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Ole Olsen Track Prep


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At Kings Lynn last night Buster was asked over the PA if he would take the job of track curator for GP's etc full time ? His Answer and possibl y the answer to the questions posed on here.

' I knew the track wanted watering prior to and after HT1, I was told by Ole Olsen over the radio NO WATER AND NO GRADING- This happened on a No of occasions during the meeting and did not enable me to do a better job' NO I wouldn't like the job.

Speedway Star today: At 15 minutes to midnight Olsen was still on track, brushing down the fence adverts so they could be taken down and transported to other meetings.(COULD THIS BE THE REAL REASON)!!!

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At Kings Lynn last night Buster was asked over the PA if he would take the job of track curator for GP's etc full time ? His Answer and possibl y the answer to the questions posed on here.

' I knew the track wanted watering prior to and after HT1, I was told by Ole Olsen over the radio NO WATER AND NO GRADING- This happened on a No of occasions during the meeting and did not enable me to do a better job' NO I wouldn't like the job.

Speedway Star today: At 15 minutes to midnight Olsen was still on track, brushing down the fence adverts so they could be taken down and transported to other meetings.(COULD THIS BE THE REAL REASON)!!!

So Ole was responsible for such a good meeting then? :unsure::wink:

 

Thanks for the confirmation.maybe a few hats will be eaten :lol:

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Based on Fixerman's comments, are we to expect a crap track and crap racing this evening so that the bald headed old coot can ensure his home country get through to the final. This guy should have been put out to pasture long ago and frankly he is doing immense damage to the sport at the highest level. Fire the guy before the riders take to track in order to prevent a borefest.

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Based on Fixerman's comments, are we to expect a crap track and crap racing this evening so that the bald headed old coot can ensure his home country get through to the final. This guy should have been put out to pasture long ago and frankly he is doing immense damage to the sport at the highest level. Fire the guy before the riders take to track in order to prevent a borefest.

Sorry to disagree,but based on those comments Olsen was in charge of a bloody good meeting.Then the bloke was out there helping out cleaning the sponsors ads....shows the guy is working his balls off.What other top FIM official would be doing such stuff?.....yet he still gets flack :blink:

Sometimes i think one person says something and others just follow like sheep without even wanting to understand the truth.....

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Based on Fixerman's comments, are we to expect a crap track and crap racing this evening so that the bald headed old coot can ensure his home country get through to the final. This guy should have been put out to pasture long ago and frankly he is doing immense damage to the sport at the highest level. Fire the guy before the riders take to track in order to prevent a borefest.

 

sorry have to dissagree with the bit about helping Denmark. Its purely so there are less chance of hold ups for weather, accidents etc so as to ensure tv money comes in.

Racing doesn't matter to BSI money does

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Ole Olsen and Steve Brandon do have a very hard job to do with pleasing the fans as well as sponsors and tv companies I know a few broadcasters have been unhappy with GP meetings over running this year and this has been fed back to BSI and the GP team if the meeting overuns it can turn into a very expensive game for broadcasters with scheduling being put out,adverts missed and most importantly the additional cost of broadcasting with a HD satellite uplink from the track likely to cost around an extra £2,500 per 15mins plus £150 crew cost then then the Ob facilties provider possibly wanting another £3,000 for overun the costs soon mount up.

 

Overall I do agree that possibly some of tracks do start off far to slick at the start of the night and I thought that was to happen at Peterborough until Buster watered it and the track blended together

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maybe the excellent racetrack was a case of more by luck than judgement ? throughout the day there were some heavy showers in the petereborough area ,was it just luck that they fell at the right time ? peterborough usually has a fairly good track anyway and with the right amount of water at the right time could produce a race track any night . or maybe buster has found the elusive magic formula ?

Edited by speedibee
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Sorry to disagree,but based on those comments Olsen was in charge of a bloody good meeting.Then the bloke was out there helping out cleaning the sponsors ads....shows the guy is working his balls off.What other top FIM official would be doing such stuff?.....yet he still gets flack :blink:

Sometimes i think one person says something and others just follow like sheep without even wanting to understand the truth.....

