Tony Olsson

[Dave C]

In what has been another tough year for domestic speedway in the UK, (as well as Sweden) I feel that we should acknowledge the fact that this years Grand Prix series has been one of the best for a long time.

 

Like most genuine speedway fans, I was heartened to see Tomasz Gollob finally capture the world title after so many years of trying.

 

However the major factor that has contributed to such a good championship has been the undoubted improvement in the standard of track preparation at most of the venues. For years now we have bemoaned the constant stream of slick tracks and the processional racing that they inevitably produce. The finger was always pointed at GP Race Director Ole Olsen and although he would often be defended by the likes of Philip Rising in the Speedway Star, ultimately he was the only person in a position to control track preparation across the series.

 

It really is no surprise that since Ole has been "moved upstairs" and Tony Olsson has taken over his role, a definite change has taken place. Tony Olsson was quoted at the start of the year that he would let each individual track prepare the circuits in the same way that they would do so for a regular league meeting. It is hardly rocket science to reach such a conclusion, merely basic common sense, but I really can't work out why Ole could never see this, or more importantly, why the powers that be at BSI/IMG failed to act sooner.

 

At the end of the day, exciting racing is surely the core product that they sell and I struggle to understand what took them so long to change things. It almost seemed that there was such a collective reverence for Ole, that they dare not overrule him on anything. By not making this change much sooner, they have ultimately lost out commercially. Good racing has got to be good for business. Happy fans, happy viewers, happy broadcasters, happy sponsors, hey even happy riders... It may be a somewhat simplistic view but good racing has surely got to be the backbone of the product.

 

I am convinced that one of the major factors that pushed them into acting was Keith Huewen's increasingly vocal outbursts about slick tracks on Sky Sports. It is never made clear what the exact viewing figures are for speedway on Sky (The BARB audience figures are apparently somewhat unreliable, but they still give us a reasonable idea...) but one can only assume that they tailed off last year as the racing was consistently poor. In the main, BSI make their real money selling the product to the likes of Sky Sports, so if the broadcaster is unhappy, they are in a position to demand changes.

 

Lets hope that this season signals a change in the right direction for the GP, and that it starts to fulfill its undoubted potential as a major sporting series. Lets also hope that BSI show more common sense and pick the four obvious candidates for wild card's (Pedersen, Sayfutdinov, Jonsson & Kolodziej) and that 2011 will be a classic season.

[Ghostwalker]

i agree with you dave. i also hope that 2011 is the last time we see Ullevi and Prague on the calendar.

[HenryW]

i agree with you dave. i also hope that 2011 is the last time we see Ullevi and Prague on the calendar.

I have never been to Gothenburg, so I can't comment on that, but I would hope that Prague wasn't dropped from the series.

 

The City of Prague is a fantastic place to visit, and the ease of access to the track from the City Centre has to be one of the best in the SGP calendar.

 

I have seen some good racing on the Prague track, but it doesn't happen often. To me, that seems to be one track that the locals need to be kicked aside and some proper track experts brought in to set the track for the SGP event.

 

Prague is one of the "Big City" jewels left in the SGP series...It just needs the track to be given a little shake up.

[racers and royals]

I also would like to congratulate Tony Olsson on ensuring the riders had the tracks to RACE on.as for Gothenburg i thought the track was the best it`s been-i understand the crew from Dackarna were responsible and if the track hadn`t been in such good nick the meeting wouldn`t have gone ahead with the rain that fell.

As for Prague-a great city to go to but in my view they need to add a metre to the inside of the track all the way round(same as Ipswich did) and more dirt would do the trick.Roll-on 2011,did 8 this season going for the lot next

Edited October 16, 2010 by racers and royals

[Ghostwalker]

henryw i agree with you that both Prague and Gothenburg are very fine cities but imo both tracks are awful.

[BigFatDave]

henryw i agree with you that both Prague and Gothenburg are very fine cities but imo both tracks are awful.

Never been to Prague but I enjoyed Gothenburg when I was there in '04; handy to the town centre and good racing. Price of beer was a bit exxy, though but not as bad as Denmark, and the wall-to-wall Blondes more than made up for that; maybe we could have all the GPs in Polska - apart from Cardiff of course?

[mothorsen]

Never been to Prague but I enjoyed Gothenburg when I was there in '04; handy to the town centre and good racing. Price of beer was a bit exxy, though but not as bad as Denmark, and the wall-to-wall Blondes more than made up for that; maybe we could have all the GPs in Polska - apart from Cardiff of course?

