Home | Sport | Speedway

Speedway

Olsen's world championship pledge

Ole Olsen, the most powerful man in international speedway, has guaranteed that Manchester will be awarded world championship racing if Belle Vue's planned new stadium goes ahead.

Plans for a new home for the Aces were revealed exclusively in MEN Sport earlier this week and Olsen, the speedway director of sport at the International Motor Federation, has joined the widespread support the scheme is attracting.

Olsen, who won three world titles for Denmark in the 1970s, was the grand prix race director from 1995 until last year when he was promoted by the FIM to be responsible for driving the development of the championship.

He has been to Manchester to meet Aces bosses David Gordon and Chris Morton, along with Paul Bellamy, managing director of BSI who own the rights to stage the world championship.

Olsen said: "It is time for Great Britain to have a modern stadium with full FIM status.

The one being proposed at Belle Vue would attract any FIM event. The city has a great history for speedway and it would be wonderful to see those days return.

"Speedway is expanding everywhere apart from Britain with more and more cities making approaches to stage a grand prix or a round of the World Cup.

"A lot of people are screaming for a grand prix and it would be great if Manchester was able to stage world championship racing at a club with such a famous name as Belle Vue."

Olsen added: "Manchester is the ideal city for a speedway centre because it already has such a strong sporting tradition.

"It would be good for the FIM to have a stadium in Britain which we knew would meet the required criteria for world events without it having to be checked every year. It is just what is needed.

"It would also be great for the Belle Vue club because it would give them the chance to provide the training facilities which would get the kids back into speedway."



Comments

Login or Register to comment

Great to hear that Ole Olsen is backing this potentially fantastic project.

Report This Reply

Ole is so right,we could get lotsof young riders coming through like we did at the old Hyde Road stadium,it's my 50 years anniversary of watching the Aces this year,what a present this would be getting a new stadium.

brads

Report This Reply

This is more good news and adds more weight to the proposals.During the days of Hyde Road,Belle Vue staged a world championship event more or less every year without fail and the end of season British League Riders Championship was a 20,000 sellout.The very successful Belle Vue training school produced riders of a high calibre,Peter Collins MBE and Chris Morton MBE to name just two who have gone on to win world championship honours for club,individual and country.The most memorable being in 1984 when the above brought to Manchester the world pairs championship,after success in Italy.Born and raised in Manchester they were.That is a feat as far as i know has never been achieved before or since.

So Manchester City Council,the majority of Mancunians and the motor cycling world governing body are behind you,do not allow this golden opportunity go to waste and rubber stamp the proposals.For the good of Manchester it has to happen.

Report This Reply

Surely this latest backing by a member of the FIM to bring World Championship racing back into Manchester will make the powers that be have no hesitation in confirming the plans to go ahead. We all know about the Olympic Games going on in our beloved Capital City but they will never have the Speedway History we have here in Manchester.
The Belle Vue Aces are a world famous name in speedway and deserve to have a home to go with it. If we are to boast about our Sports City complex then let’s not take any short cuts and go all the way with it. This new stadium would provide another link in the chain to Manchester being the COMPLETE sporting city by adding Speedway and Hockey to its ever growing list.

Report This Reply

What a boost this would be for the ACES and Manchester.Another top class sporting venue can only be good can't it?

Report This Reply

It was in the job description of every Belle Vue fan in the 1970s to have a healthy disdain for the Great Dane, but he's well and truly redeemed himself, in my eyes at least, with this ringing endorsement for our proposed new stadium.
`
When I posted last week, I thought a GP was an outside bet; now it looks a racing certainty, IF we can get the stadium approved and built as quickly as humanly possible.
`
It's over to the politicians local councillors and (with a general election looming) MPs alike!

Report This Reply

This is all good, but has gone quiet......when will we know the good news?

Report This Reply