Bill Nilsson

Bill Nilsson (17 December 1932 – 25 August 2013) was a Swedish professional motocross racer. He competed in the FIM Motocross World Championships from 1952 to 1967. Nilsson won the inaugural FIM Motocross World Championship in 1957 becoming the first official Motocross World Champion. He won a second World Championship in 1960 and was the first in a long line of Swedish motorcyclists who dominated the sport of motocross in the late 1950s and early 1960s including; Sten Lundin, Rolf Tibblin and Torsten Hallman. During a five-year period from 1957 to 1961, Nilsson ranked first or second in the World Championships.

Career Nilsson was born in Hallstavik, Sweden on 17 December 1932. He began his racing career in 1950 at the age of 18 competing as a motorcycle speedway competitor, but when he failed to attract a sponsor he made the decision to switch to motocross racing.

Despite his small stature (He stood tall), Nilsson was an extremely aggressive and tenacious competitor on the racetrack and became known as one of the toughest racers in the Motocross World Championships during the 1950s.

In 1953, Nilsson gained sponsorship from Associated Motor Cycles, the parent company for AJS motorcycles.

Nilsson became one of the first factory sponsored motocross racers when he joined the BSA factory racing team for the 1954 season. Nilsson scored the first overall victory of his career when he won the 1954 500cc Swedish Grand Prix over the reigning European Champion, Auguste Mingels (FN).

In the 1955 European motocross championship, the reigning champion, Auguste Mingels, injured his shoulder during the opening round in Switzerland and missed the remainder of the season. After the first six races of the season, Nilsson's BSA teammate John Draper and Sten Lundin (BSA) were leading the championship with 14 points with Nilsson trailing by 2 points. At the penultimate round in Sweden, Nilsson was leading the race and was poised to take the points lead when he crashed within sight of the finish line, allowing Draper to take the victory and win the European championship by a single point over Nilsson with Lundin in third place. Nilsson finished second to Jeff Smith as the top individual points scorer. Nilsson was the top individual points scorer at the 1958 Motocross des Nations leading the Swedish team to victory for the second time. The Husqvarna factory built two motorcycles and hired Nilsson along with the reigning 250cc European Champion, Rolf Tibblin to be their team riders. Tibblin won the first two Grand Prix races of the season in Austria and France to lead the championship, however, the battle for the title came down to fellow Swedes Nilsson and Lundin (Monark) who engaged in a season long battle for the World Championship.

The Motocross World Championships of the early 1960s marked the beginning of a period of Swedish domination as five of the top six competitors in the 1960 500cc World Championship were from Sweden with only fourth-placed British rider Don Rickman (Triumph) breaking up the Swedish monopoly.

Nilsson began the 1962 season with the Husqvarna team but left at mid-season to design his own motorcycle using various parts salvaged from other motorcycles.

Nilsson scored two second-place results to start the 1963 season putting himself into contention however, he suffered an injury while competing in a Swedish championship race which forced him to miss the remainder of the World Championship. Nilsson and Rolf Tibblin were test riding motorcycles in their hotel parking lot when they collided in a blind corner. His other son, Jeff Nilsson won three 125cc Swedish Motocross Championships as well as the 1991 125cc Enduro World Championship after a season long battle with the defending champion, Paul Edmondson.