AFTER our cracking exclusive with Erik Gundersen in issue 23, Backtrack has returned to Denmark to meet and get an in-depth interview with the ‘Godfather’ of Danish speedway, Ole Olsen.

Editor Tony McDonald conducted a four-hour interview with the former three times World Champion at Ole’s luxury converted farmhouse in the rural village of Sommersted.

And, Ole being Ole, he has plenty of candid, controversial things to say about his own racing career as well as the current Speedway Grand Prix, for which he is now Race Director.

Olsen, 61, spoke about how he got started in Denmark, defying his parents to save up the money for his first bike. He recalls arriving in England to join Newcastle in 1967, his move to Wolverhampton three years later and, of course, his most successful spell as the inspirational skipper of all-conquering Coventry Bees.

He reflects on the furore that surrounded his protracted transfer to Brandon – after he refused to be sent to Hull.

What did Ole really think of the two men he rode for in the Bl, Mike Parker and Charles Ochiltree?

Ole talks, too, about his relationship with Ivan Mauger, his early mentor and the man he eventually topped as the sport’s No.1 in the sizzling 70s.

He recalls his World Final triumphs and tears and what it took to reach the very top. His proudest moments and those he would rather forget.

After he quit as a rider in 1983, Olsen embarked on a new era as team manager of Denmark when they ruled the roost in the 80s. He answers the criticism he received for favouring Erik Gundersen and why he never gave the same personal assistance to those other main Danes, Hans Nielsen and Tommy Knudsen.

Although he has a great career to look back on, including his construction of the purpose-built Vojens track, Ole lives now for the future and his relentless determination to take the SGP to the next level continues unabated. He reveals his ideas and the changes he believes will become commonplace in the future for speedway at all levels.

How do the riders of today compare to the giants he faced in his golden years?

Oh, and he has some very frank advice for British promoters on where they are going wrong and how the BSPA should bring about a massive shake-up to revolutionise the domestic scene in Britain.

It’s radical. It’s highly controversial. It’s typical Ole Olsen.

Don’t miss this exclusive blockbuster, set to run over the next two issues of Backtrack magazine, We urge you to renew or take out your subscription . . . today!

Here are some of the pictures Tony McDonald took of Ole and his family…


Ole at home with his family - wife Ulla, sons Jakob and Torben and granddaughter
Sarah (Jakob's girl).

Ole's 'escape' from the pressures of speedway - his hunting rifle and the room
where he displays the antlers of the deer and moose he shot.

Ole's 1971 world title-winning bike, now 24ct gold plated and on display in reception
at Hotel Norden in the Danish town of Haderslev, where Ole was born.