 

His track preparation has been questionable for most of the GP's this year and frankly their are many more qualified people around who prepare good racing surfaces week in and week out and could do the job just as well if not better. If he is cleaning sponsors ads then he is either overpaid for menial tasks or is simply unable to delegate. It's not following sheep, its called having an opinion or is that to be banned simply because a few want to defend the indefensible. He was not in charge of the meeting but may have been involved at some point in the track and if he has learnt what makes good racing from this the when can all look forward to a better quality product in the future.

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At Kings Lynn last night Buster was asked over the PA if he would take the job of track curator for GP's etc full time ? His Answer and possibl y the answer to the questions posed on here.

' I knew the track wanted watering prior to and after HT1, I was told by Ole Olsen over the radio NO WATER AND NO GRADING- This happened on a No of occasions during the meeting and did not enable me to do a better job' NO I wouldn't like the job.

Speedway Star today: At 15 minutes to midnight Olsen was still on track, brushing down the fence adverts so they could be taken down and transported to other meetings.(COULD THIS BE THE REAL REASON)!!!

 

 

So Ole was responsible for such a good meeting then? :unsure::wink:

 

Thanks for the confirmation.maybe a few hats will be eaten :lol:

 

 

there is no hat eating here Iris......... ive never doubted Ole's commitment or organisational skills.......... and it tells me a lot that no one was paid the grand sum of a couple of notes to clean down those banners.......maybe because they weren't expected to be dirty?

 

If he had something to do with the track then hats off to him but as someone who had the privelige of watching behind the scenes events during 2006 SWC I can confirm that despite the blazing sun over Smallmead not a drop of water touched the track from mid day and it was obvious that the baked crust was just going to develop into dust and be pushed away from a blue groove.....as it did.................... that track should have been watered regularly throughout the day and in speedway terms, for a world cup, it was negligence ........... the Poles were not happy about it and subsequently didnt qualify from the race off ...... the Danes loved it in the final and went on to win........... this kind of track prep does not create the racing we saw the other night and if he was responsible for controlling the flow of water that day then thank heavens for the shower and lets hope Leszno has had one

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Crap slick track as usual and processional racing. Olsen should be ashamed after Monday. He cannot possibly have had anything to do with Peterborough. He should listen to the comments from riders like Adams. When people like him are critical of track conditions then it is time for someone to take note deal with Olsen.

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there is no hat eating here Iris......... ive never doubted Ole's commitment or organisational skills.......... and it tells me a lot that no one was paid the grand sum of a couple of notes to clean down those banners.......maybe because they weren't expected to be dirty?

 

If he had something to do with the track then hats off to him but as someone who had the privelige of watching behind the scenes events during 2006 SWC I can confirm that despite the blazing sun over Smallmead not a drop of water touched the track from mid day and it was obvious that the baked crust was just going to develop into dust and be pushed away from a blue groove.....as it did.................... that track should have been watered regularly throughout the day and in speedway terms, for a world cup, it was negligence ........... the Poles were not happy about it and subsequently didnt qualify from the race off ...... the Danes loved it in the final and went on to win........... this kind of track prep does not create the racing we saw the other night and if he was responsible for controlling the flow of water that day then thank heavens for the shower and lets hope Leszno has had one

 

Might be better for the usual track staff at the permanent tracks to prepare the surface as per normal and not bring in an outside team or let Olsen dictate as much as he does. The local track staff surely know what they are doing, they have had enough practice.

 

The Polish tracks used in the GP are renowned for providing good racing yet in the lastest GPs they are packed down solid by Olsens team. :cry:

 

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This topic has been done to death,Im in total agreement with you about Olsen but the fact is if the powers that be choose to do nothing then we are left with this borefest.He has turned a meeting with a chance to see great racing into a gateing competition.

