Tales from the Shale with Swindon’s Writer in Residence, Graham Cooke.
Heat five of Tales from the Shale focuses on the Swedish speedway youth system
So the Danes win the World Cup as most pundits predicted they would. With Poland second, Sweden third and Australia fourth, the 2008 World Team Cup has been another successful speedway event with some top drawer racing. Sadly, that success cannot be shared by Team GB.
Granted, their performance at Vojens in the Race Off on Thursday night was a significant improvement but the woeful showing at Coventry on the Monday continues to leave me deeply concerned.
So we have failed to make a final again. Despite all of the media hype we have come up short again. In a season where our two best riders failed to win a single race in a Grand Prix until the British GP in Cardiff we should not be surprised.
But before we all begin to feel too depressed, remember, our beloved sport is not alone in terms of magnificent failure. The England football team miss out on the European Championships, the Under 21s have just missed out on their next tournament.
Despite the millions earned by Wimbledon the best we can do at the All England Championships is place our entire faith in a 14 year old girl, Laura Robson, and she has decidedly Australian genes. Our cricket team is on another hiding at the hands of the South Africans and our Rugby Union team has flattered to deceive since the last World Cup.
So where does it all go wrong? Well, it doesn’t. Lewis Hamilton has shown what can be done. I agree, he has the best car, although his tactical team at McLaren seem intent on making life as difficult as possible with some bizarre tactical decisions. So why has Hamilton succeeded where so many others from our shores have failed?
Investment! Much of Hamilton’s success has revolved around the investment that Ron Dennis and the McLaren team have out into Hamilton. Identified as a burgeoning talent at a very young age, they have brought him on through the ranks of Formula Ford and the other racing leagues, developing his talent alongside suitable equipment and opposition until he burst upon the scene two years ago, carving his way to a championship in the feeder series for Formula 1.
Some said that his elevation to F1 was too soon – that he was too young and inexperienced. Dennis and others disagreed and their faith has been repaid with a series of staggering performances by the young man.
But if Hamilton can succeed in motor sport’s Blue Riband event, why are we so far behind countries so much smaller in population terms than us in speedway?
The closest I ever got to fulfilling a child hood dream of becoming a speedway rider was frightening myself half to death on a grass track bike on a bumpy track in mid Wales in the early 70’s. The bike was way too powerful for me and the surface was akin to a ploughed field. I hung on for four exceedingly slow laps before returning to the pits and retiring from racing altogether.
My 14 year old son has harboured similar ambitions for years now but that dream is fast being replaced by dreams of being a rock guitarist. How do young British riders start? Some begin with junior moto cross, others with junior grass track racing.
We signed Dave up for a local junior grass track club, paid the membership, asked to be kept informed about second hand equipment that might become available and then heard absolutely nothing. Certainly there are some far sighted people who run training tracks but it’s a long way to Buxton or Sittingbourne.
And if we shell out hundreds of pounds on equipment who is to say that he is going to take to it naturally or even enjoy it? It is a gamble that we cannot make in these stringent times. And even if he does prove to be a natural on the grass, is a grounding (sorry about the pun here) in grass track racing really a good preparation or foundation for speedway racing at a later date?
Sadly, at 14 years of age he is probably already too old to start and go on to become a great speedway racer.
But it doesn’t need to be that way! Investment in talent and youth. That must be part of the answer.
Before I continue let me admit that we might have a large population to choose from the United Kingdom and its speedway authorities do have some enormous obstacles to overcome.
We are a crowded nation and land is scarce and consequently expensive for development. In comparative terms, Denmark has a population of approximately 5.5 million with a population density of 334 people per square mile. Sweden boasts a population of 9.2 million but with just an average of 52 people per square mile.
Compare those figures with England’s population of 51 million and a population density figure of 976 per square mile. (I have taken the England figures because I couldn’t get comparative figures for Great Britain!)
So, we are far more densely populated than either of the Scandinavian countries who occupied first and third places in the recent World Cup. And that inevitably means that we can’t simply adopt the Swedish model and shift major stadia out of towns and place them in acres of free land in the forests.
The stadia that we use are almost exclusively dual or multi purpose stadiums and all too often speedway is the poor relation in the shared model. And then there is, perhaps more controversially, the British culture itself that doesn’t seem to encourage or encompass steely determination to succeed – “play up, play up and play the game” rather than the “get out of my way, I’m coming through” philosophy that seems to govern the Nicki Pedersen and Tomasz Gollob’s of this world.
But with a population nearly four times that of Sweden and Denmark put together should we not be able to expect more?
We can all surround ourselves with the safety blanket of “we are all doing as much as we can” but that will not address the main issues. I believe if we are to succeed in the future then we must learn from others who are that much more successful than ourselves. And to do that we must take on the challenges with a purpose and not hide behind “we can’t do this” or “that’s simply not how it works here.”
Last year I journeyed with three friends to Sweden to take in a week’s worth of Swedish speedway climaxing with the Scandinavian Speedway GP at Malilla. The full account of a fascinating week’s journeying from track to track can be found in “The Blunsdon Bloggers Tour of Sweden 2007” available via the Blunsdon Blog website’s shop.
But of all the experiences the one that made the most impact was the commitment to youth development that the country engenders. It is one that perhaps explains why so many young Swedes and Danes come to these shores and fill up places in our Elite and Premier League sides on merit, at the inevitable expense of our home grown talent.
This is what I found. Every track that we visited had its own small training track, many with facilities that would put to shame those offered by some clubs in this country. On a Saturday morning, immediately before the Scandinavian GP down the road in Malilla, we found the Vetlanda Club’s junior training programme in full swing.
