Scott Karl Nicholls (born 16 May 1978)Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. is an English motorcycle speedway rider, who has won the British Championship seven times,"Scott Nicholls sees off Wolves legends", Express & Star, 17 October 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2018 and was a full participant in the Speedway Grand Prix series between 2002 and 2008. He earned 8 international caps for the England national speedway team and 27 caps for the Great Britain team. He is also a speedway commentator.
Career
Born in Ipswich,"2018 Rider Index: N", speedwaygb.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2018 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.
Nicholls' 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.
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. He rode for Eastbourne Eagles in 2008. 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."", speedwaygp.com, 4 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2018
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, in which he won the Olympique individual meeting at Monmore Green Stadium, staying with the Bees in 2013.
From 2013, Nicholls made himself unavailable for the Great Britain team, but reversed his decision in 2016."Buster Chapman plays a key role as Scott Nicholls bids for a Great Britain return", Norwich Evening News, 25 February 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2018 He signed to ride for Belle Vue Aces in 2014 and extended his contract in 2015.Bromley, Hayley (2014) "Scott Nicholls signs new deal with Belle Vue Aces", Manchester Evening News, 1 December 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2018
After spending 2017 with Rye House Rockets, Nicholls started the 2018 SGB Premiership season with them, and rode for Peterborough Panthers in the SGB Championship. He was part of the Peterborough team that won the SGB Championship Fours, which was held on 1 July 2018, at the Media Prime Arena. The Rockets folded mid-season in 2019, but he was signed by Leicester Lions, with whom he stayed with for the remainder of the 2019 season and helped them win the SGB Championship 2019.Łapczyńska, Katarzyna (2018) "Scott Nicholls z nowym kontraktem. Wciąż jest wielką marką", sportowefakty.wp.pl, 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018
After the COVID-19 pandemic affected the 2020 season, Nicholls won the league title with Peterborough for the 2021 season. During the latter part of the 2021 season he also won the Olympique.
Nicholls was appointed captain of the Oxford Cheetahs for the SGB Championship 2022 season. The Cheetahs were returning to action after a 14-year absence from British Speedway. In addition he rode for Peterborough in the SGB Premiership 2022.
Nicholls remained with the Oxford Cheetahs for the SGB Championship 2023 and SGB Championship 2024 seasons.
Major results World individual Championship 1999 Speedway Grand Prix - 27th (3 pts) 2001 Speedway Grand Prix - 33rd (4 pts) 2002 Speedway Grand Prix - 13th (72 pts) 2003 Speedway Grand Prix - 7th (102 pts) 2004 Speedway Grand Prix - 12th (66 pts) 2005 Speedway Grand Prix - 9th (72 pts) 2006 Speedway Grand Prix - 11th (83 pts) 2007 Speedway Grand Prix - 8th (91pts) 2008 Speedway Grand Prix - 9th (77 pts) 2009 Speedway Grand Prix - 15th (45 pts) 2010 Speedway Grand Prix - 24th (4 pts) 2011 Speedway Grand Prix - 20th (5 pts) 2012 Speedway Grand Prix - 24th (7 pts)
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
World team Championships 2003 Speedway World Cup - 5th 2004 Speedway World Cup - silver medal 2005 Speedway World Cup - 4th 2006 Speedway World Cup - bronze medal 2007 Speedway World Cup - 4th 2008 Speedway World Cup - 5th 2010 Speedway World Cup - 4th 2011 Speedway World Cup - 6th 2012 Speedway World Cup - 5th
Commentary Nicholls was the lead on-track commentator for the 2022 Speedway Grand Prix and 2023 Speedway Grand Prix series.
See also List of Speedway Grand Prix riders
References