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Mikael Max
Mikael Karlsson
Born	21 August 1973 (age 51); Gullspång, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Website	mikaelmax.com
Career history
Sweden
1989–1998	Örnarna
1999–2002	Valsarna
2003–2005, 2015–2016	Dackarna
2006–2008	Piraterna
2006–2015	Gnistorna
2010–2011	Lejonen
2013	Hammarby
2014	Indianerna
Great Britain
1993–1994, 1996–1999, 2001–2005	Wolverhampton Wolves
2006	Arena Essex Hammers
Poland
1995	Piła
2000–2002	Rybnik
2003	Warsaw
2005 2009–2010	Rzeszów
2006–2007	Ostrów
2008	Wrocław
2011	Gdańsk
2012	Daugavpils
Individual honours
1994	World Under-21 Champion
1992	Swedish U21 champion
Team honours
1994, 2000, 2003, 2004	Speedway World Cup
1996	Premier League
1996	Elite League KO Cup Winner
1997	Premiership Winner
2002	Elite League
2005	Polish Div Two Champion
1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999	Swedish Elitserien Champion
1992, 1996, 2002, 2003	Swedish Pairs Champion

Karl Mikael Karlsson (born 21 August 1973),^[1] who later rode under the name Mikael Max, is a Swedish former international motorcycle speedway rider.^[2]^[3] He earned 21 caps for the Sweden national speedway team.^[4]

Career

After first riding a speedway bike at the age of twelve, he moved up to 500cc bikes in 1989.^[5] He represented Sweden at under-21 level in 1990, and made his full debut for Sweden in 1991.^[5]

He won the Swedish U21 championship in 1992^[6] and finished runner-up to Joe Screen in the World Under-21 Championship in 1993.^[7] He made amends the following season by winning the championship in 1994.^[8]^[5]

Karlsson made his British speedway debut in 1993 for Wolverhampton Wolves, going on to ride for the club until 2005, only missing the 1995 and 2000 seasons. In 2006, he rode for the Arena Essex Hammers. Max is his mother's maiden name and he raced as Mikael Max from 2003.^[5]^[9]

Max won four World team championships in 1994, 2000, 2003 and 2004.^[10]

His two brothers, Peter Karlsson and Magnus Karlsson, are both speedway riders.^[5] All three brothers represented Sweden in the 2007 Speedway World Cup, with Magnus riding at reserve. He won the Swedish Pairs Championship four times, twice with brother Peter, in 1992 and 1996, with Stefan Dannö in 2002 and with Stefan Andersson in 2003.

World Championship

Speedway Grand Prix results

Year	Position	Points	Best Finish	Notes
1995	16th	17	15th
1996	23rd	0	-	Reserve in Swedish Grand Prix (did not ride)
1997	16th	14	8th	8th in Great Britain Grand Prix. Reserve in three others.
1999	14th	45	9th
2000	13th	39	7th
2001	7th	59	2nd	2nd in Sweden Grand Prix. 3rd in Poland Grand Prix.
2002	5th	122	3rd	3rd in Norway Grand Prix. 3rd in Great Britain Grand Prix.
2003	13th	52	5th
2004	16th	49	9th
2005	28th	0	17th	Reserve at Sweden Grand Prix

References

^ Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0
^ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 522. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
^ "Mikael Karl Max Szwecja". Polish Speedway Database. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ "Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Oakes, Peter (2004) British Speedway Who's Who, ISBN 0-948882-81-6, p. 150
^ "Swedish Speedway Junior Championship". Speedway History. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
^ "Joe's king - thanks to pals". Manchester Evening News. 16 August 1993. Retrieved 9 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Wolves' Karlsson trumphant as King of the Under-21s". Birmingham Daily Post. 15 August 1994. Retrieved 10 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
^ "There have been three international team competitions run by the F.I.M". International Speedway. Retrieved 26 March 2023.