“The sound of silence amongst the trees is broken by the sudden revving of a small motorbike. We head over to the 80cc training track where a group of youngsters are being coached by members of the club.
Apparently Rune Holta and other members of the team have been known to come down here when they are in town to help with the little ones. The mini pit area is filling up with young lads kitted out, each with their steel shoe, ready to try out one of the bikes on hand, provided by the club, of course.
There are some 80cc bikes and a 125 I think. The lads take it in turn to run around for 5 or 6 minutes under the guidance of two members of the track staff and a medic. Some very small boys already show signs of being able to get the back end out as they exit the corners.
Should I be impressed or depressed? My thoughts inevitably turn to my 13 year old son, Dave, who would die for this type of opportunity. Instead we have to scour around for a second hand grass track bike and then hope that he’ll get a chance to learn to ride speedway, as is his ardent desire. He would love it here. This is heaven for any young, or old, aspiring speedway rider. You can see and sense the improvement that these kids show in just a few laps.
One small youngster is spinning the rear wheel as he exits the turns whilst a much taller boy is flicking the back end out as he enters the tight turns on the 162 metre track.
And then I meet Tilde Jardbring and her mother. Tilde is just six years of age, a little blond haired speedway nut. She wanted to ride at the training track last year but was too small for the bike. Now she’s just big enough to fit onto the smallest bike on show. Her mother is very proud of her and so thankful to the club for giving her this opportunity. Tilde completes her laps and is very reluctant to get off the bike when her time is up. She will be back. Who knows, in 14 years time she may be challenging for the World Under 21 title!
On our last day in Sweden we returned to Gislaved Motor Club, home of Lejonen, to take in an 80cc three team tournament. After coffee and cakes we wander round to the 80cc training track where the bikes are warming up for the tournament featuring the home team Lejonen, a team from Malmo called Gnistorna, and another from Gothenburg, Karparno. There are over 20 bikes being revved up in the more than adequate pit complex.
On the 144 metre track there are five riders in each team including a girl in the Gnistorna team. This is not meant to be a sexist comment – it is to indicate that speedway is seen as a sport for all in Sweden.
The action takes place in front of a small crowd of 30 or so, probably made up largely of parents. The four flag marshals take their places on the centre green alongside two medics. The track is well prepared but very dry. A yellow light flashes accompanied by a horn to indicate that the referee, in full uniform, is ready for proceedings to start.
Heat 1 is halted before it starts with a tapes exclusion. The Kaparna number 1 is very fall but quick and stylish. Everyone broadslides to a greater or lesser degree. Grading takes place after three heats. In the next heat Kaparno’s number 2, Freddie Broms lifts alarmingly coming out of turn two and hurtles into the fencing.
His distressed mother rushes to the track side to see her son prone on the track. The medics are soon on hand but it is a full five minutes before Freddie is lifted, with neck brace in place, onto a stretcher.
The ambulance is dismissed and Freddie is treated near the pits. After an anxious further 10 minutes he is lifted to his feet, having undergone an extremely thorough investigation. He cannot ride again but is soon seen demolishing a burger whilst explaining to his team mates exactly what happened and what went wrong.
During the interval after heat 9 everyone heads to the Bar B Q for burgers. The one female rider in the field is a very smooth and controlled rider. Sadly, she falls whilst holding a good second place in her first heat and then suffers an engine failure whilst entirely dominating her second race.
Kaparno’s scoring is dominated by their number one and they soon slip behind. The racing is keen and tough and the match goes down to a last heat decider. The young lad from Lejonen grabs a second place and they edge out their visitors from Malmo, Gnistorna, by a single point.
Each member of the winning team is given a bouquet of flowers, destined for their mothers probably, and pose for a team photo. It’s been a great way to end our speedway sojourn. And the ages of the riders – between 11 and 15.
The bikes may only be 80cc but they are clear replicas of senior speedway bikes. The power that they produce is ideally suited to the size of the track and the racing is close and entertaining. Most of the equipment is owned by the competitors but some is available for hire.
When I mention that I have a son of this age the club asks what training he is doing and are amazed when I say that he’s hopeful of getting some outings on a grass track bike. “You can’t learn to ride speedway properly on a grass track bike on a grass track. If you want to be serious you must start out as you mean to go on.”
It makes sense.
But it comes at a cost. Clubs in Sweden, and I am led to believe Denmark, have clearly defined youth policies. They have invested in proper training tracks and equipment. In their estimation it is simply no good asking a youngster to try to ride a large bike on a full sized track. It is also seen as being poor practice if youngsters on properly sized bikes and tracks are not coached intensively by experts / ex riders or club officials.
At Vetlanda there is even a training track in the middle of the training track so that kids can ride and slide on their bicycles before progressing to 50cc, then 80cc then 125 cc speedway bikes on the proper training track. And there are just so many queuing up have their go.
In Sweden they are already preparing their potential speedway World Cup campaigners of the 2018 World Cup. Are we? Is giving limited track time at the end of a meeting sufficient to develop the natural talent that Is required? Should we be doing more?
And before you shoot me down with all of the very good reasons why this may be all “pie in the sky” consider this … we have a flourishing league structure in this country yet we have only 2 riders in this year’s GP series and only one rider (Lee Richardson) through to the final to decide riders for next year’s series. Yes, I know that the British Final at Swindon showed we have a talented group of youngsters on the way through, but how many more Swedes, Danes, Poles, Russians, Aussies etc. are also on the brink of major success.
The British speedway community must work together to develop a coherent policy and then implement it quickly if we are not to find ourselves swamped with foreign talent and bereft of home grown stars.