Ullevi is a tad big arena, if that's what you're getting at, and the venue should fit the crowd, but all in Poland? Naaah...

[Ghostwalker]

i think Ullevi will be replaced by the new Swedbank Arena in Stockholm for 2012.

It has a bigger capacity then Ullevi but is of the same typ as Cardiff and Copenhagen.

[spook]

gotta agree that Tony did a fine job.... as far as I could tell there was no grandstanding from him and the tracks were prepared for racing on rather than possibility of weather or the level of dirt that certain riders prefer.........

 

In just one year of it Tomasz found his missing world championship.... it helped Bomber to find his feet and provide some great performances.... Janusz stuck in two semi's..... and with one shoulder Crumpy got a podium........... I thought the Ole hangover was going to last for a while but we seemingly have had a quick recovery with racers and racing benefiting

 

 

gotta agree with comments on Prague.... it really does serve up some dire racing at times the way it is usually prepared... the best ive seen it was the year I went and the famous downpour + nicki/greg incident... the downpour obviously left them with no other option than a good track

[Humphrey Appleby]

It is never made clear what the exact viewing figures are for speedway on Sky (The BARB audience figures are apparently somewhat unreliable, but they still give us a reasonable idea...) but one can only assume that they tailed off last year as the racing was consistently poor.

 

I think it's clear that the SGP was dying a slow death. Sponsors were pulling out, and television coverage was increasingly being relegated to the 'red button'. It sums up the situation that a member of the SGP establishment who'd long criticised the Internet, felt the need to come on the BSF and generate some positive publicity about the whole thing.

 

However, I agree it has been a lot better this season.

Edited October 16, 2010 by Humphrey Appleby

[TonyMac]

GOOD old Humphrey Appleby is back and up to his old tricks of knocking the SGP series with uninformed comment and factual errors. You don't like the SGP Humphrey and that's fine ... everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

But, for the record: the SGP wasn't and certainly isn't dying a slow death and sponsors aren't pulling out, at least not of their own accord. A change in government regulations in countries like Denmark, Poland and Sweden forced out a number of online betting companies at a very late stage this year but you will see a big difference in 2011.

 

You say that television coverage was increasingly relegated to the red button. By that you presumably mean Sky as viewing figures in Australia, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, which also take the series live, were very encouraging. And the number of countries taking the highlights package is still going up as is the overall TV audience.

 

The red button decisions taken by Sky angered and disappointed many within their own organisation but I don't think anyone could argue that it was the result of poor fare being provided by the GP meetings.

 

The number of countries and organisers vying for a SGP meeting is growing and not just in Poland.

 

Elsewhere Humphrey criticises BSI/IMG for not putting anything back into the sport but surely that is the role of the FIM, who receive millions of pounds each year in revenue that should be filtered back into speedway and not flittered away in Geneva.

 

The prime theme of this thread, Tony Olsson's debut season, is more accurate. Tony has done a terrific job but the Ole Olsen knockers should also remember that he was still responsible for the tracks in Gothenburg, Copenhagen and Cardiff and not even Tony could do anything about Prague.

 

PHILIP RISING

[Humphrey Appleby]

A change in government regulations in countries like Denmark, Poland and Sweden forced out a number of online betting companies at a very late stage this year but you will see a big difference in 2011.

 

I'm guessing there must also have been a change of government regulations that prevented lift maintenance companies from sponsoring the series..

 

You say that television coverage was increasingly relegated to the red button. By that you presumably mean Sky as viewing figures in Australia, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, which also take the series live, were very encouraging.

 

It would be interesting to know what the viewer audiences are like in some of these countries compared to those watching Sky. I'd imagine Sky represents the main market by far.

 

When I get a moment I shall try and look up the figures.

 

I don't think anyone could argue that it was the result of poor fare being provided by the GP meetings.

 

I think many would argue it was because of the poor fare being served up last season, regardless of the actual reasons. It wasn't me saying it, but just about everyone posting on this forum, a (former) sponsor included.

[MARK246]

 

You say that television coverage was increasingly relegated to the red button. By that you presumably mean Sky as viewing figures in Australia, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, which also take the series live,

 

PHILIP RISING

The GP's are not shown live in Sweden

[Ghostwalker]

The GP's are not shown live in Sweden

 

true that the GPs are showed with an initial 1 hour delay on tv but it is also available at svtplay where it is shown live.

