Caney’s Corner, Your Local Paper, Wednesday, March 26, 2025
King’s Lynn Speedway legend Niels-Kristian Iversen is the subject in this month’s Q&A with Gavin Caney in Your Local Paper.
The Danish ace speaks about his speedway career from an early age up until the current day.
Thousands of the sport's fans were present at his testimonial meeting a fortnight ago.
Niels, when did you first get bitten by the speedway bug?
Around 1993, at the age of 10. I was in an after-school club where we had many different activities.
I was introduced to sports such as MX (motocross), speedway, go-karts, BMX, hockey and table tennis.
I loved all the sports that included engines and wheels. We could ride speedway and MX on our local kids track in Esbjerg.
The council had 50cc speedway and motocross bikes for us to ride once a week. So after my first go at speedway I was sold. Speedway and MX was on Thursdays and it was the highlight of my week.
I even changed into my riding gear from home so I had no time wasted at the track.
At what point did you start to think you could become a pro rider?
After winning my first Danish championship on 50cc in 1994. It was my first year riding.
Then I started to dream about becoming a pro rider as I grew up. As I progressed with time my dreams got bigger and my hopes were backed by some good results.
We didn’t have any experience in the sport and very limited funds but my dad always found ways to collect just enough money for me to progress through the stages.
Was the British League one you always wanted to race in? Why do you think so many Danes come and ride over here?
Back then, British Speedway was where all the big boys were riding and the place to be if you wanted to do something big in the sport. So it was also naturally where I wanted to go.
I took a four-year apprenticeship in engineering in stainless steel before coming to Newport in 2003.
If it was down to me, I would have come to England before that but my parents and the national team managers Erik Gundersen and Jacob Olsen said I had to finish my education before going full-time pro.
That is also why I came over to do a few meetings for King's Lynn at the end of 2001, to give myself a taste of it.
It was the right decision to finish my apprenticeship before as I was more mature and ready when I came to Newport.
Like a lot of riders your body has taken a battering over the years. Can you even list how many bones you've broken? Have any crashes or injuries been a lot worse than the others?
I don't particularly like to speak about injuries as it is the dark side of the business. And I had a few bad ones.
I’ve had surgeries on both my shoulders after dislocations, broken several ribs, had vertebrae taps (lumbar puncture), broken my shoulder blade, fractured my chest bone (sternum), punctured a lung, ruptured the PCL and MCL in my knee and fractured wrists.
The worst was my shoulder in 2017 as I had problems with nerve damage which required complicated surgery to fix.
In 2021, I also had a really bad one, spending 11 nights in hospital after I fractured my chest, had three vertebrae taps, broke a few ribs and punctured a lung.
You spent a good chunk of your career at Peterborough. How does it feel that there isn't a Panthers team now and it looks like there might not be one again?
It’s sad that the sport loses tracks and stadiums. Peterborough was a great race track and it's a huge loss to speedway and sport in general in Peterborough.
Too many great venues have been taken away over recent years such as Peterborough, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Swindon, Reading and also Newport, who I rode for.
It’s a shame that nothing more can be done to protect these venues. These clubs have great traditions in the sport.
Oxford came back after 14 years though and that story keeps some hope alive for the other clubs.
Why do you believe King's Lynn has become a home away from home for you over the years?
When I came to King's Lynn in 2011 I had a few years where my career was at a standstill.
I needed some changes and I changed a lot of things around my racing. From then onwards my career really picked up and I felt really good being at Lynn.
After a few seasons I was at the top of the Grand Prix and delivered well for the Stars.
I was just really happy to ride for the club and with time I really felt it was the right place for me.
The club has always treated me well and that makes it even more enjoyable.
You've won an incredible amount of trophies over the years. Do any stand out?
It’s difficult to pick one specific moment. But my five Grand Prix wins were all special in different ways.
Also, our four World Cup wins for Denmark were huge. The one that stands out most in my memory of the World Cup wins was the 2014 one in Bydgoszcz when it was sealed in the final race against Poland.
To pick one moment in my career achievements, it would be standing on the podium as individual world No.3.
It was something I only ever dreamed about and even though it was not a world title, it was a huge result for me and a combination of all my work and included two GP wins that season.
Thousands of fans came to watch your testimonial and some amazing riders turned out on the day as well. How hard was it to plan the event and can you try and explain how it felt on the day?
I was overwhelmed with the support I had for the event. I had great help planning it from Stephanie Babb who took care of most of the planning.
I sorted the line-up, and some other things, so a lot of work went into it. It turned out to be a fantastic day.
It was a bit emotional with trips down memory lane and I am very grateful to everyone who showed up.
Everyone from riders, officials and the huge crowd were all part of making the day a successful and happy one.
How do you think King's Lynn Stars will fare in 2025? It's been a while since the club has made the play-offs now.
In my opinion, we have a really solid side. It is always difficult to predict beforehand and talk is cheap when it comes to pre-season.
We need to make the best of all the riders we've got in the side and I think everyone has capacity to up their averages.
We are positive that we are going to have a really good season.
Making the play-offs is the first goal and then it all goes from there.
Finally, you're 42 now. Have you even thought about when you might retire? And what you might do when you do?
I can't run away from getting older. But I don't have plans to retire at this stage. I am in good shape and still have the determination to put in the effort to prepare and have the hunger to achieve on the track.
It’s about setting the right goals to keep going and keep improving from the previous few years. As long as I enjoy it and race to a good level then I will keep racing.
When the day comes and I don't enjoy it any more then it will also be the right time to stop. I took a course this winter in NLP (neurolinguistic programming) psychology and I love to work with the mentality of sports in general. So far it is something I try and practice on myself and then we will see where it takes me.
The Facts Are
Name: Niels-Kristian Iversen
Age: 42
Lives in: Esbjerg, Denmark
Previous British clubs: Newport, Oxford, Peterborough, Wolverhampton, Ipswich
Current British club: King's Lynn
Major honours: Seven-time Danish champion, four-time World Cup winner, 2013 Grand Prix series bronze
Sporting hero: Tom Brady
Twitter: @doniversen
Five interesting Facts
Iversen has ridden in 100 Grand Prix, reaching 18 finals and winning five of them.
He took a four-year apprenticeship in engineering and welding in stainless steel before becoming a full-time speedway rider.
The Danish icon has scored a whopping 266 points during the 30 World Cup meetings he's competed in.
This winter Niels took a six-month course to become a certified neuro linguistic programming (NLP) coach practitioner.
The Dane has scored 2,171 league points for King's Lynn which puts him fifth on the Stars' all-time points scorers list.
Quickfire questions
Restaurant or takeaway?
Film or series?
Bath or shower?
Tea or coffee?
Sweet or savoury?
Summer or winter?
Day or night?
Holiday or staycation?
Favourite food: Asian cuisine
Least favourite food: Processed fast food
Favourite TV programme: Sports documentary
Least favourite TV programme: Most reality shows
Favourite band/musician: I listen to a bit of everything. I like 90s music
Least favourite band/musician: Guns N Roses, Metallica, Oasis
Favourite film: I don't have a clear favourite. There are lots of great movies
Least favourite film: Not one in particular
