An insight into the Wacky World of Ole Olsen

[admin]

A little time before he became the uber-golem of the FIM, Ole Olsen was once fizzing with wacky new ideas for speedway.
Take this little gem from his 1992 "blueprint" presented to the FIM as an example:

His [Olsen's] blueprint, already shown to the FIM, sees the width of a track at the apex of the turn dramatically reduced to only around seven metres.

Olsen explained:

It would still mean there was more than one racing line through that turn. A rider could sweep out wide and chop back. Another rider could run up the inside and turn sharply. It would slow a rider down by about 10 miles an hour in the middle of the turn and that would make it easier for passing.

But wouldn't it cause more accidents? Yes, Olsen accepted that his revolutionary new idea would initially cause more accidents but claimed:

After eight or ten meetings riders would get used to it.

And even more remarkable was this claim:

They [the riders] would be going slower so if they came off they wouldn't be hurt so badly.

However, no one will be too surprised at another of Olsen's wizard wheezes way back in 1992:

He [Olsen] believes that the days of shale tracks should be numbered.

Well, no one can surely deny that, in his current guise as the uber-golem of the FIM, Olsen has done his level best to eliminate shale from speedway racing.

The bits in blue above were taken from the Speedway Star.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2009 17:36:02 GMT admin said:

Take this little gem from his 1992 "blueprint" presented to the FIM as an example:

Yes, I well remember it, which is why he shouldn't be allowed to have anything to do with speedway.

[Deleted]

Haven't read the 1992 blueprint, and the couple of areas you have highlighted certainly dont seem the most obvious of changes to move the sport forward but fair dues to the guy he did at least produce something.

Two years ago the BSPA AGM produced a 'three year plan' that consisted of no more than:

Year 1 slash the points limit
Year 2 reduce the points limit a bit further
Year 3 (guess what) take the points limit a little lower from what is likely to be a pretty low base to begin with
and
Playoffs between the EL and PL for an EL place that is open to anyone whenever they want it (which they obviously dont)

Perhaps there was more in the plan but given how the sport is run as a private gentlemens club nothing more than the above was publicly released, and for those who say why should they look at other 'professional' sports who are all quite happy to produce (possibly only in summary) how they plan to move their sports forward in the years to come

Personally the idea of an alternative racing surface should be given more consideration by those involved with the sport, note I am not saying get ride of shale without a replacement as Olsen appears to be doing his single handed best to. To me a track surface needs to be safe and provide multiple racing lines such that it is fair to inside and outside routes but it should also if possible require less pre meeting preparation, much less 'in meeting' maintenance and degrade less during a meeting as well as being more able to withstand the weather

[Deleted]

Feb 28, 2009 10:53:25 GMT @tonym said:

Personally the idea of an alternative racing surface should be given more consideration by those involved with the sport

I'm all for that, but I think it's been tried without much success in the past. I think the future is more in roofing the track, but with stadiums not being owned by promotions, there's about as much chance of that as staging speedway on the moon.

[Deleted]

Feb 28, 2009 11:11:41 GMT @wibblemuis said:

Feb 28, 2009 10:53:25 GMT @tonym said:

Personally the idea of an alternative racing surface should be given more consideration by those involved with the sport

I'm all for that, but I think it's been tried without much success in the past. I think the future is more in roofing the track, but with stadiums not being owned by promotions, there's about as much chance of that as staging speedway on the moon.

.

I think the problem with roofing (apart from cost) is that is would be very difficult to do without spoiling spectators view of the racing and creating an additional hazard for riders to hit if there was an accident.

I fail to accept there is no alternative to shale that cant be used if the will was there, heck there is sand racing at Mablethorpe over the winter and grass track in the summer so both sand and grass are alternatives but probably not in a stadium environment I think its more that the sport in general is so adverse to change that replacing shale would be a step too far for many inside the sport

[Deleted]

Feb 28, 2009 11:30:19 GMT @tonym said:

I think the problem with roofing (apart from cost) is that is would be very difficult to do without spoiling spectators view of the racing and creating an additional hazard for riders to hit if there was an accident.

I was thinking something along the lines of what they have at speed skating venues (e.g. Assen). A roof extends over the terraces and track, but the centre green remains open to help with ventilation.

You can sort of get the idea here... www.desmelt.nl/ws/content.asp?id=191&naviContId=191&submenu=16&subsub=24

This would also keep the spectators dry, but as you say, cost is the issue here.

[Deleted]

Looks a great venue but is speed skating such a well attended sport (this is a genuine question) to justify what looks like a purpose built facility or are there enough add ons (pop concerts, corporate events, etc) to subsides the skating?

Would still have a concern that there are some hefty supporting poles on the inside of the track to hold the roof up

Not sure that Holland is particularly well serviced when it comes to sporting stadiums but the UK has a wealth of underutilised facilities including football, rugby x 2, cricket and athletics. If a way could be found of laying a temporary track quickly and easily that could stand up to a night/weekend of racing that would open the sport up to more venues than the odd purpose built stadium hence why I would rather see money invested in the alternative surface route

[Deleted]

Mar 2, 2009 13:54:51 GMT @tonym said:

Looks a great venue but is speed skating such a well attended sport (this is a genuine question) to justify what looks like a purpose built facility or are there enough add ons (pop concerts, corporate events, etc) to subsides the skating?

Speed skating is popular in the north of the Netherlands, and for much of the week, the tracks are used for recreational skating (I've been a few times myself). Nevertheless, I think the overheads of maintaining the ice are high, and many stadiums need to be subsidised. Even Assen has had its financial difficulties, despite being a multi-purpose venue.

Mar 2, 2009 13:54:51 GMT @tonym said:

Would still have a concern that there are some hefty supporting poles on the inside of the track to hold the roof up

They're reasonably far from the track and padded, and don't seem to be problem for the ice speedway. However, I guess if you really went to town, the roof could be cantilevered so supports wouldn't be necessary.