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Well so far i think Ole has done a good job with the tracks.The meetings have been pretty good.Obviously the riders have to do their job as well,and if you get a heat with Crump up against a few youngsters you are never likely to get Crump being pushed all the way...Peterborough was a one-off.You don't get many meetings that good in a lifetime.And it was good that Ole managed to get the ref to have a re-run.But i wonder why appoint a ref who from what Stekkers said can't really comunicate in english?What other common language do all the teams in the SWC have? :blink:

Edited by iris123
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Well so far i think Ole has done a good job with the tracks.The meetings have been pretty good.Obviously the riders have to do their job as well,and if you get a heat with Crump up against a few youngsters you are never likely to get Crump being pushed all the way...Peterborough was a one-off.You don't get many meetings that good in a lifetime.And it was good that Ole managed to get the ref to have a re-run.But i wonder why appoint a ref who from what Stekkers said can't really comunicate in english?What other common language do all the teams in the SWC have? :blink:

 

Really iris!? Do you not think the GP's have been a huge let down in terms of entertainment? One or two decent tracks doesn't cut it for me, GP's should be staged on quality race tracks every time.

 

From what I've been told, Ole wasn't overly pleased with Buster on Monday and was on the radio regularly to try and stop Buster doing it his way. I can't say that is fact as I wasn't there or part of the conversations, but I'm told that at times, Ole looked furious.

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Really iris!? Do you not think the GP's have been a huge let down in terms of entertainment? One or two decent tracks doesn't cut it for me, GP's should be staged on quality race tracks every time.

 

From what I've been told, Ole wasn't overly pleased with Buster on Monday and was on the radio regularly to try and stop Buster doing it his way. I can't say that is fact as I wasn't there or part of the conversations, but I'm told that at times, Ole looked furious.

Yes i agree with the GP's.Sorry for the misunderstanding.I was talking specifically about the SWC,which i think has been great entertainment so far.And has been over the years.Like i say,to a certain extent that has to be down to the riders.The different mix of riders compared to the GP's.If Ole is looking after the GP's and SWC meetings over the years why is there to an extent a difference?I would say down to the riders and not down to Olsen's track prep.Look at the Russian effort or danny King in Peterborough and Tai,Nicolai and Patrick last night....

Edited by iris123
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Really iris!? Do you not think the GP's have been a huge let down in terms of entertainment? One or two decent tracks doesn't cut it for me, GP's should be staged on quality race tracks every time.

 

From what I've been told, Ole wasn't overly pleased with Buster on Monday and was on the radio regularly to try and stop Buster doing it his way. I can't say that is fact as I wasn't there or part of the conversations, but I'm told that at times, Ole looked furious.

Totally agree. Do we know what Ole's grounds for disagreement were?

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I've been against slick tracks for GPs and the prep of the Showground showed why but is there another reason? Having visited KL some weeks ago for a stock car meeting getting covered with shale and dust is not everyone's idea of fun. It maybe ok for the enthusiast but not for newcomers. So is that in their minds?

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I always thought that speedway was raced on a dirt track!.........so why was the track at Lesznow scraped bare, and the dirt piled up against the fence like a giant snow drift?....... could it be to help any rider trying the wide line, to launch him up and over the fence.......yes, that could be it.....add's to the excitement don't you think. Think it's about time the public demanded a return to proper speedway tracks.....with dirt on them! We're sick to death of Ole Olsen tracks, time to go, we're sick of you.

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I'll be honest I didnt think the racing was bad last night and as per usual Leszno provided at least a couple of different lines................... but this is Leszno we are talking about and I think you could prepare the track with your eyes closed and it still provide the bare minimum

 

The track was bare last night and to date we still havent seen a Leszno anywhere near to its best........ and the simple question is why? We are talking about one of the most highly regarded tracks in history and in 3 years of regular GP and SWC use it has been prepared slickly each time

 

like I said I thought the racing was decent but why once again limit things at Leszno?

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Could be wrong be I'm sure I have an old Backtrack mag where Olsen is interviewed and suggests speedway could/should be run on tarmac tracks or something similar.

 

Will have to see if I can dig it out. If my memory is correct the GP certainly seem to be heading that way.

 

I remembered that...Yes found Backtrack mag issue 24 Jan/Feb 2008 page 11 quote " wishes to revolutionise the sport by having different type of track surface maybe a permanent synthetic surface which would eliminate dust and no need then to water the track........heheeee he back to the recipe for slickness is he???

 

Must read the full article tonight.

 

 

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