EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Jacob Thorssell- a great season

For the second year in row Jacob Thorssell was crowned Swedish National Champion, this time as Målilla, home of Dackarna. The 27-year-old Swede, has represented the club for the last two years and had no difficulty in signing there again for coming season. 

He only dropped one point in his championship win which was the first event in Sweden in the corona-hit season. But it was to be a sign of things to come, “I had a great season at Dackarna, so that was really nice,” he says. 

He was the club’s top rider with a 2.132 average, by far the best score of his career so far. Not only that, but he finished in 11^th in the overall table making him the third best Swede in the league.

“I was really glad that we got to race in the end as I was worried we were going to have nothing at all for a while,” the Swedish champion admits.

Although there was racing in Sweden in 2020, that was not the case in the SGB Premiership. Since 2013 the Swede has represented Wolverhampton Wolves in that league. In fact, he is one of the only Swedes to race in Britain’s top league. 

However, the current situation means Thorssell will not be travelling to the United Kingdom this year, “With the pandemic it is just not possible to fly 100 times between March and October. Otherwise, I would be there,” he explains. 

Instead, for 2021, he will ride for Opole in eWinner 2. Thorssell has been competing in the Polish leagues for 8 years and last year raced his second season at Gdansk. It was not his best season in League 1, but he still gained with a 1.712 average which placed him in 28^th in the overall list.

Just before the Swedish season starts on 5 May, the 27-year-old will take part in the SEC Qualifier at Plzen, Czech Republic. He said he chose that venue because he had been there before and he is quietly confident he can make it to the European Finals, “I know all the SEC final tracks really well. I had a bad time last time I was at Rybnik, but I will make sure I change that!” he says with a laugh. 

As a speedway nation, Sweden are looking for a rider who can replace Andreas Jonsson and Antonio Lindbäck and take a place alongside Fredrik Lindgren in the top tier of the sport. So, Thorssell is hoping that 2021 is going the year he gets to do that.