OLLE NYGREN Swedish legend Olle Nygren dominates the latest issue of Vintage Speedway Magazine following the exclusive interview we conducted with the former Norwich, Wimbledon and West Ham star at his Felixstowe, Suffolk home.
Our absorbing 11-page feature on ‘Varg Olle', as he knows to thousands of supporters in Sweden, covers not only the early part of his eventful speedway career, but his remarkable story of success in so many other forms of motorsport.
Now 78-years-old but with an enduring enthusiasm for motorcycling that would put a teenager to shame, Olle reflects - in what is the first of our two-part interview - on his early shale days at Harringay, New Cross and Bristol before he became the first Swede to finish on the World Championship rostrum in 1954.
He talks candidly about his main rivals and the big names of the shale game - including Ove Fundin, Split Waterman, Peter Craven, Aub Lawson and Tommy Price - that he learned from before international stardom and a playboy lifestyle in his native Stockholm followed.
Nygren (pictured above as the No.1 for Swedish League Vargarna's ice racing team in 1953) also reveals how his hectic speedway activity landed him in jail, how he defied snakes and lions in the jungle on his way to race in South Africa and also talks about the battles he had with the Swedish speedway authorities that punctuated his career.
To complement the words, we also publish a number of rare pictures loaned from Olle's personal archives.
BELLE VUE To mark the 80th anniversary of British speedway, John Chaplin looks back at Belle Vue, from its opening in 1928 through to the present day, with special emphasis on the pre-70s period. Recalling the special atmosphere and experience of the world-renowned Belle Vue Manchester zoological complex (right) and those greats names from Hyde Road past, including . . . Jack Parker, Eric Langton, Frank Varey, Dent Oliver, E.O. Spence, Alice Hart, Peter Craven, Ove Fundin and Ivan Mauger.
BRITISH LEAGUE DIVISION TWO Is it really 40 years since the formation of the second tier division that transformed the sport and the fortunes of the England national team, by producing a conveyor belt of new, young talent? We look back at the launch of BL2 in 1968 and the 10 teams who paved the way for a blossoming future.
SCOTTISH SCANDINAVIANS To coincide with the sad death of Norwegian Oyvind Berg, columnist Ian Hoskins recalls the numerous Scandinavians who turned out for Edinburgh, Glasgow and Coatbridge in the mid-60s with mixed fortunes.
HIGH BEECH As supporters and ex-riders gathered in a quiet, picturesque corner of deepest Epping Forest where British speedway came to life 80 years ago, John Hyam recalls an aborted bid to bring the bikes back to High Beech.
Plus...Eric Linden, your letters and our new Name That Track quiz.
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OLLE NYGREN
Now 78-years-old but with an enduring enthusiasm for motorcycling that would put a teenager to shame, Olle reflects - in what is the first of our two-part interview - on his early shale days at Harringay, New Cross and Bristol before he became the first Swede to finish on the World Championship rostrum in 1954.
