Nilsson: My ambitions are high

Sweden will have two representatives in the upcoming SEC Challenge, which will be played in Lonigo on June 13. Kim Nilsson gained a pass to Italy thanks to a very good performance in Stralsund, Germany. He is a specialist in unobvious promotions, which he has already proven.

A well-known saying goes that it doesn’t matter how you start, what matters is how you finish. Despite an unlucky beginning, you still ended up in the top five that will advance to Lonigo.

- Exactly. I felt very good in practice, so from the start I knew I could really shake things up. In the first heat, I think I surprised everyone because I was starting from the difficult C gate, and despite that I was leading. Unfortunately, I hit a rock, which caused me to crash and I felt. It completely destroyed my bike, so I had to jump onto my second one, which I hadn’t even practiced on. I had to find something to save the day and scure promotion. And I managed to do that, so of course I’m happy about it, because while I was still lying on the track, I was thinking that this was probably the end of mine chances.

You say you destroyed the bike, but what about your health?

- I was fine, the only thing was a slightly bruised knee. Other than that, I came out of it unscathed.

How would you assess the meeting in Stralsund? From the outside, it looked like overtaking was very difficult, and on top of that there seemed to be only one racing line.

- And that’s exactly how it was. The conditions were not conducive to racing, everything was decided by the start, and on top of that, as I said, I hit a rock that hadn’t been there during practice! It’s a pity the conditions during the meeting weren’t the same as in practice, because we would have had a much better spectacle.

The SEC Challenge will take place in Lonigo. In the past, you had the opportunity to race in Terenzano, but what about this other Italian stadium?

- I’ve never competed in a meeting in Lonigo before, but I can already say now that it will be my favorite track!

In a way, I think we can say there are some parallels with the memorable meeting in Glasgow in 2022. Back then, you were the so-called underdog and you shocked the entire speedway world. Now you could do the same in the qualifiers, but this time for the SEC series.

- I always try to approach every meeting without any preconceptions. As I’ve already said, I’ve never been to Lonigo, so we’ll see how everything works out for us, because it may be a track that I adapt to very quickly. In speedway, the start is very important, and on top of that, you have to have your day. Exactly like I did in Glasgow.

As I already mentioned, in many major events you were labeled an underdog. By definition, that means an athlete who succeeds even though they were expected to fail. You’ve already shown once that you can do it, so I guess we’re in a different situation than in 2022?

- I agree with that, but the track will verify everything. Regardless of whether I’m the underdog or not, I feel good in every role. This year I still haven’t shown my full potential, but I feel very good. My ambitions are high, and we’ll see how far it goes.