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Olle Nygren

Swedish speedway rider (1929–2021)

Summary

Swedish speedway rider (1929–2021)

Field	Value
image	Olle Nygren.jpg
name	Olle Nygren
nationality	Swedish
birth_date
caption	Olle Nygren in the 1970s
nickname	Varg-Olle
birth_place	Stockholm, Sweden
death_date
death_place	Ipswich, England
career1	Sweden
years2	1948-1953, 1960,
1962-1963, 1967-1979
career2	Vargarna
years3	1954-1959
career3	Monarkerna
career4	Great Britain
years5	1951
career5	Harringay Racers
years6	1953
career6	New Cross Rangers
years7	1953
career7	Bristol Bulldogs
years8	1954, 1965-1968
career8	Wimbledon Dons
years9	1960
career9	Southampton Saints
years10	1962
career10	Swindon Robins
years11	1962-1964
career11	Norwich Stars
years12	1969-1971
career12	West Ham Hammers
years13	1972-1974
career13	Ipswich Witches
years14	1974
career14	Coventry Bees
years15	1975
career15	King's Lynn Stars
indivyear1	1954, 1960
indivhonour1	Nordic Champion
indivyear2	1949
indivhonour2	Swedish Champion
teamyear1	1960
teamhonour1	World Team Cup
teamyear2	1968
teamhonour2	British League KO Cup winner
teamyear3	1968
teamhonour3	London Cup Winner
teamyear4	1949, 1951, 1953,
1955, 1956, 1960
teamhonour4	Allsvenskan Champion
teamyear5	1963
teamhonour5	National Trophy

1962-1963, 1967-1979

1955, 1956, 1960 Harald Olof Ingemar Nygren (11 November 1929 – 13 February 2021){{cite book | last = Oakes | first = Peter |author2=Mauger, Ivan OBE, MBE |author-link2=Ivan Mauger | title = Who's Who of World Speedway | publisher = Studio Publications Ltd

Career

Nygren was the inaugural Swedish Champion during the 1949 Swedish speedway season. He also helped his Swedish team Vargarna win the Swedish Speedway Team Championship. He started riding in Great Britain during the 1951 Speedway National League, when he joined the Harringay Racers.

He soon established himself as a leading rider, recording exceptional averages for New Cross Rangers and then Bristol Bulldogs during the 1953 Speedway National League season. After a season with Wimbledon Dons in 1954 he would not ride in Britain again until 1960. In the meantime, he reached several world finals and was considered a world class rider, winning his second Nordic Championship and the World Team Cup in 1960.

He returned to British speedway in 1960 and would ride until the end of the 1975 season, regularly topping the team averages. Ipswich Witches, Coventry Bees and King's Lynn Stars.

After retirement, Nygren set up a successful speedway training school. Nygren lived in England from the 1960s. He died in Ipswich at the age of 91, after contracting COVID-19; he had previously been treated for laryngeal cancer.

World Final appearances

Individual World Championship

1953 – ENG London, Wembley Stadium – 4th - 12+2pts
1954 – ENG London, Wembley Stadium – 3rd - 13+2pts
1955 – ENG London, Wembley Stadium – 8th - 9pts
1958 – ENG London, Wembley Stadium – 7th - 9pts
1959 – ENG London, Wembley Stadium – 4th - 11+2pts

World Team Cup

1960 - SWE Gothenburg, Ullevi (with Ove Fundin / Rune Sörmander / Björn Knutson) - Winner - 44pts (12)
1968 - ENG London, Wembley Stadium (with Bengt Jansson / Anders Michanek / Ove Fundin / Torbjörn Harrysson) - 2nd - 30pts (3)

World Longtrack Championship

1957 - Semi-final
1958 - FRG Muhldorf (14th)
1959 - FIN Helsinki (Third)
1960 - FRG Plattling (9th)
1961 - NOR Oslo (Second)
1978 - Qualifying Round
1979 - Qualifying Round

Formula One

In 1962, Nygren took part in a minor Formula One race, the Kanonloppet, at the Karlskoga Circuit at Karlskoga in his home country of Sweden. He drove a Lotus 18 loaned to him by American driver Jay Chamberlain. Nygren qualified tenth of the ten starters, and had to retire after just six laps with a gearbox failure.

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Ecurie Excelsior	Lotus 18	Climax Straight-4
1962	CAP	BRX	LOM	LAV	GLV	PAU	AIN	INT	NAP	MAL	CLP	RMS	SOL	KAN
Ret	MED	DAN	OUL	MEX	RAN	NAT

References

Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
(13 February 2021). "Motorsport-legendaren "Varg-Olle" är död".
Belton, Brian (2003). ''Hammerin' Round''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing {{ISBN. 0-7524-2438-6
"Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022".
"Swedish speedway season by season".
"Rider averages 1929 to 2009".
(12 April 1970). "Nordin ignored".
(13 February 2021). "Varg-Olle Nygren död – "Han var en levnadskonstnär"". Dagens Nyheter.
Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN. 0-7524-2402-5
Thompson, John (1974). ''The Formula One Record Book''. London: Leslie Frewin Publishing. {{ISBN. 0-85632-097-8. pp.106-107

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1929-births 2021-deaths motorcycle-racers-from-stockholm deaths-from-the-covid-19-pandemic-in-england swedish-speedway-riders harringay-racers-riders norwich-stars-riders swindon-robins-riders wimbledon-dons-riders west-ham-hammers-riders ipswich-witches-riders coventry-bees-riders king's-lynn-stars-riders swedish-expatriate-speedway-riders-in-england bristol-bulldogs-riders southampton-saints-riders new-cross-rangers-riders 125cc-world-championship-riders individual-speedway-long-track-world-championship-riders swedish-emigrants-to-the-united-kingdom vargarna-riders

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