I always choose the live stream at svtplay and i think many others do the same.

[Trees]

Elsewhere Humphrey criticises BSI/IMG for not putting anything back into the sport but surely that is the role of the FIM, who receive millions of pounds each year in revenue that should be filtered back into speedway and not flittered away in Geneva.

As you know the answers, how many MILLIONS of pounds do BSI/IMG pay the FIM every year for the privilege of running the GPs?

How much money does BSI/IMG make every year from running the GPs?

[Humphrey Appleby]

Elsewhere Humphrey criticises BSI/IMG for not putting anything back into the sport but surely that is the role of the FIM, who receive millions of pounds each year in revenue that should be filtered back into speedway and not flittered away in Geneva.

 

I've not actually ever criticised IMG/BSI for this. I fully appreciate they're a commercial enterprise who're taking advantage of an opportunity afforded them by the FIM, and have no problem with their actions in this respect.

 

I would however, criticise the FIM for handing out the commercial rights in the first place, and also the various professional speedway bodies for not exploiting the opportunities themselves.

 

As you know the answers, how many MILLIONS of pounds do BSI/IMG pay the FIM every year for the privilege of running the GPs?

 

It would appear to be something in the order of one million pounds per year, but it has previously been rumoured that the FIM is responsible for paying the SGP prize money from this (which coincidentally appears to be just about the same amount). I'm sure Mr Rising will be able to correct any misapprehensions in this respect though.

[Dave C]

GOOD old Humphrey Appleby is back and up to his old tricks of knocking the SGP series with uninformed comment and factual errors. You don't like the SGP Humphrey and that's fine ... everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

But, for the record: the SGP wasn't and certainly isn't dying a slow death and sponsors aren't pulling out, at least not of their own accord. A change in government regulations in countries like Denmark, Poland and Sweden forced out a number of online betting companies at a very late stage this year but you will see a big difference in 2011.

 

You say that television coverage was increasingly relegated to the red button. By that you presumably mean Sky as viewing figures in Australia, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, which also take the series live, were very encouraging. And the number of countries taking the highlights package is still going up as is the overall TV audience.

 

The red button decisions taken by Sky angered and disappointed many within their own organisation but I don't think anyone could argue that it was the result of poor fare being provided by the GP meetings.

 

The number of countries and organisers vying for a SGP meeting is growing and not just in Poland.

 

Elsewhere Humphrey criticises BSI/IMG for not putting anything back into the sport but surely that is the role of the FIM, who receive millions of pounds each year in revenue that should be filtered back into speedway and not flittered away in Geneva.

 

The prime theme of this thread, Tony Olsson's debut season, is more accurate. Tony has done a terrific job but the Ole Olsen knockers should also remember that he was still responsible for the tracks in Gothenburg, Copenhagen and Cardiff and not even Tony could do anything about Prague.

 

PHILIP RISING

 

Firstly thank you for taking the time to respond Philip. Unlike Sir Humphrey, I have always been a big fan of the GP series, but I had become increasingly frustrated by the constantly poor track surfaces that were appearing every fortnight. I accept that the temporary tracks (I still can't fathom why people continually refer to them as "man made". Leszno may be great, but I doubt it was divinely inspired...) can be a difficult area, but the major gripe was when the real racing circuits were usually packed down hard to become ultra slick.

 

I also have a lot of respect for what Ole Olsen has achieved in the sport, both as a rider and as one of the main driving forces behind the Grand Prix concept. What has overshadowed this is the style of track preparation that he appears to have insisted on for so long. I feel that those who have "knocked" him over the track issue, have been largely vindicated on the evidence of the past season. In fairness, the temporary tracks seem to be getting better all the time. Copenhagen has generally been good for a while now, and at least Cardiff now seems a lot safer for the riders these days, compared to the "rut" roulette of previous years.

 

As far as the GP "dying a slow death", that may be slightly over dramatic, but for a while now, it has felt somewhat stagnant compared to the optimism of the early BSI years. With the announcement over four years ago that BSI were being taken over my IMG, I along with many others thought that this would be the breakthrough that the series needed in terms of expansion, marketing expertise and the potential to attract major sponsors. However the GP seems to have basically been treading water during this time, with little if any direct evidence of the undoubted commercial clout of IMG at work.

