Finish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 20th | 17 | 4th | Fourth placed as a wild card in Danish Grand Prix |
| 2001 | 11th | 52 | 3rd | Third in German Grand Prix |
| 2002 | 12th | 73 | Winner | Won European Grand Prix |
| 2003 | 1st | 152 | Winner | Won British Grand Prix |
| 2004 | 5th | 113 | 4th | |
| 2005 | 4th | 102 | 2nd | Second in Slovenian Grand Prix |
| 2006 | 3rd | 134 | Winner | Won Slovenian and Polish Grand Prix |
| 2007 | 1st | 196 | Winner | Won in Italian, European, Czech Republic and Slovenian Grand Prix |
| 2008 | 1st | 174 | Winner | Won in Czech Republic Grand Prix |
| 2009 | 6th | 110 | Winner | Won in Polish Grand Prix |
| 2010 | 10th | 91 | 5th | |
| 2011 | 10th | 89 | Winner | Won European Grand Prix |
| 2012 | 2nd | 152 | Winner | Won Czech Republic and Croatian Grand Prix |
| 2013 | 5th | 121 | 3rd | Third in New Zealand, Swedish and Czech Republic Grand Prix |
| 2014 | 3rd | 134 | 2nd | Second in New Zealand and Latvian Grand Prix |
| 2015 | 3rd | 131 | Winner | Won Finnish, Swedish and Third Polish Grand Prix |
| Race no. | Grand Prix | Pos. | Pts. | Heats | Draw No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 /11 |  Italian SGP
|
1 | 24 | (3,3,3,3,3) +3 +6 | 13 |
| 2 /11 |  European SGP
|
1 | 23 | (3,2,3,3,3) +3 +6 | 3 |
| 3 /11 |  Swedish SGP
|
4 | 11 | (0,3,3,X,3) +2 +0 | 9 |
| 4 /11 | Danish SGP
|
2 | 16 | (T,3,3,1,2) +3 +4 | 6 |
| 5 /11 |  British SGP
|
6 | 12 | (2,3,2,3,2) +X | 9 |
| 6 /11 |  Czech Rep. SGP
|
1 | 24 | (3,3,3,3,3) +3 +6 | 7 |
| 7 /11 | Scandinavian SGP
|
5 | 16 | (3,3,3,3,3) +1 | 12 |
| 8 /11 |  Latvian SGP
|
2 | 19 | (3,3,1,3,2) +3 +4 | 11 |
| 9 /11 |  Polish SGP
|
3 | 19 | (2,3,3,3,3) +3 +2 | 16 |
| 10 /11 |  Slovenian SGP
|
1 | 23 | (3,2,3,3,3) +3 +6 | 14 |
| 11 /11 |  German SGP
|
8 | 9 | (1,1,1,3,3) +E | 7 |
| Race no. | Grand Prix | Pos. | Pts. | Heats | Draw No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 /11 | Slovenian SGP
|
2 | 17 | (3,2,3,1,1) +3 +4 | 11 |
| 2 /11 | European SGP
|
3 | 16 | (3,2,1,3,3) +2 +2 | 3 |
| 3 /11 | Swedish SGP
|
3 | 16 | (2,1,3,3,2) +3 +2 | 7 |
| 4 /11 | Danish SGP
|
2 | 20 | (3,3,3,2,3) +2 +4 | 13 |
| 5 /11 | British SGP
|
3 | 11 | (2,1,2,0,3) +3 +f | 10 |
| 6 /11 | Czech Rep. SGP
|
1 | 22 | (3,2,3,3,3) +2 +6 | 10 |
| 7 /11 | Scandinavian SGP
|
3 | 14 | (2,2,0,3,3) +2 +2 | 14 |
| 8 /11 | Latvian SGP
|
2 | 18 | (2,3,3,3,0) +2 +4 | 1 |
| 9 /11 | Polish SGP
|
2 | 21 | (3,3,2,3,3) +2 +4 | 10 |
| 10 /11 | Italian SGP
|
11 | 6 | (1,x,3,0,2) | 8 |
| 11 /11 | German SGP
|
5 | 13 | (3,3,1,2,3) +1 | 7 |
| permanent speedway rider | |
| wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve | |
| rider not classified (track reserve who did not start) |
References
- ^ Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0
- ^ Bamford, R.(2007). Speedway Yearbook 2007. ISBN 978-0-7524-4250-1
- ^ "Nicki Pedersen Profile". NickiPedersen.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ "Eagles confident of survival - but without Pedersen". The Argus. 2008-11-15. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ "Snub's still a pain for Ped". Daily Mirror. 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ "Nicki Pedersen wins Slovenian GP and secures second world title". WorldSpeedway.com. 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
External links
| 2011 Speedway Grand Prix riders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gollob
|
2 | Hampel
|
3 |  Crump
|
4 | Holta
|
5 |  Hancock
|
| 6 | Harris
|
7 | Bjerre
|
8 | Holder
|
9 | Jonsson
|
10 | Pedersen
|
| 11 | Lindgren
|
12 |  Sayfutdinov
|
13 | Laguta
|
14 | Lindbäck
|
15 | Kołodziej
|
