Nicholls: It's really tough in Sweden

The Swedish League is really tough, they have changed the rules recently, so now each team has to have three Swedish riders on their roster and at least one under-21 reserve, which is good for bringing in younger talent based in Sweden, but it makes it tough to get a spot because there is less space in the teams. The league is really exciting, some of the teams are really strong, and the tracks are generally a lot bigger than they are in England, with a couple of exceptions. The material in Sweden is different, a lot of the tracks here in the UK tend to have a lot of clay, which binds the track together but in Sweden the tracks use a lot more sand, making it slicker.

Every team has two names, the town and the nickname. For example, Piraterna is the nickname but Motala is the actual town. They are very strong, Vetlanda are also very good. But like in all sports, teams can go from the very top to the bottom within a year. The teams are pretty evenly matched. Malilla, where they are holding the Grand Prix, have a decent side and a good track, but again, like in all sports, you might have a good team on paper but when it comes down to the racing the team might not click which leads to poor results. There are a couple of teams that look slightly weaker on paper, but generally, the teams are quite level. Rospiggarna have come up this year, so there is always a question there whether they come up and establish themselves as a top side or go straight back down.

Poland is still the number one sport for speedway but it is still very popular in Sweden. It is well received; a lot of the tracks get local funding from the community, similar to in Poland. Generally the tracks are purpose built for speedway, and they have junior tracks for kids, which helps with the development of the sport. Tony was the best rider to have ever graced the sport, he was a phenomenal rider and he’s a big personality in Sweden as well.

It is, and that’s why a lot of riders opt to drop one league, some drop England, some drop Sweden, but a lot of the riders like to ride in Poland and Sweden because the travel is a lot easier. It’s getting to England with all your gear that can give you a problem. I personally found that the riding was the easy part; it was the travelling that got to me, getting up at a ridiculous hour to travel to the other side of Europe!