 

I subscribe to Sky Sports during the speedway season primarily for the SGP. As with the majority of the Sky speedway audience, I am a neutral (since the demise of Hackney many moons ago...) and have no real affinity to any particular team, so what I really want is to see exciting racing every Monday night. In truth, what is served up is often patchy at best. Chris Harris's heroics in the recent Coventry win at Poole were certainly captivating, but a lot of the racing throughout the year is often very processional. I still think that Sky do a great job overall, but in all honesty, the product is often poor.

 

A good GP on the other hand can make for great viewing, and will get me on the edge of the seat, shouting for Bomber. I consider myself a real speedway nut, but I came very close to not renewing Sky Sports this season, because I had become so disillusioned with the continual slick tracks and processional racing in the GP. However this year has been much better (I missed Prague!), so I have no hesitation in subscribing for next year. I surely can't be alone in thinking like this? The GP undoubtedly has huge potential, but beyond the hype, it is exciting, good quality racing that will get people from all nations well and truly hooked.

 

I fully agree with the point about the FIM though. BSI are continually criticised for not putting anything back into the sport, but as a commercial organisation they bought the rights to the Speedway World Championship from the FIM, so the question has to be directed toward Geneva. This whole area really has to be made much more transparent.

[TonyMac]

QUALITY post Dave C, which also underlines what a positive force this Forum can be when it indulges in lively and constructive debate rather than abuse or slanging matches.

 

However, I would challenge your comments on IMG since they acquired the rights to the SGP. A great deal of what they have achieved may not be obvious on the surface but, believe me, much has been done to improve and strengthen the behind-the-scenes operations... senior staff on site earlier in the week, better procedures as far as the actual running of a GP is concerned, greatly improved scoreboard and interview areas, which now compare with anything in soccer's Champions League, a race day operation that runs like clockwork.

 

And don't forget that the TV pictures that go around the world are ultimately under the control of a director appointed and employed by IMG and that is also an area that has been greatly improved.

 

The SGP series will expand beyond Europe but let's not lose sight of the economic climate of the past two years. A deal to stage a GP in New Zealand early next year was desperately close and will hopefully be revived and secured for 2012.

 

It is the lack of suitable speedway venues in both Australia and New Zealand that is proving the stumbling block rather than finance. Rob Armstrong, the Global Head of Motorsport at IMG, and the man who brokered the deal to secure the rights from John Postlethwaite, is currently based in Auckland and that is significant.

 

Your comments re Ole Olsen are both valid and correct but it was time for change and Tony Olsson has a different approach and has made great efforts to produce better racing tracks ... and the proof of the pudding, etc, etc. And this year we were blessed with the most competitive SGP field probably since 1995.

 

But sometimes you get a little lucky. Heavy rain in both Croatia and Italy greatly benefited the tracks but Prague, which could be terrific if the promoters spent a little time and money, was again poor.

 

With regard to what BSI/IMG pay the FIM for the rights, the figures suggested would appear to be about right and it is true that the FIM pay prize money. But they also receive huge revenue from the licence fees paid by the staging tracks and, of course, the riders.

 

I have no idea what profits IMG generate from the SGP and such information is quite rightly a matter for them. I do know from personal experience that they do not skimp or cut corners in ensuring that the SGP product stands comparison with anything other sports, let alone motorcycle racing, can offer.

 

Pinegen, the publishers of Speedway Star, are fortunate to have the contract to produce programmes for the SGP events promoted by IMG themselves and our remit is to do the best job possible and certainly not the cheapest, which has so often been the case with speedway in the past. And it is a pleasure and a relief to work for a company that pay their invoices promptly.

 

PHILIP RISING

[lucifer sam]

But sometimes you get a little lucky. Heavy rain in both Croatia and Italy greatly benefited the tracks but Prague, which could be terrific if the promoters spent a little time and money, was again poor.

PHILIP RISING

 

I would like to see the Czech GP shift to Pardubice, which is one of the best racetracks in the world. It's true that Pardubice probably needs a little improvement in a couple of other areas to be able to stage a GP, but if the carrot was dangled in front of them, I'm sure that they could make the necessary amendments. Prague has been a rubbish meeting for too many years now.

 

All the best

Rob

[Blazeaway]

I would like to see the Czech GP shift to Pardubice, which is one of the best racetracks in the world. It's true that Pardubice probably needs a little improvement in a couple of other areas to be able to stage a GP, but if the carrot was dangled in front of them, I'm sure that they could make the necessary amendments. Prague has been a rubbish meeting for too many years now.

 

All the best

Rob

 

Agreed and it's a real shame. Prague used to provide some cracking racing.